foodwinesex

My Little Red Sportscar

foodwinesex. Its funny to note the metaphors used in describing interpersonal relationships. I was recently chatting with two women, both veterans of the SF dating scene, and they were describing me as a "new listing". Real Estate. Thankfully I wasn't described as a "fixer-upper". Another metaphor was the "little red wagon" which is the transport device for a woman's "issues" or "baggage". I'm not without my own issues of course but what I see out there sometimes requires a 747 jumbo jet to move.

This is the shit I was trying to jettison from my thoughts as I drove over to the SF Ferry Building. I was also touching on the night before. While driving home I was listening to Energy 92.7 FM and the DJ was talking about a show that night at Ruby Skye. As it turned out, Pete Tong was spinning and tickets were long sold out but if you're one of the first ten callers...well, I was indeed one of the first ten and a pair of tickets would be waiting at will call. At this point I gave ChP a call only to find her at the airport. It was an ice-breaker of sorts since we hadn't spoken in a week. She was heading out of town for a friend's party down in Palm Desert for the weekend. I'm in her doghouse. We had an arguement and it was pretty much my fault...actually entirely my fault. It's gonna take some supplicating to get back into her good graces - something I definitely want. Sometimes I'm a fuckup. Obviously ChP wasn't going dancing tonight so I called another friend, a gal who is a great dancer. Just friends with no chance for anything more. Perfect. We danced our asses off and went home. No alcohol...just water. Good exercise, lots of fun, no hangover. Nice.

Saturday morning was crisp and clear...another perfect autumn San Francisco morning. I know as far as top-down driving I'm living on borrowed time. Last year the rainy season started early and went long into the year. Brutal. So far the weather has held out nicely and I'm supplicating the weather gods by giving thanks. On my way over, I gave K a call. This was our thing. Every Saturday morning we'd go over to the Ferry Building for breakfast and people watching. Today was perfect for both. K was homesick. She missed the baby gallettes we had every Saturday. She wanted a few days off from school and longed to sleep in her own bed...just for a few nights. She'll be home for five days for Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to catching up with her and hearing all about her new boyfriend Steven.

As usual, the Farmer's market was packed but everyone is still shaking off sleep and moving slowly. I sidled up to the Hog Island Oyster Company counter and ordered a small plate of oysters (Sweetwaters, Atlantics, and Kumamotos). A dash of hot sauce and voilà, breakfast. Damn they were good. Wandered over to a pastry vendor and got my baby gallettes and almond bars. The line was too long, as always, at Peets so I headed into Delica rf-1, the Japanese delicatessen. Beef sushi (Meyer Ranch natural, hormone-free beef, topped with baby arugula, minced shallots, and julienne radish, wrapped with Nori seaweed), Kobe-style deep-fried Potato Croquettes (delicately fried Russet and Yukon gold potato and sautéed onion croquette, and wasabi garlic potato salad (garlic potato salad with wasabi mayonnaise, edamame, snap peas, and romaine hearts). Staples for any well-stocked San Francisco kitchen.

As is my ritual, I headed over the Whole Foods on 4th Street to do my weekly grocery shopping. The usual...fresh pineapple, St. Benoit yogurt, organic milk, salads, etc. From here its on to the Jug Shop on Russian Hill to pick up a few bottles of wine for the week. (Looks like I'll be drinking the wine alone for the next few days.) Some days, slow sunny days, afford me the time to appreciate and luxuriate in the small pleasures of life in SF. How lucky am I to have all this stuff at my reach? Something to keep in mind this week of Thanksgiving.

I do miss ChP.

g.

A Soft Glow to the Head

foodwinesex. Thursday evening’s commute back to the city may have been the worst ever. It was bumper to bumper all the way from Mountain View north on 101. Most of the workday was dealing with our board meeting, which had ended a couple of hours earlier. I had just left a review meeting and was on my way to get my hair cut…having waited two weeks from the day I got an appointment with Tara at Kamalaspa…and just knew I was gonna be late. About halfway up the evening took a turn when I moved from the two lane toward the one lane and got smacked upside the door by a Suzuki motorcycle. A young guy, obviously in love with his bike (given the expensive looking Suzuki color-coordinated leathers he was wearing) was both somewhat inexperienced riding it and impatient enough to split lanes. On the collision he remained upright and other than a sore arm from where it met with my side-view mirror, the only damage visible in the darkness was a dent and long scratch along the driver’s side of my M3. Fuck. This means at least a week in the shop. At least I have a guy. It also means CHP coming out to do the inquiry, etc. No haircut tonight. The only question remaining…would I make it on time for dinner with ChP at Bushi-tei?

Traffic never did let up and I ended up arriving at dinner at exactly 8PM…three hours after I left the valley. This is what commuting is coming to. With Silicon Valley booming again traffic has gotten considerably worse than a year ago. What used to take 50 minutes in the morning on 280 is now 75 minutes. I am NOT looking forward to the rainy season and what that means.

Bushi-tei. This is the second time I’ve been here, the first being a visit a couple of months ago with BK. That meal was surprisingly good. We both had the Omakase and every bit of it was great as was the service and ambiance. Since my evening had gotten off to such a fucked start I was really hoping for something to make up for it…both dinner and afterwards.

I walked in…place was full. I approached the hostess and before I uttered a word she said, “Mr. g, your guest is waiting for you upstairs.” Nice touch…how did she know who I was? I went upstairs to find ChP at our table…totally decked out in a black and white dress with a plunging neckline. She looked fucking great wearing her hair up and a huge smile, perhaps to make up for what she knew I’d just been through. The salmon colored lighting gave her skin a soft glow. (Good restaurant designers know exactly what they’re doing.) Her cleavage took my mind off the traffic/accident/hellish-parking trifecta. The waiter in his soft French accent offered menus and reviewed the Omakase. We had a few questions and then requested a wine suggestion…a pinot. He winked and suggested a Fritz, which was not on the menu, very reasonably priced and as it turned out, delicious. Things were going well. We went to order and went with Tender loin of Kobe beef, pommes frites, perigueux (me) and Grilled Chilean sea bass, baby bokchoi, pignoli, ginger- tamari, lime oil (ChP). We both went with the celery root cream soup to start. (Given the menu I would have normally gone with a fish dish but last night I feasted at Kiss with JK and gorged on super-fresh sushi - and sake - until I couldn’t eat any more.) The wine was poured and an Amuse-Bouche was delivered. The mushroom pate was light and flavorful. The soup arrived and was terrific…perfect temperature (a pet peeve since most soups arrive too cool), flavorful and beautifully textured. I enjoyed it quickly since I this was my first meal of the day. I repeated my appreciation for ChP’s dress, smile, cleavage for the fifteenth time and poured more wine. We hadn’t gone with the sweetbreads Omakase and instead chose from the entrée/plata menu and our entrées arrived. My Kobe beef, rare, was perfect. Right balance of seared outside to blood inside…my protein fix. ChP’s sea bass was perfect as well. The service was the right balance of attendance, intimacy, humor and understanding. This guy was gonna get a big tip.

We split a dessert of Roquefort roasted black mission fig, vanilla bean oil with balsamic ice cream. Just the right ending. The sweetness of the figs was balanced with the creamy pungency of the ice cream. Hell of a good meal, I’d say one of the five best I’ve had this year, with great service and perfect ambiance. As we headed down the stairs, the proprietor who had been walking up the stairs, stopped, changed direction and retrieved ChP’s coat. We had no idea how he knew it was hers. Again, nice trick.

On the strength of two visits I think that not only did Bushi-tei deserve their Michelin star but frankly I think they’re better than all four of the two-star places (Aqua, Manresa, Michael Mina, Cyrus) awarded in the bay area. This is one of the very best places in town. Earlier in the evening I congratulated our waiter on their star and he responded that they were very proud of the award. I went on to say that my favorite place in town these days is Fleur de Lys (awarded a single star…robbery) and he told me that Hubert Keller brought a group to Bushi-tei twice a month to eat. High compliment indeed.

After dinner we headed back to ChP’s place for a little down time together. We hadn’t been together for 5 days (and I’m not seeing anybody else) but it felt like a year and the sex emphasized that. Tonight was a bit more intense and a bit less playful than usual. It completely erased the tensions of the day and it wasn’t until later when I got back into my car and saw the scratch that it came back…but just a little. Bushi-tei and ChP seemed to be the magic combination to make it all right again.

g.

Tony Rocky Horror

foodwinesex. The list grows yet shorter but last night offered a new twist.

This past week I was busy slimming down the SF-specific part of the list of 100. Wednesday night BK and I visited Clementine. The less said the better. I'll just sum it up by saying the hostess was young and very pretty, the bordeaux by the glass was nearly undrinkable, the soup (a cream-based onion soup) was grainy and remarkably free of any flavor resembling onion and the halibut (yes, again) was remarkable in how unremarkable it was. I won't be returning. BK had the same opinion...one and done.

Different story Thursday night. K and I decided that we needed a pizza and there was a pizza place on the list. Having been brought up on pizza in NY, I resented not being able to get a decent slice west of the Hudson. This resentment shows itself as pizza fucking snobbery. There is nothing like a slice at Steve's on Trinity Place in downtown Manhattan. Needless to say, my daughter has genetically inherited my attitude and she carries it to a new level. Despite all that, I have a list to finish and Pauline's Pizza is on it. We stood and then sat in line for thirty minutes. This place was packed and given the mutual familiarity of the patrons, everybody here comes back regularly. We eventually got our table and we were famished. Menus came quickly and we ordered. So here's the deal. Since this isn't NY, this isn't NY pizza. By definition, pizza is only really pizza in NY so I felt free to order toppings that would have my manhood challenged in any pizzeria in NY. Get it? This isn't really pizza. A technicality I'll grant you, but a good one. We ordered a large pizza with split toppings. Since K is a vegetarian she couldn't hang with the tasso I ordered on my half. She ordered cilantro on her half. We added goat cheese to the entire pie. The verdict? One of the best pies west of the Hudson. Now I'll grant you...damned with faint praise but I really did enjoy the pizza. The crust was good...very thin and crisp. Not unlike John's of Bleeker Street in the Village. We couldn't finish the large but we were both full and happy two thumbs up. We will go back to Pauline's.

Friday night and dinner with ChP. We walked over to Bistro Aix for out 9 PM reservation. The place was more like a neighborhood place with an upscale attitude. I mean that in the best way. We had a table by the window and watched the crowds walk by. The service was good but coming at 9 on a Friday evening meant they were out of a few items. No problem...there was plenty on the menu that looked good. For an appetizer I went with the Baby Beet Salad with Baby Spinach, Goat Cheese & Orange Vinaigrette. ChP went with Butter Lettuce Salad with Fresh Herbs & Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette. Naturally my initial reaction was to compare it to the fabulous baked goat cheese at Nopa. This was good but couldn't touch the version at Nopa. Any comparison wouldn't be fair. Let's just say it was fine and I'd order it again. For dinner I went with Crispy Roasted Chicken Breast with Baby Red Potatoes, Haricots Verts & Jus. ChP ordered the Grilled Rare Ahi Tuna with Wild Mushroom/Red Wine Sauce, Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Fried Baby Spinach. The chicken was cooked perfectly. Very hot and moist. The beans were fresh and snapped. It was all nicely done. This is not terribly sophisticated cuisine but rather solid food...fresh ingredients cooked perfectly. Very enjoyable. Even more enjoyable was the walk back to her place and the evening ahead. We hadn't seen each other in six days and had some catching up to do. It was cold outside but her bed was very warm and inviting. We had a glass of cabernet franc and enjoyed each other's company.

Speaking of Nopa, this was the first Friday in two months that I missed stopping in to eat or drink. I made up for it by stopping in for a martini Saturday evening. The host greeted me heartliy and instantly asked where I'd been the previous night. He said we'd just call it "the weekend streak" and keep it alive. Similarly I went back to pay respects to Lawrence Jossel, the chef. He immediately asked where I'd been Friday night. Apologies and making up for it. He wants a full report on El Bulli when I get back. Leaving Nopa I headed over to ChP's...park the car, gather her and walk over to the next place on the list - Isa. As I mentioned earlier, there was a twist...we were double dating with BK and CH.

I'd been looking forward to introducing the group and we'd all heard or known so much about one another it was high time we got to eat together. Isa turned out to be a great place to make it happen. The girls looked great. CH was ebullient as she nearly always is. ChP, being a bit of the new gal in the group, was a bit reserved but opened up as the evening progressed. BK was himself and conversation was easy and fun. CH had sent me an SMS the night before saying, "UR losing your ass! xo CH." Having no fucking idea what that meant she went on to explain that she meant it literally. She thought I was getting too thin and losing my ass. Now...I've always thought of my ass as one of my best features so I was shocked. The laughter around the table assuaged the pain and I made a mental note to pay more attention to my ass in the mirror. Damn. Back to dinner. Our waitress suggested 2 or 3 small plates per person. This insured a lot of sharing and plate passing. We ordered: Spicy Tuna Tartar with lemon, crushed avocados, pear & pinenuts, Dungeness Crab Salad with celery, mango & fuji apple, Baked Laura Chenel Goat Cheese with pesto, tomato & pinenuts, Seared Dayboat Scallops with baby artichokes, tomatoes, olives & basil, Potato Wrapped Seabass with brown butter, capers, lemon & parsley, Roasted Rack of Lamb with zucchini, red pepper & natural jus, Truffled Risotto with sautéed mushrooms & reggiano, and A Medley of Sautéed Vegetables. There may have been other dishes as well but they were likely lost in the mass of plates. We washed it all down with a lovely bottle of 2002 Montrachet Morgeot 1er Cru, Morey Coffinet. Every dish (and the wine) was a winner. I think the Sea Bass was my favorite of the evening. Wow. I unreservedly recommend this place for a great fun dinner with great service. One of the best restaurants of the year in my opinion.

Over three hours later we finished dinner and wine and headed out. I'd love to double with those guys again. What a fun couple. Isa was just a few doors down from Bistro Aix so we repeated our walk of Friday. We headed inside to get warm and get comfortable. ChP got a foot rub. (She'd worn open toe shoes and her feet were chilly.) I got a nice back massage and a comment on the scratches on my back from the previous evening. We got physical and then relaxed in her big warm bed. A great way to cap the week...especially since I have a lot of traveling coming up over the next few weeks and these moments will be few and far between.

g.

Surrealistic Pillow (with apologies to Jefferson Airplane)

foodwinesex. This past week saw plenty of food and wine but the sex was all abstract (at least until Friday night...jeez, we went six nights without). ChP and I had a "discussion" of the Indulgence post. Actually, she was really pissed at me. She made some good points. As it turns out, last Sunday evening her friends really let her have it over the entry. "I didn't know you were multi-orgasmic" and so on. "How could he post that kind of stuff." That was part of it. Another is that I probably over-rotated on the guilt part of it. The indulgence was actually part of a much larger picture that I under-represented. I'm glad we actually talked about all this because initially I think ChP was going to hold back. It didn't take much to set her into motion and she let me have it. Good.

The discussion generalized into sex in San Francisco...specifically as discussed in the latest issue of 7x7 Magazine. In one of the articles, actually a round table discussion titled Sex, Truth and Audiotape, the SF singles scene was dissected. As part of the discussion the male/female dynamics are discussed and the men are characterized as unmanly. "Men...aren't allowed to be men anymore. Men move here and they lose their balls. They get San Franciscanized. Check your balls at the Golden Gate." Women are characterized as the aggressors in the sexual marketplace. Interestingly, ChP offers an insight. The overwhelming numbers of women competing for the available straight men force the women to be more aggressive. This means the men often wait for the women to come to them. They can afford to be lazy. This means the most aggressive women frequently win. (No wonder sex on the second date is de rigeur.) There is a name for the type of woman who usually wins...a "cougar." The cougar comes in many forms but each stems from the Felinae Generalus, the older woman, typically early thirties to mid-forties, who has abandoned traditional rules of romantic engagement and taken as her mission the seduction of as many game young men as she can possibly handle. (Look...I'm sorry if I'm coming off as Rip van Winkle here but I feel like I'm on an anthropological study folks.) Where, I wonder, does that leave women just looking for a guy for a traditional relationship? Fucked.

ChP suggests one night I go by the Balboa Cafe. It seems that the Balboa is ground zero for cougar sightings in SF. Now I'm guessing if she's pushing me to the Balboa I must be way outside the target demographic. "What, me worry?" (Actually she says I'm not and that she's really not pushing me there. Huh?) In the same neighborhood is The Matrixfillmore. In 1965, this was a club named, simply, the Matrix, It had been converted from a pizza parlor by Marty Balin who needed a place for his new band, The Jefferson Airplane, to gig. It closed in 1972 but was reopened in 2001 and is now part of the young and restless SF singles scene. (It's interesting to note that both properties are part of the Plumpjack group, founded by our own Mayor Gavin Newsom - himself young and single.) I'd been to TheMatrixfillmore some months ago with a handful of friends (GNP, EmM, DN, SP) and we'd had a bit to drink before coming. Having been ready to enjoy ourselves we found (I found) a club full of young, self-absorbed, pretty singles. Then, of course, I didn't have the context to actually read the social language being spoken and didn't really enjoy the place or the crowd.

I gotta admit, I find the whole scene slightly surreal. I'll be traveling a lot over the next few weeks but when I get back and with ChP's encouragement, I'm gonna check this out at a deeper level and learn the language though I don't know that I'll ever speak it.

g.

Indulgence.

foodwinesex. The quest continues. Monday night was Plouf with BL. Tuesday night was Ozumo with Tz. Wednesday night was Antica Trattoria with BK. Thursday night was Terzo on Steiner off Union with RY. Friday night was Nopa (of course but sans Allejandra) and drinks at A16 with ChP. Last night was Aziza, out on Geary and 22nd Avenue with ChP. What a great week for food in a great city. Aziza was a pleasant surprise.

I spent my Saturday catching up on the usual. Workout early, came home and washed my car, caught up on email, groceries, went downtown to my tailor, picked up a Theory t-shirt (which I ended up wearing to dinner), picked up a pair of Starck Mikli sunglasses I had in for repair, etc. I had a 3 PM appointment with an old friend, APv. I'd worked with his brother, HPv a few years back and until recently, his dad. I'd always loved his family and they'd seemed to like me as well. We got together at the Peets in Burlingame but hadn't anticipated the street fair that blanketed the town. APv wanted some advice on a few projects he had underway...music, internet, telephony, radio...he lives where they all come together and given my career history I've spent time in all the same areas but with different concentrations. We had a fruitful discussion and we'll have followups as well. Great to see him.

From there, home, catnap, over to make a quick stop to see some friends. STr, a buddy of mine is preparing to take his wife on a six-month 'round the world tour and there was a bon voyage gathering for him. Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago while playing hockey he blew out the ACL in his right knee so I found him sitting in the corner, in good spirits as he always seems to be (and in this case aided by percocets) with a pneumatic brace on the knee. A houseful of folks was there (GNP, RY, my phenomenal admin KC and her sig other BG, fresh in from his new gig at Dell in Austin and many others), and the food was great. I had just planned to make an in-and-out appearance since I had dinner plans with ChP. When I walked in I saw CH and BK. I did a double take. CH looked phenomenal...I hadn't seen her since January...black dress, great shoes, hair down. Wow. BK was in Armani (with a badass shirt that everybody was commenting on). They definitely were the SF couple. I had originally considered bringing ChP to this but after accepting the invitation weeks ago, I forgot about it until a day or so ago and then I thought given the large number of people I knew here that the rapid introduction of ChP to this group might be a bit much. It'll have to be a bit more gradual. They all know a lot about her and she knows nothing about most of them. Maybe we'll start with a double with BK and CH.

Headed over to ChP's place. She finished dressing, looked great, we jumped in the car and drove across town, pulled up, parked and walked over to the restaurant. The place looked dark and deserted. We peeked in the windows but all was dark (and it was pretty dark outside...our reservations were for 9 PM). I supposed the place might be closed down when a doorman appeared from nowhere to open the door to a packed place with a lively bar and colorful Moroccan design elements everywhere. The windows had all been coated with some type of cobalt blue film that you could barely see out though and couldn't see in through at all. This place was hopping and as the door opened the aromas grabbed us and pulled us in. We were shown to our table immediately and handed menus. Everything looked good and the cocktail menu was quite exotic. We started with a nibble - toasted cayenne-cumin almonds. Addictive. Ordering...my opener was fresh Bodega goat cheese, cherry tomato & citrus jam, pistachios, za'atar toast. ChP's opener was yellow doll & crimson red watermelon fried rosemary, Marshall's Farm honey, and pecorino. For mine, the goat cheese was far too mild to stand up to the jam which was delicious...both pungent and sweet. The watermelon opener was beautifully presented fresh and sweet. ChP loved it. We ordered a Pinot Noir...Rex Hill Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2004. The light red worked nicely with our entrees. I ordered the longline-caught yellowfin tuna seared rare, fennel seed crust, roasted tahini, tunisian salad. ChP ordered the Couscous Aziza -grilled chicken, prawns, spicy lamb sausage, and stewed lamb. Both were delicious but I couldn't finish mine. The portions here are large and I just don't eat that much.

Conversation was pleasant...events-of-the-day type of stuff...she's at the gym every day as well and tomorrow she's taking a boxing class. Hmmm. Chat..chat..chat. Then something interesting. She drew an analogy between the sex we've been having and "eating caviar every day". Indulgent was the word I believe she used. Guilt, specifically Catholic guilt, was what I heard. Definitely a mixed message. She explained that multiple "out of body" orgasms every day was indulgent...not that she didn't enjoy the sex..."how could she not"...but it was all just so, so, so...enjoyable. Like eating caviar every day. There was no specific conclusion but rather just an observation. Danger Will Robinson, Danger. This was the Catholic upbringing forcing itself out...the very thing I've fought my entire life and one that I've tried to insure my daughter would not inherit. Definitely something to watch.

We went back to her place. I went down on her. She had several out-of-body orgasms. I got an amazing blowjob and then fucked my way to what was unquestionably my best orgasm of 2006. Fuck guilt.

g.

Cliffhanger

foodwinesex. A cliffhanger is a plot device in which a movie, novel, or other work of fiction contains an abrupt ending, often leaving the main characters in a precarious or difficult situation.

Its been a wild week so far. Sunday morning was lovely. I'd spent the night with ChP and Sunday morning I woke early. I had it in my head that I had something to take care of at home but couldn't quite put my finger on what. As I was about to rise I found a hand persuading me not to be so industrious. I was easily convinced. Sunday made it five consecutive days having enjoyed ChP's physical company. One of the most rewarding aspects of sex together is that ChP is multi-orgasmic. Another is that we are both vocal. There's a lot of laughter as well and we can talk pretty openly about what we like. Sunday morning was our first "quickie" although at about 20 minutes or so I don't know if it qualifies. I do know that later that morning at the gym I had to check in the mirror to see if I had fingernail scratches down my back. This is fun stuff. The rest of the day remained uneventful...groceries (Whole Foods), laundry, dog walks, housecleaning, wine shopping, etc. Dinner was just ready-made food from Whole Foods and I passed on wine. I knew it was gonna be a while before I saw her again...damn. (Monday about mid-day I got a text message..."I'm thinking about you while rolling hard smooth grapes around in my mouth". This made my afternoon. "Actually that WAS me," I replied. "That explained why they taste so good"...and so on. This is what SMS was made for.)

I was looking forward to dinner with BL at Plouf. Monday evening is the worst for restaurants but dinner turned out to be really enjoyable. I got there a few minutes early and had a martini at the bar. BL showed up a few minutes later and we grabbed a table outside. BL and I used to work together but he left a couple of years ago and is now with a technology company in SF. Looks like our companies may be doing a deal together...small world. He's well educated in food and especially wine. He has friends in the wine business all over the world and when they're in town they stay with him. They frequently repay him with cases of wine. He also has a thing for out-of-the-way small restaurants around town and seems to know them all. I was hungry...this was my first meal of the day. I gotta eat more. (My weight's dropped to its lowest in over 20 years...too low...daily workouts and unusual stress.) The menu came around but I ordered specials of the day. I started with and Apple and Celery soup and for entree ordered the Ono on creamy polenta with truffled pine nut relish. BL went with the Lobster ravioli with Haas Avocado, Crisp Bacon and Sweet Corn Broth. For his entree he ordered the Olive crusted roasted lamb with artichokes, flageolet beans, garlic confit and aioli. He ordered a bottle of the 2002 Raymond merlot Napa Valley Reserve. The soup was really unusual. You could taste both the apples and the celery but the apple was far more predominant. Very tangy. The celery hid in the back but popped out in every spoonful. The Ono was terrific. Medium-rare, as I had requested, the fish was light in taste. The pine-nut relish offered a crunchy counterpoint to the creamy polenta. The truffle overtones pulled it all together into one of the most surprising dishes I've had lately. The wine was delicious although maybe a bit overpowering for such a light fish.

Dinner conversation centered on food mostly. He suggested I check out the Zeitgeist bar and Walwerks restaurant. He also recommended Supenchugen over in Hayes Valley. Made a note to check em all. We talked music, work, etc. He invited me to an open house Wednesday at Zebulon. Gotta see if there's time before dinner with BK. At about 10:30 we parted company and I headed hone to crash. Fell asleep on the couch and was deep when I felt somebody sit on the couch next to me. Startled for a second I turned around to see X in silhouette. "I don't want to get a divorce," I heard. Not fiction. To be continued...

g.

Stick out your neck and...

Monday night and ChP has a friend in town. They have plans but ChP and I are going to meet up a bit later. Continuing on the list of top 100 Bay Area restaurants I decide on Piperade and since I'm alone I just sit at the bar. During this "year of the restaurant" I find myself eating alone frequently. I don't mind. When I was doing a lot of business traveling I realized that the best seat in the house is usually at the bar...its the center of activity and you can listen in on the chatter of waiters' weaving dialog - what's going on at table 12 or who's dating who, etc. The soundtrack for dinner. (I particularly love this at Gramercy Tavern - my Manhattan go-to restaurant.) Tonight Piperade is subdued but full although the bar is empty. The crowd skews old...not many people below 35 here tonight and a quick scan around the room offers no eye candy with the exception of the hostess wearing all black showing her long blonde hair off to great effect.

Anthony, the fellow behind the bar offered me a menu and a wine list. I order my opener (Haricots vert and fig salad with Perfect Blondes and walnut vinagrette). I learn that Perfect Blondes are walnuts which are beautifully fresh with a nice subtle flavor and crunch. My entree will be Filet of halibut, corn, orzo and chorizo chowder with tomato salpicon. The salad is interesting. The green beans snap and are a bit garlicky...the vinagrette. The figs are just a bit sweet and soft. I don't think they really add anything. The blondes are delicious. Nice opener but not too remarkable. The halibut, on the other hand, was excellent. I've been eating a lot of halibut lately (Nopa last friday, the opener at Betelnut) and this is perfectly cooked. The orzo, corn and chorizo and perfect complements. The chorizo add a zip of flavor that seems intense when contrasted against the mild fish. The corn and orzo add a bit of weight to the meal and a bit of sweetness. Lovely. I go to Anthony for a wine suggestion...red, of course. He suggests the 2005 Candela pinot noir Cuvee Hirigoyen. The wine is nice and works well with the halibut. Nothing earth shattering but he made a good call.

As I finish Anthony comes over and checks to see that I'm satisfied. I'm happy and I begin telling him about my "year of the restaurant". He's fascinated and starts to ask me what I think of Bay Area restaurants. I think for a moment and reply that I find them very conservative. The one place that stuck its neck out, Winterland, got their head cut off. Most everybody follows one another. Same "wow" pork chop. Everybody has an ahi opener. There is very little to surprise. Now, some of this is understandable...halibut everywhere may indicate that the fish are running this time of year. On the other hand with the exception of unusual cuisine-specific dishes, how often are you surprised by something you see on a menu in SF? Rarely. From what I read and hear, it would appear that Chicago is the city in the US for exciting cuisine. (V and I are looking for a business reason to go there.) Grant Achatz at Alinea, Homaro Cantu at Moto, Graham Elliot Bowles at Avenues in the Peninsula Hotel are all on the cutting edge of molecular gastronomy and while its not to everyone's liking, at least they're pushing the edge and its unlikely you'll find too many of the same items on their respective menus. My dinner at Fat Duck earlier this year was the best I've ever had and I have high hopes for my upcoming visit to El Bulli in September.

As the conversation ended I headed over to Enoteca Ottimista on Union to meet ChP for a glass of wine. As we meet its apparent that the place is closed on Monday night...we head to another place a couple of blocks west. The place is packed...some sporting event has just wrapped up and the players are partying at the bar. The bartender, evidently one of the players, was playing air guitar between pours. Journey? Guns N' Roses? What the hell did we walk into? All is temporarily forgotten as ChP runs her fingers down my chest. Evidently all the gym work is paying dividends. We finish our wine and I bring her home. Her visitor is gone but she has an early morning at work (starting a new gig) and there are biology-timing issues. Wednesday night, she promises. Damn, girl. I'll work it out at the gym I guess...

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Heads or tails?

The list slowly gets smaller. Many of you know that I'm on a mission this year to dine at the top 100 Bay Area restaurants as defined by Michael Bauer in his annual list. Happy to report that I'm making progress. Many of these with BK. Last night we checked Acquerello off the list. Dinner got off to an inauspicious start. No bar. Strike one. We waited 40 minutes for our table. Strike two. There was no strike three. Dinner was great. BK liked it even more than I did and suggested a return visit...perhaps with CH and ChP. We've never doubled and this might be the place to do it. So, dinner...well actually as we were waiting for lingering diners to leave our table we were treated to a couple of drinks. First came an unusual aperitif. A finger sized flute held a combination of fresh squeezed orange juice, sweet vermouth, Pellegrino and bitters. BK suggested it tasted like a creamsicle. Exactly. A few minutes later we were offered a pale rose (Rotari - 25% Chardonnay & 75% Pinot Nero). Fragrant and floral but not overly fruity. With glass in hand we were finally seated amidst earnest apologies.

We had pre-ordered while waiting for our table. I was hoping ChP could come out for a short visit...maybe for a quick glass of wine and I didn't want to call too late. As soon as we were seated an Amuse bouche was offered...a delicate parmesan budin with shaved green asparagus and lemon. It came across as the lightest quiche I'd ever tasted. Good start. For openers we both ordered chopped carpaccio of kampachi with parsley, lemon zest and Gaeta olives. Home run. BK liked it even more than me. We eat a hell of a lot of tuna but this was near the top...same league as Bacar and Michael Mina. Dinner moved right along...my entree was a roast breast of duck with fresh cherries, crispy potatoes and seared escarole. Pretty damn good. They got the medium rare just right. The cherries played against the fatty edges of the duck perfectly. The thin, crispy potato tendrils added a bit of crunch to the plate. Yum. BK ordered the veal (first time I've seen him order veal) and left nothing on his plate. He raved about it.

Dinner conversation was great as usual. We've been attending an Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the Stanford campus. Despite the fact that our company won an award as one of the 100 most innovative companies, its been very disappointing so far. The ideas are stale and having been to TED and EG 2006 earlier this year, this conference is falling flat. Conversation moved to the women. BK is meeting CH in a few days and couldn't be more excited. She's been in Europe for the last few weeks and he's missed her. A lot. They've been texting back and forth and while I don't know what they've been saying, he's been re-reading his blackberry a lot. Conversation evolved and then he said something that hit me upside the head and has me thinking. He suggested that maybe the reason I've been so enamored of ChP is because her values resonate with me. Her values. Where did that come from? This stayed with me all night and was there when I woke up this morning. Shit. There is something to this. Geez...implications are deep here.

This was looping through my head as I was heading out to meet ChP. During dinner we texted back and forth and agreed to meet for a glass of wine at Enoteca Ottimista on Union. I'd been there once before...earlier this year for a local TED event. I parked right in front...my parking karma was on. I walked in, grabbed a table and she arrived a few minutes later looking great as usual. We each ordered a glass of red and chatted a bit when Kelly introduced herself. Surprised, I looked up, mumbled a hello and she was gone in a flash. Meeting her friend's new boyfriend? Dunno...seemed nice enough. I'm sure we'll meet again...hopefully when I'm in a position to make a better impression on ChP's friends. We finished the wine, jumped in my car and talked a bit. Big topic stuff. Fate, chemistry...the stuff I've been preoccupied with. Then she said something that took me back a bit. She knows I don't believe fate put us in that room because we were somehow predestined to be together. Rather, she suggested, fate put us in the same general vicinity to see what would happed. OK. Particle or wave? Nature or nurture? Chocolate or peanut butter? The world is filled with apparent contradictions that somehow are really two sides of a single coin. Gotta think..gotta think...ChP has to go in now. Kiss goodnight and home. Lots to think about. Heads or tails?

g.

Taking care of business (with apologies to BTO)

Had dinner last night at Gary Danko with DoP. (Once again my admin, KC the miracle worker, pulled off the impossible.) This was a strange one. I met her with at Nopa a few weeks ago. She was with a man of roughly her own age (and I assumed they were a couple) and her globetrotting mom. Nice group. We all got to chatting a bit and I told them a bit about what I did. She explained that she was a landscape architect with a prestigious firm in SF. She was fascinated by the whole creative thing and intimated that it might be cool for me to address her firm...to talk about creativity and fostering innovation. She was up on the topic due to an article she had recently read in Businessweek.

Fast forward three weeks or so. We'd been in tenuous communication but settled on having dinner at Gary Danko to discuss a discussion...or so I thought. Unfortunately, in the interim I had totally forgotten what DoP looked like. I purposely arrived a few minutes late and checked in. The Maître d' told me the other party had arrived and was sitting at the bar. Uh oh. I scanned the backs of the bar patrons, all looking straight ahead and offering me no clues. I said, "Hi DoP" and sure enough one woman turned to face me. I'd found my dinner partner. As I advanced to shake her hand, she advanced to give me a kiss...on my mouth. I deftly stepped aside, squeezed her hand and mumbled a hello. Say what? I was here for business but her business was taking care of business...and working overtime. Work out.

We were shown to our table and offered menus. I have to say, the service was nothing short of spectacular. The best I've seen in SF to date. The ambiance was terrific...sophisticated, great lighting, color palette that won't be dated in six months. I certainly felt uncomfortable but DoP gave no sign of discomfort. We ordered cocktails and commenced to peruse the menu. We both decided on the Summer Tasting menu (Appetizer: Glazed oysters with Ossetra caviar, zucchini pearls and lettuce cream - think green, white and black Busby Berkeley in porcelain. This was paired with a Ginjo sake (Tokubetsu Junmai, Ama No To, Heavens' Door, Akita, Japan) Seafood Course: Horseradish crusted salmon medallion with dilled cucumbers - I love almost anything with horseradish especially salmon. Paired with a Sauvignon Blanc (Carica, Kick Ranch, Sonoma County, California 2005) Meat Course: Guinea hen breast and boudin with saffron paella rice, chorizo and rogout. Fucking brilliant. Paired with a Rioja (Finca Allende, Spain 2003) which worked out beautifully. Cheese Course: 7 different cheeses (from an assortment of about 25) with breads, grapes, etc. Desert Course: Roasted apricots with moscato d'Asti ice cream and pistachio bread. Paired with Coteaux du Layon Beauliey, Les Rouannieres, Chatea Peirre-Bise, Loire Valley France 2003).

As conversation flowed (with the wine) and the mood eased somewhat I discovered she was a Long Island gal, owned a house in Quogue, the guy she introduced me to at Nopa was an ex-boyfriend, she was not up on the latest music at all, loved her job and was looking for companionship. I countered that I too loved my job, was into all the latest music and had been out late the previous night with a woman I really liked. A light frost formed over the table and I motioned for the check. She suggested that having been out so late the night before I must be very tired. Indeed...I was really tired and this evening had done nothing to energize me. She grabbed a cab and I headed to my car.

On the way home I got a picture SMS from ChP from the Thievery Corporation concert at the Design Center. Damn...I wish I was there with her. Ahh...I'll see her Saturday night. Oola at 8 PM. It can't come soon enough.

g.

Joe we hardly knew ye

foodwinesex. I've finished an entry written entirely about oral sex but deemed by too many folks as provocative. Fact is, not enough people know what to do or how to do it well. I'll leave it at that. (Not surprisingly, every person advising me not to post it - which was every person I spoke with about it - asked for it to be sent to them privately.)

Dinner with BK again last night. We had reservations at Bix for 8:30. What a disappointment. We were there early, sat at the bar and enjoyed a cocktail (I had the Hangar One Fraser River Raspberry Vodka martini with a twist...awesome.) We let the staff know we were there early...and again at 8:30 and several times later. They were understanding and brought several appetizers to placate us. At 9:05 we left and I was annoyed enough that I won't go back. (Michael Bauer writes about this type of restaurant behavior in his blog.) As far as I'm concerned this is inexcusable. We left and headed over to Bocadillos.

Bocadillos is a tapas place just a short distance from Bix. We grabbed a table as soon as we entered. Our waitress was Salpi. As we got to talking Salpi told us that she had worked at Winterland as well as several other places BK and I had recently visited. She was well informed, knew her menu well and was kinda hot. I certainly thought so. (Highly competent people I find attractive...I know, I know.) With some initial guidance from Salpi we ordered the tai snapper ceviche with d'anjou pears, the Painted hills bavette steak with chimichurri, the catalan sausage with arugula and shaved manchego bocadillos and the foie gras roll with serrano ham, mango and aged balsamic. The foie gras didn't work for me. The steak, bocadillos and especially the ceviche were all good. BK was looking for salt and pepper...absent...the steak could use just a bit of help there.

I'd made reservations for tomorrow night for La Folie. I'm going out again with ChP and am really looking forward to it. I realize how little we know about each other and wonder if this it the kind of place she'd enjoy. I quickly make reservations for Supperclub as well and I'll leave it up to her...food or fun. Just want to spend some time with her. I think she knows me only as exec wearing Armani sports jacket kind of guy but not (Ann Demeulemeester) black leather jacket, orange python boots kind of guy. Don't know which she prefers...can't believe I'm even asking this given that I normally wouldn't give a fuck. The whole Blink thing must be fucking with me since I've been a little preoccupied with this all day. The other thing on my mind was some good news I got from my buddy RY. His family (in Spain) has been working on my behalf trying to get reservations for El Bulli...the most exclusive restaurant in the world. They made the impossible happen and I have reservations for 2 for early September. I owe him big.

On the drive in this morning (weather was gorgeous and traffic not too bad on 280) I was moving pretty good and playing the music kinda loud. The Clash came on (Complete Control) and I was instantly flooded with memories of Joe Strummer. I'd seen the Clash live in SF back in 1980. I had all their records and knew their work well. I continued to follow the band through their breakup and watched their careers. In 1986 I began working on a film called Walker (Alex Cox directing his first picture after Sid and Nancy). I'd been contracted to do the Sound Design recording and mixing. Across the hall the scoring sessions began. To my delight Joe Strummer was the composer. My old buddy Sam Lehmer was the engineer which allowed me free access to the sessions. I found myself sitting in on them during down time and got to know Joe pretty well. Early in the sessions he asked me if I knew where to score him some weed. I knew a guy who knew a guy and eventually Joe got what he wanted. Actually having purchased Mendocino semsimillia he got way more than he bargained for. It knocked him on his ass and the partying was moved to after hours. For months Joe worked on the score. He actually lived in SF for a while and I'd see him around town occasionally pushing the baby stroller. I treasure the image...its so unlike the way people think they knew him through his music. Joe died in 2002 due to a congenital heart defect. The music still does what it always did. It moves me.

g.