November 8, 2004

  • Better.  Much nicer weekend than last.  Mr. Fresh (his debut blog mention) and I went to Le Charm, a great Cal-French bistro in SoMa.  Excellent! It was my first time, but Jennconspiracy mentioned that she'd been there lots and loved it.  I had "Parisienne Gnocchi" that was more like a mushroom shepard's pie, baked with crunchy breadcrumbs on top, and Mr. Fresh had the salmon.  Their endive and radicchio salad was the best I've had anywhere -- perfectly crunch and not too bitter, offset by the roquefort and walnuts.  Mr. Fresh's roasted red peppers and goat cheese salad was also delicious.  And for dessert, this flourless chocolate tort thing with raspberry sauce.  Mmm! Also, if there are any Gevurtztraminer fans out there, let me reccommend the 2000 Trimbach from Alsace.  I had it once before at Basil Thai, and didn't soon forget it.  As I was sipping it then, there was an unmistakeable floral armoa that was reminiscent of rose petals.  I'm not a huge Gewurtz fan, actually, but this one stands out.  We also had some French Sancerre that was crisp and wonderful, but I can't remember that vintner's name at the moment.


    We then saw The Incredibles at the Metreon, and Pixar does it again.  A Bug's Life is one of my favorite movies, but now Incredibles is in the top 10 too.  It helps that I have a terrible superhero fixation, but the animation, story, writing, and acting were so great on top of that, I was hooked.  By far one of the funniest, best characters wasn't a superhero at all; it was a Vera Wang-type charicature with some of the best lines.  I will be seeing this one again.


    Saturday, I visited Jennconspiracy in Oakland.  We went to Berkley, to a tapas place called César.  Excellent! Thin sliced porcini mushrooms with butter, fried ykon potato with herbs and sea-salt, stuffed grilled brussel sprouts, a manchego and greens sandwich, a layered potato and bechamel dish, and cookies and crema de chocolate for dessert.  Afterward, we went to a party at the old Dutch Boy paint factory in Oakland, converted for use into an artists' studios and residence area.  Lotsa Burning Man folk there, complete with some of their more exciting toys, including a laser sculpture, a frire globe, some great art cars, and metalwork and music.  There were some other items on display, too, found item sculptures and unusual mixed-media assemblies.


    I went late enough that BART was closed, so I spent the night at Jenn's.  She has two cats, Carmine, who's fairly old and sedate, and Dobson, aka Mister Penelope, who is six months and a holy terror. A cute terror, but still a terror.  Carmine at least gets lots more exercise now, but he's such a wuss, very non-alpha male.  They get into frequent disagreements about who gets to sleep in a warm spot, but they don't actually fight.  Dobson tries to mooch in, Carmine whines, Dobson tries to make himself at home, Carmine flees, Dobson thinks it's playtime and chases Carmine.  Rinse.  Repeat.  At 4am.  Heh, it was more entertaining than annoying, but not if I had to live with that every night.  Nuh-uh.


    In the morning, we went to Thai brunch at the Thai Bhuddist temple in Oakland.  There's a school there too, and lots of non-students were there too.  Many families.  I have to say it was quite delish, but the crowds could be oppressive (and there's not much room under the tents) and while you're searching for a landing pad, your food gets cold quickly.  Interesting experience, though.


    Then I went home and finally went through a gigantic stack of mail that had been accumulating for weeks.  Then I got on my Xbox and played a new game I'd gotten Friday called "Psi-Ops."  I'm such a slave to my Xbox sometimes, but it was very relaxing.