I’m on my flight from the West Coast back to the Midwest and figured it was a great time to update my blog. The minute I return to MN, it’s right back to work on the festival in Duluth and my mini-vacation is officially over. A mini vacation it most definitely was, as I was on deadline the entire duration of my trip and instead of making the most of some really sunny warm days in SF (which is a rarity for the temperamental Bay area) – I worked indoors on my laptop. Oh well – duty called and it was still nice to be on a different coast working remotely as I heard it snowed in parts of MN while I was away! WTF?I arrived to SF in the early evening on Wednesday and was staying with my beautiful, wonderful and wildly entertaining good friend Annie Wang in Russian Hill. We decided to keep it sort of mellow for my first evening and dined at my favorite Thai restaurant in the Tenderloin called Thai House Express. It is by far the most authentic Thai food outside of Thailand I’ve ever had in the U.S. I highly recommend their beef jerky (#7 I believe on the menu) w/ sticky rice, the bamboo salad, the catfish laab and if you’re looking for the spiciest Tom Yum you’ll find it here! I’ve got a spice meter that could do well in a serious spice competition, but holy hell was I surprised at what their level of “medium spicy” was!
(a view down Broadway St. in Russian Hill in SF)
One of our favorite pastimes (and also staying true to our Asian eccentricities) is to karaoke, so we decided to head to our old favorite haunt Encore near her flat. We were pleasantly surprised to find it somewhat empty, but then realized that every single person in there (including the door man) had a song in. Annie sang “American Pie” a la Madonna’s rendition, while I sang an old go-to by Chaka Khan. We were a few cocktails in by then and decided it was time to call it a night as tomorrow night would for sure be a late one.
(Annie and her friend getting her karaoke on at Encore)
Which takes me to the following evening, the Closing Night film + party for the 53rd Annual San Francisco International Film Festival. I am fortunate to know the Executive Director of the SF Film Society, the lovely and talented Graham Leggat whom invited Annie and I as his guests for the evening. The closing night film was “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” which I had heard a bit about from our festival programmers. Obviously, we all know who Joan Rivers is and how could a documentary about her not be fascinating? The woman is a comedy icon, is 75 years old and is the “poster child” of plastic surgery. The lady of the hour was in attendance and the documentary was really funny, interesting and gave me a newfound respect for her – a great peek into the life of a woman who works her ass off, has sincere humility and knows what she wants and continues to go after it. And goodness is her mouth wonderfully filthy! Fantastic. The cherry on top was that the film screened at the historic Castro theater, which upon my arrival was in full swing with drag queens, incredibly toned gay men wearing tight white tee’s with Joan’s tagline of “Can we talk?” emblazoned on their chests and a red carpet arrival area waiting for the evening’s stars.
(Me and my date Annie w/ some muscles in front of the theater)
(The beautiful Castro theater w/ their infamous organist)
(the filmmakers, Miss Rivers and SFIFF programmer)
After the film, we hopped on their shuttle to the official closing night party that had several different rooms with various different entertainment, great food and we got in some time to shake our asses on the dance floor upstairs in the VIP room. I got the opportunity to chat up some members of their film board and met a lot of the festival staff. I can’t tell you how enjoyable it was for me to attend a festival done right in every single way and to meet/mingle with festival peers who just “get it”. It’s inspiring and makes me feel good about my decision to sort of switch gears in my career.
(Me and the lovely Graham Leggat)
The after-party was at Tosca, another historic cocktail bar in the heart of North Beach, an area predominantly famous for attracting all the infamous beatniks of another era. There was some amazing live entertainment from an act called Mr. Lucky. I even felt for a moment there that I had been transported to another era myself. Graham introduced me to the owner, who gave us a quick tour of their back VIP room where the walls were covered with framed photographs of all the famous people whom frequented the bar over the years. She had some incredible stories to tell along the way and was a complete gem of a lady. It was a magnificent evening and boy did I pay for it the next day! It was well worth it though!
(Tosca - photo courtesy of Pamela Gentile)
The next evening, Annie’s parents had taken the train in from their home in Bakersfield, so she had a full house with all of us there. We had reservations to eat dinner that evening at a destination spot in Chinatown called the R ‘n G Lounge, known for their authentic Cantonese-style dishes. Previously, this restaurant was already well known to the Chinese foodie community, but has since received more notoriety as Anthony Bourdain made it one of his highlighted spots on the last San Francisco episode of his show No Reservations. I had wanted to dine there for some time and it did not disappoint! A sure sign that you’re at an authentic Chinese eatery is if over 90% of the diners are of that heritage. We had their tempura battered whole fried crab house specialty that fed our entire table of 5, along with some hot & sour soup, Chinese vegetables, soy glazed chicken, black bean sauce tofu and house specialty beef. I’d like to quickly thank Mr. And Mrs. Wang again for treating me to this dinner! Needless to say, after that meal I was complete toast and couldn’t muster the energy to even entertain the idea of meeting up with friends. I called it a night as the next day would be my trip to Los Angeles and being hung over while flying is a recipe for disaster.
(oh yes...this beautiful moth posed for me outside of Annie's apt. Nature Photographer career here I come!)
(Outside the very busy R & G Lounge in Chinatown SF)
(Annie about to serve up the House Specialty)
(Mr. House Specialty staring me in the face in all his tempura fried goodness)
(Asian family style dining = my favorite!)
The last day in SF, I made a quick jaunt to my storage space to rescue some of my summer sandals, bedding and some other keepsakes I was missing. I wanted to make sure to also catch my good friend Petrice for a cup of tea – so I managed to see her for a ridiculous short 25 minutes. I had a lovely lunch with Graham at the Plant Café located right on the Pier and then he graciously gave me a ride to the airport (thanks again, Graham!). All in all, a short, but sweet little trip to the city by the Bay.
(Farewell to the foggy city of San Francisco - I do leave a piece of my heart w/ you!)
When I arrived in Los Angeles, my good friend Pete picked me up from the airport and we headed to his house on the East side of town. His brother Danny was cooking dinner that evening, a Spanish dish called Arosé com Pollo, and I have to admit it was quite impressive. Something about a home cooked meal by a man for me is really quite pleasant (as I’m usually the one in the kitchen). They also introduced me to the spiciest hot sauce I’ve ever encountered – no joke. I think it was called Special Reserve No. 9 and had a severe warning label on the front that read to keep it away from your eyes and young children…lol.
That evening we headed to see a show at the Bootleg – the boys had some friends playing in a band called Priest Bird. Previously, we had drinks at a great little bar called Tee Gee’s – which if you’re ever looking for a nice, mellow locals bar that isn’t full of a bunch of hipsters in L.A. (hard to find on the East Side of town) – this is it. Priest Bird was an interesting band – they were like Fleet Foxes meets Black Sabbath. An interesting combo indeed. I had a great “L.A.” moment while standing in line to use the ladies room, I was chatting up an event photographer about his camera and the shots he took that evening. As he proclaimed it was too dark in the room and didn’t get any good shots in, the girl next to me drunkenly slurs, “well…at least there aren’t any ugly people in here.” Ha! Geez…thank goodness for that, forbid there be ugly people allowed in.The next morning I met up with my very good friend Shelly at the restaurant Home for what I thought was going to be breakfast for me, but instead I opted to order a Sloppy Joe! I guess I was feeling nostalgic for Midwest cafeteria food. It’s always great to catch up with dear old friends and to hear they’re doing well. I never had any doubt Shelly would find her place in CA and figure out what would work for her in L.A. It’s a strange place to be in sometimes there in that La La Land, but she’s found a great job, good friends and a great guy! The visit was altogether too short with her, but it was better than not seeing her at all. I heart Miss Shells-n-Cheese.
After brunch, we strolled around Chinatown to purchase some things for my parents (per their request). That of course turns into purchasing things you don't really need, but it's hard not to when everything is so bright, quirky and really inexpensive. A calendar, new Fedora and Bruce Lee-style ninja slippers later...we leave so I can get some good old Sunday relaxation time in on the backyard hammock.
(Me and Shells at Home)
(a band of girls running into Chinatown)
(a man playing beautiful music and not wanting his photo taken)
(a wall of Chinese umbrellas for sale)
(a little business we walked by - apparently the Dead Letter Bureau)
(A tiny turtle for sale at an indoor/outdoor market in Chinatown)
(Ahhhhhhh....finally...the hammock)
Later that evening, I hopped onto the back of Pete’s motorcycle and rode onto an L.A. freeway for the first time ever in my life - holy crap was that scary! I held onto him as tightly as I could and hoped for the best. He took me to a really great authentic Japanese eatery for some really tasty ramen noodles, sushi and sake. Being I had to be up early the next morning, we decided to call it a night and thus ended my trip to CA. Absence does indeed make the heart grow fond and I certainly did miss California a lot more than I thought I did. I am so lucky to have the most wonderful friends in my life and can’t wait to see them all again in the near future!
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