More SF eating

Went to two notable places this weekend, which turnd out to be polar opposites of each other:

First, tried Bistro AIX which I have targeted since moving to the Marina but have not been able to go to for a variety of reasons (does not serve lunch and is closed on Tuesday nights).  I loved the place–excellent Calamari (not too deeply fried) and flavored nicely with a side of salad.  The portion was also pretty hearty.  The highlight was the medium rare ahi tuna dish  in a brown sauce on top of a plate of spinach and mashed potatoes.  Very tender tuna, one of the best tuna dishes I have ever had–even better than several places I have been to in Hawaii.

Second, went to Buster’s in North Beach.  Had a Philly Cheesesteak with onions, bell peppers and cheese-whiz (apparently the way you’re supposed to have it).  Had to use three napkins to eat it and the grease soaked through the wrapper.  As good as the bread was, it couldn’t soak up all the grease.  Best Cheesesteak I’ve ever had–can only have one a month, but man that’s a good sandwich.

I know I’m the Homer Simpson of food critics, but it’s mainly because the places I eat are somewhat self-selecting.

Some Entertainment

EW’s top 25 TV shows of all time.

The Street Fighter: The Later Years series is finished-watch the first video here.

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode

David Brooks on a new conservative movement.  A reborn conservative movement would be fantastic to spark a new debate on ideas.  Some recognition that government intervention in certain areas, especially in education, health care, etc.  If McCain wants to win, he should listen to Brooks.  However, the stigma of Ann Coulter and Co. will hurt him and so will the extreme members of the movement.

Also, a few pics from my trip to Hawaii (the Onion Volcano, me doing a Tarzan impression and my balcony view).

The highlights were undoubtedly the food (I picked up a loving for tuna sashimi), a day hike in the Maui rainforest and an hour of jet skiing.  Plus, tons and tons of pool time.  I especially loved drinking coronas and eating nachos poolside.

Quick update

Minny traded Mayo and junk to Memphis for Kevin Love, Mike Miller and junk.  Since I was mixed about both (Mayo for the attitude and Love because of his height and lack of athleticism), I don’t know who wins this deal.  On a side note: it’s a deal between arguably the two worst GMs in the league, one of whom got the Lakers to the finals (Memphis’ Chris Wallace who traded Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown) and the other who won the Celtics the title (Minny’s Kevin McHale who traded Kevin Garnett for Al Jefferson and a bag of crap).  Both players will probably be busts then based on who drafted them.

Quick aside: I saw one of my favorite bay area athletes, Sharks center Patrick Marleau, on the plane in the row in front of mine.  I was going to ask for an autograph, but since he was on a family vacation, decided against it.  Surprised he sat in Economy considering he makes over 6 million a year.

NBA Draft Thoughts

Picks I liked:

Chicago (Rose): Obvious pick.  Top flight PGs are hard to find these days and can make the pieces around them better.  Beasley will win the rookie of the year and I think Rose will struggle a bit, but will be the better long term player.

Seattle (Russell Westbrook): A mini-Brandon Roy or Andre Iguodola.  Going to be a great all around player and a lethal defender.  I hope he isn’t forced to be a PG–I expect him to become an old fashioned guard, probably a “2″ but capable of taking over the point from time to time.  Love this pick.

LA Clippers (Gordon):  He’s a lethal scorer and an underrated passer.  I’d like him off the bench as a scorer (which he can be in LA) capable of playing either guard spot.  People are going to be sad that they missed on him.

Portland (Bayless): Another lethal scorer.  Again, not a true point guard but could be a great 6th man for an up and coming Portland pick.

Phoenix (Robin Lopez):  Don’t think he’ll be a superstar, but should provide some interior D and allow Shaq to play more aggressively.  Give him a 2-3 year window and a good big man coach and he could get you 10 and 10.

Houston (Arthur): Can’t believe he slipped so much.  He’ll be excellent for them–can never have enough good bench players.

Picks I didn’t like:

Minny (OJ Mayo): I don’t like Mayo that much.  He seems to selfish, though that died down a bit at the end of the season.  I could be wrong on this one.

Indiana (Rush): Great complimentary guy, not good for a team rebuilding.

Utah (Koufos):  Bust, but Utah is a great drafting team….

Three good articles on Iraq

Must reads if you are following the situation.

First, the Leader piece.

Second, the in depth news story.

Finally, the impact of the war on the election.

Ok, some more stuff because I am bored:

The Obama Team

Hillary and Barack relations.

A non-Economist article by George Will criticizing John McCain for his position on the recent Habeas Supreme Court case.

Ok, now I’m really going to Hawaii.

Foodie Thoughts of the Week

First, a shoutout to the Celtics, who as a team, came through and beat the Lakers in 6 in very very convincing fashion.  It took a real team, rather than Kobe and his four horsemen to win it all.  The Celtics got huge performances throughout the playoffs from so many players.  Pierce was no doubt the MVP, outplaying the regular season MVP in the finals.  But the team got excellent defense from Garnett and consistent outside shooting from Ray Allen (at least in the finals).  Role players such as Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo, Leon Powe, James Posey and PJ Brown all came up at the appropriate moments.  Congrats to Boston which is absolutely dominating the sports scene with 2/4 championships and one near perfect team.

Anyway, back to food….some place I’ve been the last week:

First, Garcon in the Mission for dine about town.  Very nice ambiance like a french cafe.  The mission is a strange place–you have an antique french cafe next to a dirty, old laundromat.  I had escargots in a mushroom/wine sauce as an appetizer.  I had never had escargot in anything but a garlic butter sauce, but this tasted great.  It was like mushrooms in a brown sauce.  I definitely soaked my bread up in the left over sauce.  For the main course, I had mussels and fries.  The mussels were excellent in a light tomato sauce. My friend who had the duck seemed to like it–she said it was not particularly gamey which is a plus for duck.  The fries were spiced and tasted great with the aioli they brought out.  I ended my meal with a soft, marshmallowish tasting dessert in custard.  Since I’m not a big fan of marshmallows or custard, I didn’t enjoy it.  That said, the meal was solid…the menu is somewhat heavy on seafood.

Next afternoon, went to Absinthe Cafe in Hayes Valley for lunch. This time I stuck to more traditional fare, like a burger and fries.  The fries were paper thin and they bring out three types of sauces–a vinegar, a delicious aioli and mustard.  I have never had fries this thin in my entire life, delicious.  The burger was simple–a meat patty with Gorgonzola and some onions (notice–no lettuce or tomatoes).  Cooked perfectly, the meat meshed well with the cheese and the aioli on the burger.  It was juicy and tender and the sauces were soaked up perfectly in the sourdough bun.  Definitely would do it again (spent a total of $20 with tax and tip)

Then went to Foreign Cinema, the highlight of my weekend. Decor here is amazing, light and airy with those string lights outside.  They also project a movie, this time a Warren Beatty 1970s paranoia pick, on the outside wall.  We sat inside, but apparently you don’t actually watch the movie.  Place seems to attract a sort of yuppy, trendy crowd.  Had the calamari as an appetizer which was lightly friend in a delicious, crisp batter.  I didn’t care for the other deep fried veggies, but the calamari itself was good.  For the main course, had a pork tenderloin that came in a tangy red sauce with a side of kidney beans and artichokes.  Putting all the flavors together gave the dish a somewhat Mediterranean flavor, spiced but not overwhelmingly so.   I also tried a bite of my friend’s chicken which was a better dish–more flavorful and the chicken was very tender.  Her dish came with a side of a Mediterranean yogurt and some cous cous.  The platters as a whole combined to create a really unique flavor.  The dessert was also excellent as we had a chocolate ganache cake with a walnut prailine crust with ice cream on the side.  The cake had a citrusy flavor but for some reason had salt on it.  That was the only odd part–there was salt on the dessert!  Not gonna lie, didn’t like that.

A16-went here tonight for dinner.  Quick review: Delicious Italian-style, flatbread pizza.  The bread was so thin that it tasted like Naan.  My pizza, topped with sausage and onions, had a strong hint of garlic in the right places.  The sausage was delicious too.  Very reasonable for $15 as the pizza was huge.

Off to Hawaii tomorrow, probably no more blog posts for awhile.

Great Cartoon

Great cartoon in this week’s Economist.

Also, a recap of the Giants game Donny and I attended last night.

Nights in North Beach

So on Friday night, I went out to Vesuvio in North Beach which is a pretty small bar that seems to suit me well.  The drinks are reasonable in price ($4-5 for a cocktail)–cheap enough so you can have a night out for $20 bucks but expensive enough as to prevent you from getting too smashed.  Plus, the service is friendly and it is not too loud.  It isn’t as dirty as some of the other places in North Beach but casual enough so you do not feel bad if not dressed up.

I say this because last night, Donny and I went to Giants game (a surprisingly fun game, given that the A’s dominated 4-0).  Still our seats were fantastic, behind home plate, and we gorged on the AT&T food, especially the garlic fries.  Afterwards, we decide to meet up with some of Denny’s friends in North Beach.  We head to these Irish bars around Green and Grant.  Now to preface things, there is a fair in North Beach this weekend.  This means food, music, stands of random art and of course, drunk people.  And I mean drunk people.  (A sidenote: the North Beach fair looked exactly like the Union Street fair down to the cheesy stands serving Terayaki Noodles just transplanted in North Beach.  The only noticeable difference was that while the Union street fair was frequented by a bunch of fratty dudes, the North Beach fair drew a more eclectic crowd.)

The first place we went to was ridiculously crowded, so we decide to wait outside in line.  After all, the drunk people walking the streets provide a form of perverse entertainment.  So suddenly we see a heated argument (I guess some dude was hitting on another guy’s girlfriend).  Except Guy #2 (whose girl was hit on) is huge, probably like 6′6″ and jacked.  Guy #1 is a kinda douchy tourist-like dude who was wearing sunglasses and a jean jacket and smoking a cigarette.  I’m sure you’ve seen the type….they call them hipsters in SF.  So Guy #2 pushes Guy #1.  Ok, we think, the bouncers should intervene soon and everyone will be drunk and merry again.  Except, it doesn’t.  Guy #1 pushes our hipster friend to the floor and then keeps pushing at him.  I literally thought for a second that I was going to see someone get killed for the first time.  I mean the disparity was that great.  Thankfully for out hipster, someone FINALLY intervened to prevent his death.  (My Note:  there was no way in hell i was going to intervene, Guy #2 would have kicked my ass in a second).

So we are a little weirded out–I mean if you’re not drunk, it’s not that fun to be around a bunch of totally smashed people in a hot crowded bar.  But we still wait.  Then another fight breaks out.  This time the two contestants are a bit more evenhanded.  One was a drunken, fratty, douchy looking dude going up against a total Irish guy.  I mean this Irish dude had the full redheaded beard and moustache and was in typical Irish garb.  Moreover, he was in a boxing stance ready to fight!   They don’t exchange blows (I woulda put my money on the Irish guy), but we realize this might not be the place for us.

So where do we go…..Vesuvio’s of course, quickly becoming one of my favorite bars this summer (I think the bartender might have recognized me from my Friday night excursion there).  I’ve never been a regular at a particular bar to the point where the bartenders and waitresses recognize me.  Maybe this will be my chance?

Anyway, then we had the bright idea to leave Vesuvio and go to Kells which is another bar (w/ a cover) and dancing (which I was gonna have no part of)……I’ve said this before, especially in Michigan, but on a night out, if you are having a chill time with cheap drinks and good conversation, WHY LEAVE?  This seems to happen way way too much and I don’t understand it.  I guess I’m a lawyer so I’m a bit risk averse so I become peeved when you walk away from a good, sure thing.

All in all, it was a good night.

Wow

Bye bye Lakers….

Saved by the Bell

On TBS from 7:30-9 AM…better to wake up to than the news.