November 2005 Archives

To continue the theme started in this previous post....

The "I don't get [Zuni | Incanto | Chez Panisse | Delfina]" meme seems be a recurring one. (See, for instance, here on the eBob BBS). It makes me wonder if all of the folks who love these "simple but delicious" places grew up in cooking-challanged homes where the nightly fare alternated between, Velveeta Mac & Cheese, Chef Boyardee canned ravioli, and pressure cooker corned beef and cabbage? Of coures, no one really grew up like that...... did they?

Also, here is a more philosophical take on the argument.

In my collection at least, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht is the last winery alphabetically, but it is the first winery I think of when someone starts talking about consistently amazing wine. Some wines have more imposing reputations, for instance the first growths of Bordeaux. But, has there ever been a Bordeaux first growth that was worth its tariff every vintage? (To be sure, there are folks who wonder about those prices in any vintage).

Zind-Humbrecht has a number of strikes against it in the wine-collector game. Its wines are white, not red, and the wines aren't even made from chardonnay, they are from gewürztraminer and pinot gris. But none of this makes any difference. The wines of Zind-Humbrecht are consistently exquisite, exotic and seemingly extraterrestrial. They are floral, focused, and full. They make me smile and give thanks for living in this world.

2002 Qupé Roussanne Bien Nacido Vineyard - USA, California, Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria Valley (11/13/2005)
A really lush wine which starts out with a good acidic character and the taste of a green granny smith apple. This spreads out into the mid palate which is full bodied, lush and tastes of lucious apricot. The finish is long and full of sweet fruit. I really liked this wine. It is very good stuff. (91 pts.)

2003 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Allen Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (11/18/2005)
Beautiful light ruby-red color. This is just about the friendliest, most luscious and delicious pinot noir you would ever want to meet. It is ripe and full and lush on the palate, but it is also balanced. No one would mistake this for anything even remotely French - it is red fruits all the way and tastes like velvet sunshine or a warm wet kiss. On the other hand, it isn't a Calif raisiny over-extracted fruit-bomb either. A very impressive effort; delicious now, and will age quite well. (93 pts.) (Tasted at the Farallon PinotFest) Tagged pinot.

A while back, I posted about the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' sanctimoniously declining the opportunity to host the USS Iowa at Fisherman's Wharf. It seems they are reconsidering their decision.

Although this is a definite improvement, some of the Supervisors continue to exhibit almost unbelievable self-parody in their public statements. Supervisor McGoldrick is reported to have suggested the USS Iowa could be used as, "a center for conflict resolution."

This actually may be one of the most lucid statements McGoldrick has ever made. The USS Iowa is certainly a great tool for conflict resolution; but probably not in the way McGoldrick has in mind.

Artist Liz Hickok models and molds the city of San Francisco in Jell-O(tm). She then makes color prints and videos of the result.

I am certain there is ample room for a snarky comment here about San Franciso politics & culture (after all, the artist did model City Hall in "red" Jell-O—which seems right to me) but as strange as it sounds, this really is art and it trancends the snide and snarky. Cleverly, one video of the results is named "Earthquake." It all seems exactly right and it is surprisingly fascinating.

I first came across the technique of making something "unreal" and then taking a photograph (which is always "real", right?) in the art of Sandy Skoglund. I've got a copy of her "Radioactive Cats" poster.

(Via Virginia Postrel and LiquidTreats.)

One complaint sometimes lodged against the modern American male is that every project is an excuse to buy a new tool. I'm worse than that—I don't actually need a project: I'll buy a neat tool and then find a project for it. When I saw the hand-held infrared themometer on the shelf at Costco (only $50! It's CHRISTMAS!!!), I knew with a certainty far beyond faith, experience, or divine revelation that I needed it. The fact that I didn't know what I needed it for was completely immaterial.

The thing itself is kind of like a hand-held barcode reader, but it displays the temperature of whatever you point it at. It has a 10-to-1 cone ratio, so if you have it 10 inches from an object, it measures a 1-inch diameter circle. You just pick it up, pull the trigger, and one second later, it displays a temperature.

Daniel Patterson had a piece in Sunday's New York Times: To the Moon Alice? where he shines a light on the dark secret of the Bay Area food scene, namely the stultifying conformity imposed by the 30-year old culinary revolution led by Alice Waters.