secret good restaurant

Has anyone else noticed that Red Rabbit has secretly gotten better?  I can't review it cuz Greg Lucas did not that long ago.  So, number one, it's a local spot for me.  I am all for a neighborhood spot that's maybe not the best place in the world, but that is walkable, and, as with Red Rabbit, is open every day and pretty late, etc.  But at first when it opened I really wished that the food was better.  I got stuck ordering the veggie burger because nothing else appealed to me that much.

Recently I realized, hey, they have a super good bar and bartenders, so right under my nose I now have a place to go get an excellent cocktail.  That's something I've wished for for years.  I don't like dive bars really.  Their cocktail list is not too exciting, so I just go with a cocktail in mind.  Lately I've had a good Manhattan and last night a Last Word.  And all the cocktails are 7 bucks, not bad.

When I had my birthday on the back patio (they did a great job) I discovered that their "street" tacos, especially the tongue one, is DELICIOUS.  I wrote a little blurb about if for the SNR best of issue, and when I asked the chef about the prep I found that it's labor-intensive.  There's over a day of brining, and then a bunch of other stuff I detail.  Sure, it's 6 bucks for two, but 3 bucks each is not that crazy.  Next time I am going to see if I can order two tongue ones.

I've been wanting to try the burger with a Vega egg.  Vega is a great company, so that's pretty awesome.  The patty was a little too thick and the bun disintegrated but besides that it was excellent.  Heirloom tomato, housemade pickles, an array of cheese choices (I will always go with Manchego). 

SM got the house salad and it was kerazy.  Almost too crazy but admirable.  They use Del Rio greens and it changes a lot, but I'm pretty sure that the predominant green was full-sized shiso leaves, like not baby tender ones, but big old strong intense ones.  With flower petals and it always has Green Goddess dressing and how cool is that?

So anyway, if you wrote it off, maybe check it out again.

tour de wha?

Sac has been in the nytimes 3 times lately.  well, kinda.

1) adam pechal on the foie gras thing
2) jay howell (ok, used to live in sac) in a piece on a smug young couple. jay is mentioned in the same breath as chris johansen, no less.
3) the davis tour de cluck got a major mention, with a mention of a fat face popsicle only without saying it was from fat face.  bummer.  in picture 5 on the slide show you can see the popsicle, the fat face logo, and jeff melendez in the background

liv is doing a "chat back" with elaine o'brien at the showing of "red" at the b st. theater tonight.  It's a play about Mark Rothko, two-person.  I'm excited to see it.

picture post

 tie dye tomatoes!

 garden tomatoes!

 ralph lauren sweaters!

 poo in a styrofoam container! j.k., delicious beef and chicken kabob from Mediterranean market

 I made sauce and froze it.  Too lazy to can.  First, boil the tomatoes quickly and then plunge into ice water

 easy to peel at that point.

 saute some onions in a little butter until soft, throw in your diced tomatoes and stand back and let nature take its course

 no caption needed. double cute

 I bought this stuff at Mediterranean market.  It's balls of tangy sheep milk in oil, with thyme and other spices.

 toast up a pita and shove this inside and you'll be stoked, maybe with some Persian eggplant pickle?

 My pies are looking better ever since I figured out to add more water, and freeze the dough for a little while right before rolling it out.

 This was peach.  I peeled them the same way I peeled the tomatoes.

 I bought rye, so that I would have the ingredients to make a sazerac.  I couldn't stand to just rinse the glass with absinthe, so it was really absinthe-y

Pie in a bike basket it a risky proposition

News and Review roundup

Hey, the cover story of the News and Review is super good! Entertaining as hell.  I have seen the date rape flotilla near Discovery Park, but not for years and I didn't know it has gotten so insane.  Stripper poles?

The editorial for this week was about K.J.s need for transparency, and last week's cover story is still worth a read if you haven't gotten to it.  The level of corruption, nepotism, and shady financial dealings he has brought to City Hall is insane, and I can only console myself with the fact that he is completely ineffective.  Greenwise was just so he could schmooze with celebs (who were paid handsomely), Think Big has gotten nowhere, and everyone knows For Art's Sake has been a debacle.  Shelly Willis was very diplomatic in her comments about how it stepped on SMAC's toes.  Can you imagine a mayor that just tries to usurp the territory of a successful arts organization, but thinks he can do it by bringing in someone from Austin who doesn't know anything about the Sac art scene, and then is just stymied by how many laws are in place to keep us from having an arts scene like Austin.  I'm sure she was smart and qualified, but she left without accomplishing much.  Unless I am getting some of this wrong, which is totally possible.  Anyway, rant over.

Guphy has a story about tea in there, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

Josh Fernandez got a couple of letters, which I think were well-deserved.  I'm not a member of the BDSM community (not that I would tell you), but I do listen to Dan Savage's podcast, so I know it's a real community in most cities, and that people take it seriously.  I think he didn't really explore that.  But it was insane that he was willing to get naked and get his butt paddled.  That was disturbing. 

On that sidebar on the front cover it says "Sac's busiest new restaurant" and I was like "ooh, what is it?" and then I realized it was my review of Firestone.  I stand by it.  I like Firestone.  Sure, I won't visit but if I liked sports I totally would.  They did a good job.

very jerry 2

Scott and I went to see an event called Very Jerry 2 last night.  It was kind of a mixed bag.  We went to see the movie screening called "Steve's flashback movie".  You can see on the flyer that they billed it as "a Grateful Dead documentary" and boy is that a stretch! There was some Dead footage, and it was rad.  My favorite stuff was the parking lot footage from the early 80s, talking to people about stuff like their favorite Dead lyrics and showing the crazy hippie vans and such.  But then it would be intercut with excruciating Ramblin' Jack Elliot footage or Bonnie Raitt from the 90s.  Oy.  With no rhyme or reason. 

Then, there was a concert.   At least Donna Godcheaux was there, that was kinda cool, and the guy who does Dave's picks was the m.c.  This probably won't mean  much to most of you, except OMF, who will be thrilled.

How's it going?

can't speak

Oh man, I got my favorite celebrity comparison today.  A bum in Davis said that I look like Carol King.  I attribute it to the dashiki and my not-yet-straightened bangs (they are straight now, phew!), but still, I like it a lot better than Janis Joplin.

If I wasn't numb to this Sacramento's governmental stupidity and corruption, perhaps this would make me mad.  This is a quote from an article in Tuesday's Bee:

Last week, they moved the train tracks. Tonight, Sacramento officials will seek the City Council's OK to convene a panel to brainstorm plans for a modern transit center and other development behind the downtown depot.

So, you move the tracks FIRST to an asinine location, and THEN you start to tak about what your plans our. Wow.  I'm speechless.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/21/4742959/sacramento-council-to-consider.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

stupid

oy vey. I didn't do a damn thing Friday or Saturday night, drinks-wise, but Sunday I decided that 8 or so drinks was a good idea.  Here's what I ALWAYS do.  Wait until I'm good and buzzed on beer and wine, go to a bar and then order the strongest drink I can think of.  Sometimes it's a gin martini, last night it was a Manhattan.  Good decision.  Also, you know what?  After all that drinking, water doesn't sound good at all.  I just drank so much, why would I be thirsty? Better to go to bed without drinking any water.

This is the matcha latte from Insight.  A little too sweet for me, but look how pretty!

Have you seen this sign in South Sac (intersection of 47th ave and Stockton, in the same parking lot as Long Sandwich).  That's some real grassroots hatred.

Manchego and membrillo.   A classic combo, right?

Edible Sac Mag had a lovely dinner for contributors yesterday out at the hot new farm in town: Feeding Crane Farms.  It's super cool.  This is their garlic room.  It smelled really good.

Look at all those garlic skins! The farmer said that she learned this year that garlic has a big problem with weeds.  I think this is the first year of the farm.

Fuck you Amtrak

First off, the screening of "Ai We We, Never Sorry" is tonight at the Crest at 7:30.  I have never been that intrigued by that guy but the preview looked like it will be really good.  Plus Ai Wei Wei is super fun to say.

Second off, Amtrak, I quit you.  First there is the boondoggle, nay quagmire of moving the tracks.  This is not just being resistant to change.  It made me laugh that the city is comparing the extra 10 minute walk (yes, not 5, not 8, because it is quite far, and when a train lets out you get trapped on the up ramp because they made it narrow as fuck) to Grand Central Station!! There is a reason GCS is that fucking big! It's because there are like 100 motherfucking trains there at any given time.

OK, so simultaneous with this bullshit, they change the capitol corridor train schedule, making the train to Davis arrive 10 minutes earlier.  They do not announce this on the trains, they do not post a sign at the beginning of the quagmire, they do not have an old guy volunteer to tell you.  So there I am, walking a normal pace and I miss my motherfucking train by TWO MINUTES. 

I go up to the window and ask them to post a sign. Strongly ask.  The woman says they haven't been provided a sign. I say "make one" she says "I can't do that".  I say "have an old guy there to tell people" she says "I can't do that".  She points to a tiny piece of paper taped to her window.  Frequent riders don't really go in the station very often.

I'm sorry if this is TLDR, but you would laugh if you saw the route I have to take to the train from Blvd Park.  It involved weaving through a couple of potholed parking lots and going the wrong way through entrances, going up the hill where the jogger warning was posted, and then I find out they have now cut off my last little shortcut to get closer to the platform.

So WHY would I pay 10 dollars a day to ride ten minutes on my bike, walk ten minutes to the platform, take a 15 minute train ride (20 on the way home), and then ride 5 minutes to my work when I could DRIVE 20 minutes.  I would have to be an idiot to continue doing it.  Unfortunately I just signed up for a 3 month tiny discount program from my work.

baby you're a firework

I got a melon at the Davis Co-op called a collective women's farm melon. How can it not be good? I had a salad in Pt. Reyes Station this weekend with delicious melon, arugula, and parmesan.  Lightly dressed.  I will duplicate it.

At my request, the Four Eyes are now soliciting Xmas requests on their "weblog" or "blog".  I know it's early but I didn't want to forget mine.  Oh shit, gotta submit call me maybe. I can also picture Joel singing Fireworks.  I can pretty much picture joel singing anything, and do, frequently.

Did you guys know next week is cocktail week? I am definitely more excited about that than about bacon fest.  Especially after Chris Macias' article.  Shrubs at Golden Bear! Shrubs are good.  I think the punch night at the governor's mansion sounds like the coolest event.

back

I just got back from out of town. In case you're wondering, the California coast is still the most beautiful place on earth. That probably sounds smug, but my point is I never take it for granted. I marvel every time.

First things first: do you guys have a good recommendation for where to get houseplants?  NOT succulents or cacti.  Home Depot's selection is so boring and local nurseries have such a small selection (RIP Capital Nursery, but you were very expensive.  I know, I'm sure it was because of high quality)

Oh Sacramento, you will never change your janky ways.  First a place with whiskey on tap, then this?  The best is that this same location housed that piano bar, Twisted 88s that I wrote about like 6 years ago and that place was BIZARRE. Wasted people, dueling pianos, Elton John songs changed to be about gonorrhea? (if I remember my review correctly).  And then it opened as the all-you-can-eat sushi bar/night club with the Spanish name, Azukar.  Spelled incorrectly but it was still funny.   Weirdest building in Sac.

A coupla pics.  New funk art in Davis.  Davis cannot get enough.

I was taken by surprise by the new platform situation at the Sac train station.  I had heard but I forgot.  At first you emerge and it's all cool.  Feels like a big city.  And then you walk. And walk.  Part of it through ugly netting, because it's still under construction.  I don't really care EXCEPT that it adds to the already annoying bike commute (annoying because of the giant construction site on H) because I can't ride my bike through any of this.  Before I could zip up quite close to the platform, as long as the overbearing train volunteers didn't spot me.

This will be rad once the lightrail stops at different gates.

Last, I roasted this chicken with sausage that Skipper made me for my bday stuffed  under the skin.  He made a loose sausage that was one of the best I've ever had.  Pork shoulder, garlic, and sage.  Really fatty, which helped make this chicken juicy as hell.

Bananas! Tonight!

Bananas tonight! Press club! I heard a local celebrity chef might be making spicy jerk popcorn.

If you want to see a photo set that shows you how fun things were during the King Tuff show go here.  There is an awesome shot of Hailey onstage.

badass

Did you guys catch that the Russian synchronized swimming team won a gold medal swimming to the theme from Suspiria? That's badass!  Here's a link with amateur video. I guess the stupid olympics won't put stuff on the internet.

I definitely recommend the documentary The Queen of Versailles at the Crest.  Here's the trailer.

The Bananas are playing Leap in the Dark at the Press Club on Thursday!  C'mon out.  You know a Thursday night show is waaaaayyyy better than a Sunday or Monday night show.  It's only 20% worse than a Friday night show, according to recent studies.

picture post!

I saw this lady in McKinley park, heading to the pool. Isn't she rad?  P.S., I've been tweeting fairly regularly, so I'm linking it at right.

Back view.  More after the jump

launch festival

file this under: it's not my thing but I'm glad it exists.

http://vimeo.com/46846777

That music fest I went to in SF had free vitamin water and I was glad to be reminded that it's not good so I never buy it in the future

art show, gotta go

Is there any way I can get my hands on fresh hops, like now? I know hop harvest is around October, but I want to try to make some hop food for a piece I'm writing and the due date is September 1st.

 Natalie's art show opens at Bows tonight, 6-9.  Here it is when it is just starting to be hung

Here's Bows employee Dana Iske hanging it. She really didn't want me to take her picture so I felt like a dick forcing in but look how cute!!!

See ya there

art show

First things first: Natalie's art show opening is tomorrow! This is amazing that she has accomplished what she has in the last year or two.  She put together and arts collective, which has had two group shows (and a fun, super successful bike ride), has had numerous pieces shown in the Bay Area and now is in a two-person show at Bows! 6-9 tomorrow.  Should be fun.

Actually, guess that was the only thing I got.