The Phoenix Hotel

Happy Hour + Pool Party
San Francisco’s Summer is Here!
To celebrate, Chambers eat + Drink & The Phoenix Hotel are hosting the “Play Hookie Happy Hour + PopUp Pool Party” this Wednesday – 1:00pm ’til Sunset.

• All day happy hour, music and cocktails poolside
• Limited “Cabana Rooms” available – complete with pool passes
So take the day off, drop by, get a room, grab a drink and a dip!
The Phoenix Hotel – Chambers eat + drink
601 Eddy Street, San Francisco, CA

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The Bold Italic

Pick Us Up in Print!

We’re really proud of our first print publication, Volume One: 25 Ways to Be a Local. The magazine celebrates a colorful checklist of activities that every San Franciscan should accomplish at least once. We packed it full of intel on the best underground dining clubs, surf hangouts, art crawls, places to space out, and other SF-centric explorations. Like our website, 25 Ways to Be a Local features an emphasis on design and photography with original content and stories by our Bold Locals, who write about their urban discoveries.
Want to know how to get your hands on one? You can buy the magazine directly from us for $3 plus shipping and handling and we’ll send it to your mailbox. We are also offering a four-issue subscription for only $12 plus shipping and handling. Over the next six weeks, we will also be at various locations around the city passing out complimentary copies of 25 Ways to Be a Local, and will offer free copies of this first issue at select cafes and retail shops. This is a one-time deal, though — supplies are limited and future issues won’t be free. This week, you can find copies of Volume One: 25 Ways to Be a Local in The Castro and Hayes Valley. Like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter for weekly updates on where you can pick up your free copy.

Getting a Taste of October

October is a busy month for Bold Italic soirees. First up, on Monday the 3rd, you can beat the lines and lick a few different seasonal flavors of Smitten’s famous liquid nitrogren-made ice cream. For $10, you can be part of an evening tasting with owner Robyn Sue Goldman at her shop’s special Hayes Valley shipping container. Join the fun here.
The following week, on Saturday, Oct. 8, we’re hosting Meditations on San Francisco, a music, art, and meditation party with the historic San Francisco Zen Center. Check out the blissful drones and estatic melodies of Barn Owl, Date Palms, and Danny Paul Grody; interact with David Wilson’s “stained glass” installation; learn the basics of meditation from SFZC’s knowledgeable staff; and watch vintage film footage on meditation from SFZC’s archives. We’ve sold most of our tickets to this special event, but if you act fast there are still a few spots up for grabs. And then stay tuned for a special Bold Italic Halloween extravaganza announcement in the next couple weeks.

Surfing Turf

Mollusk’s Travis Becker spends most of his time thinking about the waves, but you can still ask the guy for a recommendation on what to eat in his Outer Sunset hood. Craving kale potato soup? Try Judahlicious. In more of a grilled cheese sandwich and cauliflower soup mood? It’s all about Outerlands. Get more of this surfer’s top spots in his Found Local interview.

We’re Buried in Love For You

Having you like us on Facebook feels almost as good as being buried in warm sand. And we promise not to get dirt in your ears.

Treasure Island Night Shows: Jens Leckman, The Drums & More

Kicking off later this month, the Treasure Island Night Shows are the perfect complement to this year’s installment of the weekend-long festival in the Bay, The Treasure Island Music Festival. Swedish musician Jens Lekman starts off the Night Show series with a performance at the California Academy of Sciences on September 29, followed by The Drums on October 14  at the Independent, JFK of MSTRKRFT on October 15 at Mezzanine, The Head and the Heart on October 15 at the Independent, and finally, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down on October 16 at the Independent. Visit the Treasure Island Music Festival Events Page for more info and to purchase tickets.

More…

Abby Wilcox captures SF’s coolest historical office spaces here.

Caleb Garling gets a personalized tour of Speakeasy brewery here.

Jon Korn falls in love with zha jiang mian here.

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Gastronomical goodness that's good for you...

Those who know me, know that I love start ups almost as much as I love travel writing and lifestyle. It’s here in one place at Gastronaut, the eclectic, farm fresh, sustainable and ‘good for you’ catering company by ex-Google chefs, Nate Keller and Mirit Cohen. Their mission: ‘To thrill our clients with adventures on the food frontier.’  The very fact that they were able to knock the socks off of Sergey and Larry means only one thing: you pretty much know that your wedding, rehearsal dinner or engagement party (from the Playa to the patio) is going to go off without a hitch. The fact that it’s good for you? A value add all around…Bon appetit!

Gastronaut:

• Adheres to the ChooseMyPlate standards laid out by the USDA
• 85% of all produce is certified organic
• All meat’s are “Never-Ever” fed hormones and antibiotics
• Only serve cage-free fresh eggs—never use commodity pre-cracked eggs
• We follow the guidelines of Monterey  Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program
• All food served (including all stocks, soups, dressings and sauces) is made from scratch or purchased from artisan vendors. Nothing comes from a base.
• Communicate and create dialog about menus, including helpful information such as ingredients, allergens, country of origin, etc.

Have yums, will travel...

About Gastronaut

While they are most commonly referred to as the “ex-Google chefs,” Mirit Cohen and Nate Keller are the duo behind Gastronaut’s eclectic menu and have broken out from this title to create an identity of their own with their bold menu and quirky approach to social catering. When not catering lunches for large Bay Area companies like Twitter and Yelp, Gastronaut caters intimate social events of all kinds—from weddings to picnics to Bar Mitzvahs—with an array of menu themes—from Ramadan Breakfast to Indian Fusion cocktail parties to Busta Rhymes’ birthday. They have even recently created on special line of “on the go meals” called Playa Provisions. Gastronaut’s unique culinary flare mixed with a commitment to fresh, organic, and sustainable ingredients adds both quality and adventure to dining. CEO and Co-Founder Mirit Cohen was studying in a masters program at Stanford before abruptly changing careers to pursue a culinary career in 2004. Choehn was quickly promoted from Chef’s Assistant to Executive Chef at Google during her tenure at the internet giant before eventually running Google’s catering department for a year, producing numerous large-scale events.

Co-Founder and Executive Chef Nate Keller began his culinary career after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in 1999 at and working as a Sous Chef at numerous high end restaurants in Northern California. Starting as a Sous Chef at Google in 2003, Keller rose the ranks and served as Google’s Executive Chef from Google 2005-2008 and concurrently opened 8 cafe’s in California and New York. Keller added to his resume as Executive Chef at Apple and joined forces with Cohen in November of 2008 to found Gastronaut, a new age catering company.

Photos: Courtesy of Gastronautsf.com

 

Proud Sons of Eire: from Sligo to SF - The Hooks!

Tonight: O’Reillys, San Francisco 3.17.11

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona dár gcairde agus teaghlach!

It’s noon on St. Patrick’s Day, you are getting a myriad of emails from your friends, many who are leaving the office not to return until the next day. Because you are known to be of Irish descent, you are also the de facto ‘help desk’ for all Celtic related activities on the Feast of St. Patrick. It’s a lot of responsibility, as what many people like to do on this day, is the opposite of what you like to do, and least of all, the preposterous activity of consuming green beer or gathering in a crowded bar. A guy outside your window bellows to a friend across the street:

“Duuuude…..meet you at the Irish Bank at 4, it’s going to be EPIC! [lol!!!]“

Sartre’s famous quote, ‘hell is other people’ comes to mind, and then you brush it away and attempt to get into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit, because it is a holiday, just not one that you are accustomed to celebrating in a bar.

You conjure up a quick visual: a Marina-infused emporium of the Financial District’s Phi Kappa Sigma set, spilled pints and speakers blaring U2, a  line that goes for miles just to get a drink. Irish whiskey in a plastic cup (egads!). Girls squealing OH MY GOD!!!!!  It’s a mashup of Spring Break, and an Irish-themed meat market.

You have a chat with yourself, your Irish ancestors, and your conscience, and wonder why you can’t turn back the clock to a more heartfelt St. Patrick’s Day when you were growing up:  With set dancing and jigs, Irish tenors in the back ground, corned beef and cabbage, little kids running around screaming bloody murder and flogging each other senseless, Jameson’s Irish coffees and Guinness all around, and everyone belting out off key ballads. Great uncles are talking about WW2 stuff. A kelly-green cake with leprechaun icing sits on the kitchen table, shamrocks decorate the front door, and a Luck of the Irish FTD floral arrangement adorns the dining room table. Your grandfather rocks his Glen Plaid Pendleton and a green carnation singing Danny Boy to anyone who crosses the threshhold. It’s not glamorous but it’s fabulous and it’s your family. You miss it and them. You ask yourself if you can really brave this Irish Bank business as you hang your head in nostalgia, and a tinge of sadness, recalling family St. Patrick’s day celebrations of yore, and then PING! Another email hits your In Box.

Okay, let’s look at this new social opportunity:

“Hey, gal, let’s do St. Patrick’s Day a little differently: Proud sons of Sligo, and SF’s own, The Hooks, at O’Reilly’s in North Beach promises to be a Celtic Caelie of the highest order. Let’s go!”

Going, going, gone. SOLD! To the girl who was on the fence about going out into the nefarious and commercial world of St. Patrick’s Day in San Francisco.

The Deets:

The Hooks play at 8 pm in what promises to be the ultimate date night blitz of rock, punk, and Irish Trad. Admission is free before 5 pm and $10 after 5 pm. There will be traditional set dancing and music, and O’Reilly’s is blocking off the street, so it promises to be more of a Caelie than a booze fest (although for those who desire that, there is a well appointed bar and restaurant). The O’Reilly family puts on the famed SF Oyster fest and had a lovely after party following the last Pogues show and are indeed a class act. Thank you O’Reilly’s for offering us an alternative!

Bring your sweetie to a barn burner with The Hooks. Great at parties, pre-events or even your wedding (they dominated Operation Aisle Style Alterna-Bridal Fashion Event) – and have a hot date with The Hooks.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona dár gcairde agus teaghlach!

The brothers Mullligan: adopted by Anti-Bride

About

The Hooks New Album - ‘Everything Is Golden’

The Hooks new album ‘Everything Is Golden’ is a maelstrom of sound. Low-fi gritty garage band punk blends modern rock with with a dash of traditional Irish folk sensibilities.

‘Everything is Golden’ mashes up influences from many countries: Ireland’s famous sense of black humor and literary exploits, America’s rock n’ roll roots to Russia’s Bolshevik trad.

‘The Commuter’ is an anthem for the working class hero who knows all too well the drudgery of heading every day to a cubicle forming a cycle of banality that never ends for the wage slave. ‘So May Questions’ has been described as ‘a song Tarantino would use in a bank heist scene.’

‘Everything Is Golden’s’ folky cadence starts off in Moscow and moves and ends up on a rollicking joy ride straight to hell.

WEB:
www.thehooksmusic.com
www.myspace.com/thehooks
http://thehooks.fanbridge.com

BLOG:
http://twitter.com/THEHOOKS
www.facebook.com Search: The Hooks
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/TheHooks
http://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=64578&
http://thehooks.bandcamp.com/

 

The Greens Scene at Fort Mason for your wedding...

I’ve had enough of the turkey and I’m ready to go green… this week I’ve fallen in love with one of the most artistic, picturesque and delectable vegetarian restaurants in the city.

Located in a converted warehouse in the heart of the historic Fort Mason in San Francisco, Greens restaurant is one of the city’s most noted gems for aesthetic distinction, with an outstanding seasonal menu to beat.

Sunlight through the fog vow exchange.

Created by nationally recognized Executive Chef Annie Somerville, her innovative menu is focused solely on vegetarian cuisine. Somerville has earned a reputation for her creative approach to vegetarian cooking; she teaches classes throughout the Bay Area and is also the author of Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes from the Celebrated Greens Restaurant (Bantam Books, 1993) and Everyday Greens (Simon & Schuster, 2003). Her ideas have been featured in many publications, including Gourmet, Food and Wine, Ladies Home Journal, and Vegetarian Times.

Listed as one of the Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants by the San Francisco Chronicle, Greens has a Michelin Guide recommendation and is recognized as one of America’s top restaurants by Zagat. Produce is selected from local organic farmers, alongside their very own Green Gulch Farm in Marin County to ensure the freshest and most delicious seasonal ingredients in their dishes.

Architechtural, urban, rustic and luxe...

Greens is an ideal venue for a wedding reception with spectacular unobstructed views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Marina and Yacht Harbor, and the Marin Headlands. Founded and owned by the San Francisco Zen Center, the primary focus of Greens is service. Weddings are personally catered to the specific needs of the couple by event coordinator Ashley Pier, ensuring a special menu of unique appetizers, entrees, desserts and wine pairings. Floor plans, décor, flower arrangements, music, dancing, candlelight and photography are just some of the areas within Ashley’s expertise to ensure a perfect and memorable occasion on the big day.

The whole restaurant is available for buyout any day or evening of the week, for a wedding reception and ceremony. Greens can accommodate up to 135 people for a sit down meal or 200 for a standing reception, and the private dining room can seat up to 50 people for a meal or 70 people for a standing reception.

For further information about holding your wedding at Greens or to arrange a personal meeting, contact Ashley Pier, Special Event Coordinator at 415.771.7955 extension 114, or at events@greensrestaurant.com

The restaurant is open for dinner every evening, and for lunch Tuesday through Sunday. You can view Greens spectacular seasonal menu on their Web site, and check out their Facebook page for photos and information of previous events and weddings.

 

It's about Wine O'Clock...

Rain, sun, clouds, lather, rinse, repeat…The weather today, like yesterday, was classic Bay Area schizophrenia: a little bit Book of Revelations, and altogether mercurial. In consideration of the fact that you won’t be able to to bank on one particular weather pattern for more than 30 minutes today (it’s even too windy to surf!) I suggest you head over to SF Vintners Market at Fort Mason: the see and be seen community party/wine tasting/buy it-try it summit.

Yesterday’s event was epic, with spectacular wines from all over the Bay Area and wine country. Cameron Hughes was representing a great group of reds and one lovely Chardonnay.

My good buddies from Somerston Winery were in the house with their High Flyer and Priest Ranch picks, always good….

The Swanson Vineyard ladies, (stand out glamazon, Heidi Godoff) are always impossibly chic with delicious wine (and chocolates to boot). My favorite wines of the day were: high priestess of the vine, Heidi Barrett’s 2007 La Sirena Cabernet Sauvignon, and Knights Bridge Winery West Block Chardonnay: complex, and memorable (nothing tasted as good after I tried it – and they even let me try it 2 more times!) Great chatting with Knights Bridge Managing Director Timothy F. Carl, PhD, (I’m just going to call him ‘Dr. Bacchus’) – and will find some kind of excuse to get up to St. Helena to see my Somerston Winery friends, and new friends from Knights Bridge Winery for a proper vineyard visit….

SF Vintners was rockin and rolling yesterday, and although I spent a significant amount of time in the Reserve Area, there were dozens of great winemakers in the football-field-sized Fort Mason hall. It’s a fun event, and one to be shared with good friends, with new ones  at every corner. The wine deals and wine club memberships were staggering, and if you were ever to get a crash course in:

1. Your dream wine cellar
2. Your model  wedding wine list
3. Under the radar wine offerings and small batch vineyards you might never know about…

…this is a must attend event. Part of the reason I love living in the SF Bay Area is because of the sense of community and creativity that these people bring to the table. Cornelius Geary and Jeff Playter are stand outs: curators and thought leaders in the wine/lifestyle world, creators and aggregators of the Wine 2.0 movement, and SF Vintners Market, and super heroes for small and large vineyards, bringing them to a wildly appreciative audience.

Thank you to all the vineyards, and founders of SF Vintners Market, and those of you who haven’t been, don’t wait til Spring, get yourself over there and let them bring the tasting room to you!

Photography:  Cornelius Geary

 

On Wednesday, August 18th, Nombe Restaurant and Sake Sommelier Gil Payne invite you to experience the amazing sakes of the Miyasaka Family of Suwa, Nagano, makers of the Miyasaka and Masumi Brand sakes. This 10th Generation sake clan has the distinction of having their own proprietary yeast declared a landmark classic yeast (Number 7) by the country’s national brewer’s association, and this yeast is widely used by sake makers throughout Japan. The quality and craftsmanship of Masumi’s sakes is truly exceptional, and we are proud to display them with the following special dishes prepared by Chef Balla:

Grilled Ribeye with Sake-Kasu
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Shiso
Dried Grilled Squid
Marinated Hearts of Palm

Masumi’s Nanago, Yuedomo, and Yamahai Ginjo will be featured, in addition to the Miyaska Yamahai 50 brand. We will also have a secret welcome sake to greet diners coming for this special pairing. The cost is $50 per person inclusive, and reservations can be made via OpenTable. Visit www.nombesf.com for further details.

 

Saturday June 26, 2010

Perfect timing: a lunar eclipse and  SF Pride, all on the same day! Ready for some changes? I sure am! Antibride.com has been a longtime supporter of gay marriage since the the first book in the 3-book Anti-Bride was published in 2002.  You’ve got to love Chronicle Books for having the guts, sense of fairness, and open mind to get behind what was then, and is still considered to be, a touchy topic in the White House and beyond. As a publishing firm, they are fearless and peerless. Gay culture has informed, improved, uplifted and changed arts, culture, and society at large, here and across the globe. Many of the issues, laws, and the sea change in public opinion towards gay rights, the right to marry, and health care happened right here in SF – bellwether of change. Check out my latest article in Drink Me Magazine, A Historical Look at Gay Bars: Cultural Politics in a Glass, in this months Issue, Colors, in celebration of Pride.

It is with great pride that I celebrate Pride with some good friends, old and new starting with Dyke March later today in Dolores Park, the Parade tomorrow (check out uber fabulous Bevan Dufty’s float at the parade! We’re voting for him for SF Mayor) and ending most likely at some TBD after party in the Castro.

Some compatriots of note with whom I will be canoodling at Elena’s Pink Diamond Party in the Castro before Dyke March: Melissa Comito-Aakre, our Heavy Petal floral blogger, who just took the Top Wedding Flowers award, Best of the Bay SF Chronicle/SF Gate, the inimitable Irvin Lin, our spanking new food blogger: Eat the Love, and his equally talented boyfriend, A.J. Bates of Marquis Photo SF (bridal portraits, anyone?). The only regret is that I can’t hang with my super buddies and Anti-Bride Two Brides bloggettes, Stacy-Jill and Melissa, newlyweds and founders of Queerlywed.com.

One thing remains clear, straight or gay, it is with pride that we celebrate SF Pride. Let the cartoons begin!

Details

Excerpted from the Official SFPride.org website

San Francisco Pride has been said to be “one of the last remaining pride events that can truly be called a rite of passage.” 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the San Francisco Pride Celebration and Parade.

The event will be held over the weekend of June 26 and 27, 2010 in the Civic Center of downtown San Francisco.
With over 200 parade contingents, 300 exhibitors, and 19 stages and venues, the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade is the largest LGBT gathering in the nation.

The San Francisco Pride Celebration is packed with a wide variety of exhibitors, artists, music of all kinds, performers, dance stages and venues, and fun. There really is something here for everyone.

The Celebration at Civic Center is host to our Main Stage where in 2009 Asian pop sensation BoA wowed Pride-goers with new beats alongside Solange Knowles and the Cliks and where in 2008, attendees saw Lady Gaga, Margaret Cho, Kat DeLuna, Inaya Day, Crystal Waters, speakers from the marriage equality movement, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, among others.
2010 Event Themes.

The event theme for the 40th annual San Francisco Pride Celebration & Parade was selected by Pride’s Membership.  Acknowledging the need for celebration in the wake of Prop 8, the membership selected “Forty and Fabulous” from a slate of 51 potential themes, each submitted by community members and members of Pride.  Member Richard Kravitz, who submitted the winning theme, explained his submission, “I thought that we needed something fun.  Last year, I told Executive Director Lindsey Jones that the theme for next year should be ‘Forty and Fabulous.’ She said to submit it, and so I did.”
FREE Admission

The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee takes very seriously its commitment to maintaining an event that is open to people of all economic backgrounds.?  Your generosity at the entrances to the Celebration in the form of donations helps keep San Francisco Pride free to all members of the community and provides crucial support to this important community event.? Our donations program also helps to support over eighty Bay Area non-profit organizations through our Community Partners Program. Donations from the celebration have helped San Francisco Pride to give back more than $1.6 million in grants since 1997.?   With your help, we can do even better this year and invest in our community’s future.?  Join us for two days of music, food and fun… all for FREE! No tickets are needed and no one is ever turned away for lack of funds.

 

Congrats to Melissa Comito Akare for Best Wedding Flowers!

The votes are in and www.asimpleceremony.com helmed by Melissa Comito-Aakre, has taken first place in SF’s incredibly competitive vetting process known as the Best of the Bay SF Chronicle/SF Gate for Best Wedding Flowers. This is no small feat in a city that prides itself on oral (cuisine and libations),  aural (a thriving music scene), and design (technology, architecture, art) fixations under the watchful eye of taste makers by the truckload sending down missives of what’s cool and hip across the blogosphere at warpspeed. Everything that matters in design, technology, cuisine, mixology and ambiance happens in the SF Bay Area, so to actually win here ups the ante of who’s got the goodies. Melissa clearly does.

Melissa is our brand new Ambiance Blogger on Antibride.com and Destination I Do Magazine, and she’ll share not only floral fantasies, but ambiance ideas, and indoor and outdoor transformation of spaces into magical places. We are also pleased to feature her in the September issue of Destination I Do Magazine, so stay tuned.

Congrats Melissa, you are the Best of the Bay and we love ya!

About

Melissa Comito Akare

To say that Melissa Comito-Akare is merely a florist is like saying the Coco Chanel was a hat designer. Infusing new and eclectic ideas in flowers, design, lighting, décor, table-scapes, point of view, and ambiance, and really getting to the heart of who a couple is, is what Melissa and her company, A Simple Ceremony, does best. Whether you are an eco-chic vegan couple or rock and roll royalty Melissa has the design know how, historical references and the resources to turn on the juice. This wunderkind got her start in Beverly Hills working with celebrities such as Jane Seymour, Bette Midler, Joan Rivers, and Barry Manilow; and companies such as Pixar, and George Lucas. Her work has been featured in several magazines including Martha Stewart and Grace Ormand. Her inspiration comes to her in random ways: a building, a pattern on a skirt, the color of a sunset, a trip to Home Depot, a stack of vintage Tarot cards, a mad scientists laboratory. If you have a dream for an event that must be expressed and created down to the detail, Melissa is the girl for the job like no one we’ve yet seen. www.asimpleceremony.com.

Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/petal2metal

Follow her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/asimpleceremony