Late Night Bling, or I *Heart* SF

(Above: I started my Friday with a michelada at Nopalito, which is Tecate mixed with tomato, chili de arbol, salt and lime. Yeah, it’s good.)
This post is going up late because I’ve been sick all week. For the record, summer colds suck. And no, I don’t use Zicam.
After gorging ourselves senseless with the Third Degree [...]

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Holy Hummus, or, I *Heart* Jerusalem

A quick update and some pics.
Greetings from the Holy Land! Spent the last few days wandering all over the old city section of Jerusalem. Stunning place, really, although so very puzzling. The religious energy is intense, and culturally it’s at once open and guarded. But it’s a thrilling place. We’ve also managed to balance out [...]

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Les Concerts à Emporter (or, I *Heart* Paris)

Make that j’M Paris.
Okay I’m not really in Paris, at least not physically. Sometimes when I get a little ancy or am feeling a desire to be easily distracted, I tune in to Les Concerts à Emporter, or the Take Away Shows, a series of intimate musical performances recorded and videoed in Paris by the [...]

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Up the Mendonoma Coast

We wound down 2008 with a mini-road trip up the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts. Below is Point Arena and its lighthouse, which was unfortunately being renovated when we stopped there. But the hiking along the rocks and cliffs is spectacular!

Right on the countyline between Sonoma and Mendocino is the townlet of Gualala (which some people [...]

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East Bay Grease, or, I *Heart* Oakland

For a while there Oakland got a really bad rap: Crime, urban decay, you name the disease and this city suffered from it. Things began to noticeably change back during the first dot-com boom when rents and the cost of living in San Francisco became untenable for many of the working class and creative class [...]

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Greatest Food & Wine Pairing Ever (or I *Heart* Seattle)

(Above: Champagne grapes are indeed very cute)
I was in Seattle last week for the Wine & Spirits Hot Picks tasting event, which was held at the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown. Like I did for a similar W&S event held in LA, I participated in a radio show in the days before the tasting (although [...]

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The Plant Kingdom Gets Down ‘n Dirty (or, I *Heart* San Francisco)

Simon and I were joined by the Third Degree last Saturday in Golden Park for some serious picnic action. Food spread: a garlicy saucisson, St. Marcellin, crusty bread. Washed it all down with a couple bottles of ‘06 Willamette Valley pinot gris (which to me is looking like a lovely vintage for Oregon gris) while [...]

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Fuso Aereo + Vino = Equilibro (or I *Heart* Firenze)

I should’ve taken the blue pill…
After a long, long day traveling–delays, canceled flights, and being stuck next to a very stinky fellow passenger for 11 hours–I decided to hit the town.
Apart from a few streets around the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio, Florence is refreshingly free of tourists these days. There are some advantages to [...]

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I *Heart* Anderson Valley

Anderson Valley–a long, wide valley that runs in a northwesterly direction towards the Pacific Ocean in Mendocino County–is possibly my favorite wine region in California. The redwood-lined ridges and gently undulating hills along the valley floor (if you can call it that) are among the reasons I love this place; the creeping, cold ocean mists [...]

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I *Heart* New York

(Above: The bloody mary list is ten deep during brunch at Prune, and each bloody is served with a beer chaser. Mine was made with aquavit rather than vodka, and served with fennel and white anchovies.)
A short post to explain my absence of late. Tasting duties for Wine & Spirits took me to New York [...]

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