San Francisco is My Home

31
Jan

The Parkway

Author: kris, Category: Food, Movies, Oakland

The Parkway is maybe the best thing ever. I’m not sure, because I don’t know everything there is in the world, but I think it’s at least in the top ten.

What makes this movie theater so good? Here is a small primer:

1. It’s independently owned.

2. Rather than showing commercials or previews before movies, you get a video of two of the owners — at least I think they’re both owners; Kyle definitely is, but I’m not sure about Will the Thrill — chatting about upcoming films and events and joking around with each other.

3. There are several two-person (three if you’re cozy) couches at the front of the theater where you can kick off your shoes and snuggle like you’re in your living room.

4. The theater is combined with a full-service restaurant. You can get good beers and excellent thin-crust pizza (now with vegan cheese available, made right on the premises). They deliver it to your table while you watch the movie. There’s a lot of other food available, but for me the Parkway will always be about pizza.

5. They show a fantastic selection, from blockbusters to classics, from cult favorites to little-known monster movies.

6. They have great deals and themes. Wednesday is 2-for-1 night, and the first two shows on Mondays are always Baby Brigade — bring your tots. They also do Superbowl and Oscar nights, Rocky Horror shows, and frequent showings of favorites like Joss Whedon shows (i.e. Buffy, Firefly).

7. When you email Will the Thrill, he always emails you back. Immediately and personally. Can you think of any other movie theater where that is true?

They’ve also opened a second theater, the El Cerrito, but I haven’t been there yet. Thoughts on the new place? I’d love to hear a review.

30
Jan

Luna re-opens!

Author: kris, Category: Castro, Food

Sometimes, without warning, the gods drop a gift in your lap. This time it happened to me as I was walking up Castro Street. I passed the site where Luna, my favorite neighborhood restaurant, once stood, before it closed about a year ago, and while I normally avert my eyes out of respect, this time I forgot to. This time I glanced in, and found — Luna? Open? What?

Yes indeed. It appears this peerless place had closed merely for renovations (man, I wish they’d posted a sign or something). It’s re-opened now under the best kind of new management: one of the former longterm waiters and his boyfriend bought the place. Now they’re committed to customer service in the way new restaurant owners often are. I had dinner there last night and my fellow’s burger came with a head-high stack of bacon, multiple slices of fresh avocado, sweet, non-mealy tomatoes, and so on. My glass of champagne was almost overflowing.

The things that are awesome about Luna are as follows:

• The restaurant is almost all patio. It’s covered in the rainy months, and liberally strewn with heatlamps. Even in the coldest weather, the Luna patio is warm and dry.
• The food is excellent: fancy fare but not overly-fancy prices. This was our favorite breakfast place in a three-block radius that’s almost entirely breakfast places, because you can get eggs and fruit and potatoes and bacon and a really good biscuit for fairly cheap.
• Right now the management is trying hard to woo new customers and retain old ones. If you don’t like anything on the dinner menu, you can always ask for one of their awesome burgers, something that used to be on the menu and isn’t now. They will cheerfully make this for you.
• Your waiter will probably be the owner, which means you get to have a normal human conversation as equals instead of getting that ishy feeling when you’re served by a customer-service automaton.

Luna is half a block up from Castro and 18th, and for some reason there is no sign out front except one that says “Heated patio dining.” It’s easy to miss. Just look for the Nirvana sign (another excellent restaurant, but not good for breakfast) and Luna is once door further.

NOTE: There is another restaurant in SF called Luna Park. Very different.

29
Jan

The Chalets

Author: kris, Category: Food

If you’re looking for the perfect restaurant, and you’ve got a car, check out the Chalets at Ocean Beach.

This double restaurant is nestled in what is essentially the perfect spot. One side faces the ocean — surfers, sunsets, bonfires, the occasional leaky tanker. This is the Beach Chalet. Perfect for first dates and romantic anniversaries, the Chalet’s view is stunning, its beer is home-brewed, and its food is good and reasonably-priced.

After you’ve had the first date, the anniversary date, the wedding and a couple of kids, you might switch to the downstairs Park Chalet. Facing, as you can imagine, onto Golden Gate Park, the Park Chalet has all the food and home-brewed drinks of the Beach Chalet. It also has a giant patio and lawn outside where antsy kids can run around.

You’ll often find live music in both restaurants, though I prefer the Park Chalet for performances and the Beach Chalet for staring out to sea.

As if this weren’t enough, check out the building’s lobby for a giant room-sized fresco on every wall. The fresco was painted under the WPA program, and it’s outstanding. Also check out display cases detailing the creation of GG Park, as well as a tiny, enchanting model of the park itself.

24
Jan

Furniture not from Ikea

Author: kris, Category: Shopping

I got invited into my upstairs neighbor’s apartment a while back and I’m still not over it.

I live in one of those — oh, you know what, this sounds like it’s going to be a horrible story about being assaulted by my neighbor or something, but it’s actually about furniture. Don’t panic. (She does not get eaten by the eels at this time.)

As I was saying, I live in one of those great old buildings whose residents have been in the same apartments for thirty years or more. They’re all friends, and they maintain our gorgeous garden together and everyone chats in the laundry room and puts up a tree at Christmas and is a genuine community.

The neighbor I speak of is one of the long-term residents, and over the years he’s decorated and re-decorated his home until it is, currently, a real stunner. My fellow and I, surrounded by the glowing ruby walls, the deep carpets and the rich tones of the wooden furniture, sighed regretfully over our own haphazard collection of hand-me-down pieces.

Most people I know, being in their mid- to late-twenties like me, are in a similar predicament. We’d like to have nice things, but we simply can’t afford them, and so we depend on the kindness of relatives who are trading up and need to ditch their old couch in a hurry. (Actually, we do have a few nice pieces. It’s not a war zone in here. But it could still be better.) If you, too, find yourself longing for some of the finer things, take heart: there are non-Ikea options that even you can afford.

Mickey’s Monkey is the junkshop of choice for cognoscenti in the Haight. Its collection of furniture spills out onto the sidewalk and is both funky and, in general, reasonably priced. You can find it at Pierce and Haight.

If you’re willing to venture a bit further afield, befriend someone with a largish vehicle and head down to Urban Ore in Berkeley. This large warehouse space (3 acres, or so they say) is packed to the ceiling with furniture of all descriptions. A lot of it is falling apart, scarred, or generally junky, but the great joy of mining is that sometimes you strike it rich. I myself found a beautiful huge dining room table there. And, of course, it’s all completely affordable because it’s all second (or third, fourth or fifth) hand.

If even these prices are a bit too high-end, then I suggest you consult the one-stop shop for most of us: Craigslist. Specifically, the section on Garage and Moving Sales. Artists are being priced out of this city all the time; it’s been happening for decades. When they go, they often sell their stuff, and it’s often quite nice. The city’s tragic loss is your living room’s gain.

23
Jan

Antiquarian Book Fair

Author: kris, Category: Events, Literature, Shopping

The Antiquarian Book, Print and Paper Fair is fast approaching. I know, I know: it seems like only yesterday that you attended last year’s Antiquarian Book, Print and Paper Fair. The older you get, the quicker the years seem to pass. Soon you will be attending an Antiquarian Book, Print and Paper Fair practically every darn day.

But seriously, folks. This Fair is not as nerdy as it sounds; or rather, it is exactly as nerdy as it sounds, and possibly more so, but it’s the fascinating kind of nerdy that makes even non-nerds sit up and pay attention.

Fans of first editions, ancient maps, rare old photographs, and anything else old and printed that you can think of will of course love this fair. But the truth is, even if you’re not keen on old stuff, anyone with an eye for aesthetic appeal will enjoy this. The fair is a testament to the craft of all things paper, a bonanza of book-related beauty.

Lacking thousands of spare dollars, I myself will attend to look rather than buy, but collectors and hapless rich folk should come with pocketbooks prepared.

The Fair will take place on February 9th from 10 am to 7 pm and on February 10th from 10 am to 5 pm. It’s located at 7th Street & Brannan.

10
Jan

Dolores Park Cafe

Author: kris, Category: Food, Mission

When was the last time you ate at Dolores Park Cafe? I went for the first time yesterday and was delighted to find some top-quality sandwiches (they’re still not Ike’s, but variety is good too). Usually if I find myself on that block and hungry I wind up at Tartine, but sometimes what you want is a giant, messy turkey, bacon, avocado and swiss on inch-thick bread. Right?

Also, sandwiches come with free chips. They don’t even warn you. You just pick up your sandwich and there they are: half a plate of really good potato chips.

It doesn’t take much to make my day. A good sandwich, surprise chips and a view of the park: it’s enough.

Image courtesy of the Cafe website.

07
Jan

The Dish

Author: kris, Category: Food

Generally speaking, I prefer California-style pizza. In California cuisine you can be creative with ingredients, and you’ll usually find a lot of fresh veggies and other stuff not generally included on your average NY slice.

But even though I love Cali pies the most, even I recognize that there are times when you really need to dig into a deep dish pizza. sometimes you just need a foot-tall mound of thick, chewy bread and rich tomato sauce.

Used to be that the only reliably awesome deep dish was at Zachary’s in Berkeley. (They have a couple of other locations now too.) Zachary’s is still one of the top three reasons to live in that town, don’t get me wrong, but we city-dwellers are slowly coming up with a few deep disheries of our own.

My favorite is Little Star Pizza, and not just because one of the  pizza chefs is a friend of a friend. The pizza is excellent of course, and the atmosphere — at least at the Western Addition location — is one of those dim, hip vibes that makes me feel cooler than I am. It’s the tragedy of my life that Little Star does not deliver.

However, now The Lookout has started serving deep dish of a completely acceptable quality. They also don’t deliver, but they’re half a block from my house so I can’t complain. The prices are on par with Little Star, but my verdict is still out on which one tastes better. Check them out and decide for yourself.

30
Dec

Red Hill Books

Author: kris, Category: Bernal Heights, Shopping

I happened to have a half hour to kill in Bernal Heights yesterday, and I stumbled on one of the other branches of one of my favorite used stores, Dog Eared Books. This one is called Red Hill Books and it is just as marvelous as Dog Eared. They, too, have the intriguing bargain bin outside, the knowledgeable staffers, the towering unkempt stacks, plus a better sci-fi/fantasy section and a whole section devoted to classic children’s literature. I highly recommend it.

30
Dec

Cha-Am

Author: kris, Category: Berkeley, Food

I have to say, if you’re looking for the perfect dinner in Berkely, Cha-Am is probably the spot for you. This is a Thai restaurant with the rare quality (rare in any kind of restaurant) of being perfect for just about any situation. You can take a group here and order a bunch of stuff to share (and you’ll want to share — it’s all excellent), and it’s casual and comfortable and quiet enough that you can all hear each other but no so quiet you feel weird laughing loudly. Or you can take a date here: it’s lit by tons of little twinkling lights and has a patio and is just kind of funky and interesting, architecturally speaking. It can be the perfect romantic anniversary date, or the perfect semi-romantic semi-casual first date. Plus, you can get a glass of house wine for $2.50, which is all you really need to lubricate any sticky eating situation.

18
Dec

Sit & Spin

Author: kris, Category: Shopping

Ok, laundry is not the most glamorous thing ever. But if you have to use a laundromat, you might as well use one with some style. I like Sit & Spin at 4023 18th Street between Hartford and Noe. It offers internet access, plus it’s right next to a florist so everything smells like detergent and flowers. The employees are sweet and human and there are always a few people hanging out, people watching or chatting. It almost makes laundry fun.