foodwinesex

I love LA (we love it!)

Back at the gym again this morning. Can't miss a day...the discipline is one of the reasons for being there. The post-workout endorphin buzz is another. When I re-entered the dating world I decided that I didn't want to be embarassed when I took my shirt off. A fourth benefit came as a bit of a surprise to me. The week before last I was with B. I lifted her off the bed and flipped her over in a fluid motion with one arm. Wow. I don't plan on missing the gym again.

BK is back in town after a week and a half with the family in Oregon. CH is off to a friend's wedding in Amsterdam and the two of us are at dinner at Firefly. Gives us an opportunity to knock another restaurant off Bauer's Top 100. I got there first, sat at the bar and ordered a glass of the Sunstone Syrah, Santa Barbara. Nice big red. Chocolate, tobacco, long finish. BK arrived a moment later and we sat to order. Our dinner conversations tend to stay away from work issues and focus on food, wine, sex, women, the nature of relationships, restaurants, sports, music, technology, philosophy, books, etc. Firefly was, as BK characterized it, a good neighborhood place...good for families but not much of a singles scene. It is a temple of comfort food with good wines and a guy behind the (wine only) bar who knows his stuff. I started off with White Corn and Pasilla Pepper Chowder with Polenta Croutons. Great soup. The corn was, if anything, a bit undercooked...crunchy and very fresh tasting. Well done. For the next course I went with Grilled Pork Rib Chop with Spicy Porter Jus, Bacon, Grilled Corn off the Cob and Creamy Grits. This particular chop was good...better than Nopa, not as good as Town Hall. (A brief aside...JK assures me his experience with the Pork Chop at Nopa was very different than mine. "I had it. Was fantastic. While not huge, it was still very moist and tender. Really just perfectly cooked. Any less it would have been too rare." I must have just been there on an off night. I'll give it another shot.) BK ordered the Firefly’s Old School Meatloaf with Crimini Mushroom Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Blue Lake Beans. By the looks of his plate he liked it quite a bit. Dessert for me was Watermelon-Chai Spice Sorbet and Lemon Granita with Fresh Passion Fruit. Very tasty mix of fruit. BK got the Brebiou Cheese with Almond Crisps, Blueberries and Honey Comb. Firefly is the once-and-done type of place for me.

BK reminded me we have tickets for the upcoming Raconteurs show at the Warfield on the 23rd. He picked them up shortly after our trip to LA over Memorial Day weekend. (Hazy interlude with wild sound effects indicating we are traveling back in time to Memorial Day Weekend.) We headed out of Dodge for a little R&R in SoCal. We ended up staying at the Sunset Marquis. The first morning there I was working out at the tiny gym up in the back by the guest houses and I saw Jack White (of the White Stripes) and Brendan Benson walk by to their cottages. They were dressed in the same outfits as they wore on the cover of their single, Steady, As She Goes...my fave rock single of the year so far. Over the next day or so we saw the band kicking around, doing interviews, etc. Unlike most rockers, Jack White is a big guy. He's gotta be 6' 3" or more. I can see how he might do damage in some of his bar fights that you read about.

Indulging in the full LA experience had us heading out that Saturday evening to LAX, the hottest club in town. I had been assured by Brooke that this was the place to party. Once inside the door we realized that while this was the hip place for Brooke and company, I definitely skewed old here. I'm definitely not looking to party with the beautiful 20-somethings ten deep at the bar. If anything, I'm far more interested in spending time with women much closer to my own age. Boredom set in quickly and we were out of there and heading back to the hotel kicking it in the bar with a dry one.

Sunday in Beverly Hills was sunny and warm. Killing time, BK decided he wanted to buy a suit so we headed over to Armani. As me walked in we were greeted by Alain. I realized there was a pre-sale going on and inquired about it. He asked me how I knew about it (unpublicized) and I assured him I was an Armani guy. He tested me...who was my salesguy in SF? Dude...Dennis of course...you know him? We were in. Now, Alain had some uhhhh...preconceptions about BK and I coming in together. Since it was a bit busy, would we mind sharing a dressing room. Confident in our sexuality we said no problem. Hell...we just left the door open and came and went in various stages of dress. Alain racked up a big sale and was happy as hell when he asked us if he should send everything to the same address. We suggested different addresses. (It wasn't until a couple of weeks later when we spoke on the phone and asked how BK was that I suggested his wife would know better than I. He then asked me what I did for a living and shortly began pitching software ideas to me. Quick on his feet.)

Heading out of Armani, I noticed a Taschen store down the street. Being a big fan of their books we headed in. There was a book signing in the back of the store for Leroy Grannis and his book of surf photography. The store owner introduced himself and we chatted a bit about some obscure design titles. Seeing how much we appreciated his products, he invited us up to the roof where there was a private party in progress. Mexican food, margaritas and lots of beautiful people everywhere. The sun and tequila were lightly toasting everything. Perfect...

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The oddest combinations (or how chemistry sets usually result in a mess but every once in a while...)

foodwinesex. Another beautiful day in SF yesterday...another perfect Sunday. Gym, coffee, shower and a late breakfast at Absinthe. I usually go there for the creamy polenta with mascarpone, toasted walnuts, bananas and maple syrup but its better with cool weather. I went with their house-made granola, yogurt and fruit. Light and fresh.

After a bit of work I headed out mid-afternoon to SFMOMA. There were a couple of exhibitions I wanted to check out...particularly Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint. I had seen some of his Cremaster Cycle a few years ago and knew of his involvement with Björk (who appears in a number of his pieces and who supplied the score for this installation). The breadth of media types and range of scale were both amazing. There is a room specifically set up as an educational appetizer to use before you tackle the exhibit. Highly suggested that you check out this resource. There is plenty about this work on the SFMOMA site.

Being a design maven I also had to check out Xefirotarch/design series 4....cutting edge architecture. (Xefirotarch is Hernán Díaz Alonso's Los Angeles–based architectural firm.) Think Frank Gehry in the form of undiscovered deep-sea creatures. Forces you to rethink basic assumptions about architecture and technology. There was a model of a structure designed for U2. The rest of the design exhibit is on permanent display but they've added a few new pieces. One in particular has been an object of overt lust for me for several years...the Aprilia Moto 6.5 motorcycle, designed by Phillipe Starck. Damn, a nearly perfect embodiment of my ideas of design, sex and masculinity.

As I was leaving the museum I got a call from jevering. He and Brooke were over on Chestnut Street and had reservations at Mamacita's. SteveD and Patrick, two guys who work with jevering (SteveD deserves an entire post himself) were to join us when they got in from the airport. Long story short...lots of appetizers, pitchers of margaritas (all tasty...esp. the pomegranite but mixed on the weak side) and a long wait for the guys. So long that I never got to my entree...too chipped out. Next time...it did look promising. On the other hand, the crowd was great. Lots of women. There was a group of three in a row at a table facing me. (Sidebar...why is it that when three women go out together and sit in a row that the hottest one is invariably in the middle? Is this some under-reported subtlety of Buckminster Fuller's thinking on groups of threes? Is the brain in being wired to appreciate beauty forcing a symmetry in social situations?) As they were getting up to leave I approached the middle woman, gave her my card, made some small talk and waved as they left. She was just my style. I hope she calls (she said she would). She told me her name but I forgot it instantly. Not a good start on my part. (Update - ChP just reached out to me....nice.)

Last night I thought a lot about the whole chemistry thing I've been contemplating and how I might have been affected in my youth. There was a familly across the street and a couple of houses down from where I grew up (Long Island). They were Irish/Italian Catholic and had nine kids. The oldest, Philip was 4 years older than me and the next oldest was Patty and she was 2 years older than me. Patty was my best friend for years. Total tomboy. She (and her sister Kathy) would wrestle me to the ground, sit on me and tickle my balls. Think about what that sets up in the head of an 8-9 year old boy. Philip was my babysitter. He'd come over, play records, show me how the high-school kids danced, turned me on to the Beatles before they hit the US and in short taught me how to be cool. Philip was gay. As it turned out, Patty was lesbian. I adored them both but couldn't get on their bus. But one time and one time only, Patty got on my bus.

I must have been 18. We were at a party. I was hormonally-driven, still pretty inexperienced and in no way prepared for what was coming. We'd had a beer or two (as I recall, Grolsch ceramic caps were the beer of choice then) and sat on opposite sides of the room. Patty leaned over and asked at a volume that insured the whole room would hear, "Hey G...you hungry for a ball?" My astonishment was no match for my hunger. "Wow...absolutely." We headed out and made a stop along the way at a bar. A gay bar. I had never been to one and was again unprepared. Patty wanted to play a game. We slow-danced (actually we sort of stood they and grinded together) in full view of all her lesbian friends. I was oblivious to the animosity. We headed back to my place and had an evening I never forgot (and I never knew how Patty remembered it). I do know that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both of us. What the hell kind of chemistry was in the air that night?

Life goes on. I have two brothers that came out years ago. Philip died of AIDs in the early 90s. I continued to stay in touch with Patty whenever I was visiting my family on the old block until she died about 10 years ago. I'm sure she offered a big contribution to who I am today. Psychological, chemical or something else altogether? I do miss both of them.

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