All that glitters is good.....

All that glitters is good.....

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Best & Worst Restaurants of October

October has been a crazy month, as the holiday season starts to kick of. Ugly holiday sweaters are just around the corner! I decided to condense my whirlwind of eating out down to one that blew me away and one that left me disappointed.

Let's start with the good news first. I had a friend* in town two weekend ago and I knew she was adventurous enough to come with me to one of my bucket list restaurants, Bar Crudo. Bar Crudo is located on Divisidero in the heart of NOPA. Bar Crudo serves, as the name suggests, a modern raw bar with only a few cooked dishes. After going a friend was disappointed I didn't get the clam chowder, which according to her is the best clam chowder you'll ever have. However, I am a fan of raw seafood (sushi addict extraordinaire) so I wanted to take full advantage of the raw fare Bar Crudo has to offer. After ordering a refreshing bottle of cava, we started out with a plate of various oysters at the recommendation of our server. They all delivered on their promise and tasted like they'd just come out of the ocean. For our main course we had the crudo sampler for two. The sample included four different kinds of fish: ahi tuna, arctic char, scallop and butterfish. The ahi tuna tasted like poke, with it's sauce of soy, lime, ginger and green onion. The arctic char, which was topped with horseradish creme fraiche, wasabi tobiko and dill. If only I could recreate this, it would be the perfect horderves for parties. The scallop was a nice pop of flavor, with blood orange, olive, fennel and tarragon accouterments. The sampler finished with the butterfish, which I was wary of but was actually delicious. It's a very smooth fish with little flavor, so it was almost like dessert when they served it with apples, pear vinaigrette and beet saffron caviar. We finished our mean with the artisan cheese plate, with fruits, pickles, honey and marmalade for pairing. This may be one of my new favorite restaurants in the city. The space is smaller and minimalistic with pops of interesting sea-related artwork. The kitchen is open so you can see all the fresh fish. The wait staff was very nice and extremely knowledgeable. I can't wait to go back!



The worst restaurant of the month was an unfortunate surprise as it came highly recommended by several foodie friends. It's the Beast & the Hare in Mission on Guerrero, which looks adorable and cozy from the outside. It called itself  an American style restaurant with an emphasis on meat (as the name would suggest). I would more classify it as American with a very strong Italian influence.We started with the avocado toast topper with boquerones. The bread used for the toast was hearty and had a ton of avocado on it. Unfortunately we did not know what boquerones are, which is fresh anchovies marinated in vinegar (a popular tapas in Spain). We then went to a samplers of meats and cheese. We got the coppa (cured pork neck) and the smoked duck, along with the feia (sheep/cow milk, semi-soft, Italian). This came on a plate with pickled vegetables, marmalade and honey. The coppa was "meh" (yes, I'm clearly an eloquent writer). The duck was really good but not what we expected. It was served as more of a paste in a jar. I think what makes the difference if you like or hate this restaurant is the level of service you receive. We had a reservation and got there right on time, but had to stand and wait an additional 30 minutes. The place is super small so you just have to stand in the entry way. A girl at work who liked this restaurant said she had a very informative server, who explained everything on the menu and made recommendations based on their tastes. We had a server who was clearly slammed and spend a brief amount of time with us. That's too bad, as that could have potentially changed my view of this dining experience. 


*Thanks to one of my all-time favorite people Tammy for visiting San Francisco. It was amazing to have you here to adventure with. Thanks for drinking wine and trying acro-yoga in Sonoma, singing Prince songs with Lyft drivers and trying to help your single friend flirt with cute waiters. I miss you already!

Friday, October 5, 2012

Pinterest Inspired Caturday







For more furry funny check out my Furry & Fat Cuteness page on Pinterest (includes more that just cats)!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Sappiness in Yemen

And no, I don't think everyone in Yemen is emo. I'm referring to the movie "Salmon Fishing in Yemen." First off, in case you don't know where Yemen is:


There, now that you've learned something educational from this blog post, let's continue with the movie review. I was excited to see this movie. It received a lot of critic buzz and made the rounds at the 2011 indie film festival circuit  The movie is based on the success novel with the same name by Paul Torday. I haven't read the book but after looking into it, it sounds a lot different than the movie. The book is classified as a political satire and won a prize for comedic writing. I love dry British humor. I think I would have liked this movie a lot more if it had satire. Unfortunately Hollywood decided to turn it into a romantic drama. And that was the beginning of their downfall. The movie stars Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt, two skilled British actors.Their acting abilities did not equal on-screen chemistry. The premise of the movie is that Harriett (Blunt) is trying to help foster Yemen-England relations for her boss but creating a goodwill story. Somehow she decides that the perfect story would be to introduce the sport of salmon fly fishing to Yemen. The movie doesn't provide any background as to where this out-there concept came from. She enlists the non-eager British government expert in salmon fisheries with Asperger's syndrome to help, Fred (McGregor). A Yemen sheikh decides donate millions of pounds to fund this project and bring salmon to the Yemen. This is not an easy task and they go through many hurdles trying to get this up and running. I think that part of the movie is interesting.

The part of the movie I take issue with is the romantic plot line. At the beginning Harriett is dating a solider who gets sent to war, promptly going MIA. Fed is married to a very career-oriented, ambitious woman who's work requires a lot of travel. Seemingly out of nowhere, halfway through the movie, Fred comes to the realization that he's in love with Harriett after his wife approaches him and calls him out on it. Harriett's been a weepy mess because she assumes her MIA boyfriend is probably dead. Instantaneously she returns Fred's affections. I won't spoil the ending even though I think you can guess where this is going. Anyway, the second part of the movie is extremely sappy. I really think they should have left it a political British satire. Rent this one if you want a sappy British love story that makes no sense. Watch "Love Actually" if you want a sappy British move that's actually good.


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The Shows of September

Let me preface this by saying I'm really, really trying to cut back on the amount of shows I go to. It just didn't work this month. Oops. Well, technically this is less than August! Here's quick snapshot of some amazing bands that made their way through San Francisco last month. 

I went to Slim's in SOMA for the first time ever and it's now one of my favorite venues in this city. The tickets are cheap, the crowd is the right amount of raucous, the drinks are affordable and the space is the perfect size. I was lucky enough to see The Heavy here for my first experience. The Heavy is a British rock band with strong instrumentals and saucy vocals. Their music almost has a vintage sound, like classic R&B. Their stage energy reminds me of Fitz & the Tantrums. They get everybody dancing and singing a long. Next time the tour the US I would definitely recommend checking them out. Some of my favorites singles of theirs are How You Like Me Now? and Colleen.


Later that week I went to my main spot, the Fox Theater in Oakland, to check out The Tallest Man On Earth. One of the friends I went with introduced me to his music and I was definitely impressed by what I heard online. While I'll be honest that I didn't catch the whole set, I was even more impressed by him live. The Tallest Man On Earth is Kristian Matsson from Sweden and he's actually pretty short. However, he's so charismatic on stage that it makes up for any lack of height. He's pretty much a one-man-band with an occasion backup support guy. At one point he was playing so hard his guitar string snapped but he just tossed it over his shoulder and kept on going. His style could be classified as indie folk, but he also is reminiscent of American folk from the 1970s. His voice is often compared to that of Bob Dylan, though I think that's a bit of a stretch. These days I'd classify him in the same category as Mumford & Sons or Bon Iver. Great music for an evening of chilling at home.


After that, I was back at the Fox Theater the week after for Hot Chip, which was a lot less mellow and a lot more dance party. Hot Chip is a Euro-Indie-Electric-Synth band (I think I just invented this genre) from London. They've been around since 2000 and are a great addition to any upbeat party or dance off. The band is bigger than I realized (5-7 guys). Their lighting and stage setup was very apropos for their sound. My only wish is that they had talked and interacted with the audience a little more, as many of these people have been huge fans for 10+ years. Still a great show though, so I recommend catching them if they swing through town. My favorites and some of their biggest known singles include Ready For the Floor and Night & Day.


At the end of September I saw Dragonette at the Mezzanine in SOMA. The Mezzanine hosts a lot of electronic, synth and DJ shows. They have a great space for it, but make sure you go on a night when there's a good show. Otherwise it turns into a rather drug-filled rave with people who appear to have fake IDs. This show was a great dance party and in my opinion a lot more energetic than the Hot Chip show. Dragonette is a Canadian electronic band, with songs verging on an 80s/90s vibe. I love the lead singer, Martina Sorbara. She has great energy, slightly reminiscent of Robyn. While the mainstream may have heard of Dragonette from their part in Martin Solveig's "Hello," I think some of their best singles are Let It Go and Fixin To Thrill.