All that glitters is good.....

All that glitters is good.....

Monday, November 21, 2011

An Educational (?) Movie

This past Sunday I watched the historical movie "The Conspirator." This flick centers around the trial of Mary Surratt, the one female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Robert Redford directed this movie for The American Film company, so I'm not quite sure how many historic liberties they took with the film (I will never claim to be a history buff). I hope it was fairly accurate because I feel like I actually learned something by watching it. Robin Wright stars as Surratt, with James McAvoy and Tom Wilkinson as her lawyers. This is definitely an example of Redford's power in Hollywood, as the entire supporting cast is star studded. Supporting roles include Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Justin Long, Alexis Bledel and Danny Huston. I think everyone did amazing in this, with the breakouts being Wright and McAvoy. It's definitely an interesting film and if you like history I would recommend it. The one downside is that the movie clocks in at a little over two hours, so it can get a little lengthy and drag on for some.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Ohai Caturday, I see you around the corner





I officially believe in celebrity chefs.

I've always wondered if celebrity chefs are really that amazing of cooks. They seem to be on TV because of their looks, personality, cooking flair or the fact that they make pretty looking food. But we viewers can't taste the food on TV (here's hoping for that technological advancement by 2030!), so how do we really know their qualifications as cooks. Well, I went to my first celebrity chef-owned restuarant and I eat my words.

A couple weekends ago was my two year anniversary with my wonderful boyfriend. We wanted to check out an amazing restaurant for this special occasion but there's so many options in San Francisco. Based off others recommendations, we decided to go to Wayfare Tavern. It's owned and operated by Tyler Florence, know for host "The Great Food Truck Race" and his many specials on the Food Network. The kitchen in the restaurant is open to the floor, so I took a peek as soon as we got there. Unfortunately he was not cooking when we were there but I've heard from others that he does make appearances there to cook.


Wayfare Tavern is located in the Financial District near the heart of downtown, at 558 Sacramento Street. There's a valet out front if you want to drive and are worried about finding parking. The restaurant itself is warm and inviting. There's a big fireplace in the back with deer heads mounted to the wall above. It's two levels but still feels cozy. The chic country-esque interior, with warm brown undertones makes it feel less fancy and stuck-up, and more charming and quaint. They serve Victorian-era cocktails and rustic American food, which pretty much sums up the entire vibe of the restaurant.


Before I get into the meal, let me just say that one of the best part of Wayfare is that a server comes around to each table with a basket of warm popovers, which beat any kind of break I've ever found in a restaurant's bread basket. So, for the decision on actual food, I read a copious amount of Yelp reviews before we went and they repeatedly touted the following foods I'm about to describe. And I agree with all the reviews about how delicious each of these items are. We started with the steak tartare, which was probably my favorite part of the meal. The organic steak is served fresh, with French mustard dressing, egg yolk, and garlic popovers to scoop it on. I'm amazed how much flavor the got the steak to adsorb and the garlic popovers added the perfect amount of crunch. We also tried the deviled eggs, with mustard yolks, capers, celery, and crisp shallots. Outside of my mother's (which I am partial and biased to), these are the best deviled eggs I've ever had. It was the perfect amount of mustard in the mix. Florence is known for his organic fried chicken, breaded in buttermilk brine, roasted garlic, crisp woody herbs and lemon so we had to give that a try. I can honestly say its the most amazing fired chicken I've ever had. I can't even think of anyone that even comes close! The other entree we tried was the steak frites (Santa Maria tri-tip with truffle butter, watercress and French fried potatoes). This was probably the least exciting thing we got. The steak was juicy and a perfect medium rare. The truffle butter did step it up a bit in flavor, but the French fries were just French fries, the kind you can find in any non-chain restaurant.


The dessert deserves its own paragraph. We had the Wayfare chocolate creme pie. Everyone who knows me knows I'm not a huge fan of chocolate. I know, it's weird, but what's even weirder is that I had chocolate creme pie and liked it! The pie is Scharffenberger chocolate pudding, salted caramel ganache, and devil’s food cake, topped with a pie helping of whipped cream. I read online and am not quite sure if this is true or not, but that Florence makes him pie crust with pork fat. If that is true, that is amazing. So what have we learned from all this? While Wayfare Tavern may be expensive and owned by a celebrity chef, it is worth every penny. Tyler Florence knows what he is doing and had really brought traditional rustic American dishes to a a whole new level.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Johnny Depp is back!

Johnny Depp has always been great. He'll probably go down as one of the best actors of this era. However, recently, he's strayed away from the Johnny we all fell in love with and made questionable movie decisions, like "The Tourist" and all those "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies (Jack Sparrow was a great character in the first couple, but then it just got old). I miss the days of the Johnny Depp who did "Edward Scissorhands" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Well, after seeing "The Rum Diary," I can happily say the old Depp is back.

Of course it has to be Hunter S. Thompson who brought Depp back to his glory. Depp befriended the eccentric gonzo journalist when he played him in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." While Thompson died in 2005 (suicide after battling multiple health problems), Depp has given multiple interviews that he knew he had to make Thompson proud with his portrayal of an early Thompson-inspired journalist in "The Rum Diary." First off, if you haven't read up on Hunter S. Thompson, you need to. The man is one of the most unique characters in media to date. Read his biography "Gonzo" or check out his Wiki page if you're feeling lazy or time-deprived.

"The Rum Diary" is based off one of Thompson's books, q fictionalized story inspired by Thompson's experiencing writing down in Puerto Rico in the 1950s. While the 50s were a crazy time in America, they were just as crazy and revolutionary down in Puerto Rico. This movie deals with politics, race, religion, drugs ad greed. It avoids being heavy-handed and ends up fascinating. Depp plays journalist Paul Kemp, an alcoholic journalist who thinks he's all about making a quick buck but then comes across some morals. He finds his morals after he starts working for a smooth talking businessman, played by the wonderful Aaron Eckhart. Eckhart plays his two-faced character so well, that's he's not outshined by Depp, but instead their characters feed off of each others energy. Amber Heard plays the love interest. I'm not usually a fan of her's, but her waspy naive seductress act works for this role. Giovanni Ribisi and Michael Rispoli aren't outshined either and lend their talents to amazing supporting actor roles. I didn't even recognize Ribisi at first, as his character is a crazy wreck with a propensity for 100 proof liquor and any drug he can get his hands on.

Outside of the superb acting, the Puerto Rico backdrop is stunning. The story moves along quickly, is fairly true to the book, and gets the viewer invested in the characters. There's funny and sad parts and mostly it's just crazy. I would definitely recommend catching this one in theaters, especially if you became a fan of Depp in his Fear and Loathing days.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Caturday is just around the corner!!





And thanks to fellow cat fan Jessica W. for finidng this awesome video that combines two awesome things, cats and advertising!

KTHXBAI