San Francisco Metblogs » sf_keckler

Agony of My Feet

sf_keckler — Sat, 18 Sep 2004 12:39:57 +0000

About a year and a half ago, I started training as a professional chef and got myself a pair of Dansko clogs that would support my back for the eight hours I’d be on my feet. The amazingly knowledgeable people at Vintage, etc. on Mass Ave in Cambridge, MA spent a great deal of time assessing my having-no-arches feet and outfitting me with the best possible clogs with the best possible insoles.
As a result, my feet have been in heaven since that day and I am most reluctant to ever wear any other shoes. Unfortunately, while my clogs have held up with absolutely no outward appearance of wear, my insoles are kaput. Where in this fine city can I find replacements for my Fussbett insoles?

Don’t Mess With Texas

sf_keckler — Wed, 15 Sep 2004 07:16:34 +0000

I really don’t believe that sentiment at all, especially not after what happened at the As game last night.
However, what I was most interested in was examining the reactions of the crowd as the chair was thrown. Check them out:

Some of them are like, “Ah, yeah! He threw it! Now it’s ON!” And others are more properly horrified, “My god, what has this game come to? I can’t believe he threw it!” One guy is like, “Ooh, that HAD to hurt!” Some nice lady actually looks genuinely worried.
Proud of that, are ya, W?

Frjtz

sf_keckler — Sun, 12 Sep 2004 12:09:23 +0000

Yeah, I really think there should be an “i” in there somewhere.
I just love this place on Hayes @ Laguna. Order up a large paper cone of the garlic fries and take your pick of seventeen different dips. We were there Friday night with our special glasses of Chimay and Leffe and tried out the curry ketchup, ginger orange mayo, chipotle remoulade, and balsamic mayo. A large order for $4.50 will get you a choice of two dips and a small order for $3.00 will get you one. We always get two larges and share around the various dips.
The great thing about all the dips is how you can choose a few to off-set the others. Our orange mayo was a nice, sweet foil to the chipotle remoulade. It’s even better when the big, sticky garlic dice drops from the fries into the dip cups — it adds yet another of layer of fabulous french fry flavor.
They’ve also got salads, sandwiches, and sweet and savory crêpes and they’re all named for artists. I’ve had the Van Gogh (classic sweet crêpe of butter, lemon juice, and sugar), the Claudel (caramelized apples, cinnamon, almonds, and whipped cream), the Daum (roasted pineapple, shaved coconut, brown sugar, toasted almonds, and whipped cream) and the Kandinsky (Nutella, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream).
Check it out:
579 Hayes Street @ Laguna
Hayes Valley
415.864.7654
900 North Point @ Larkin
Ghirardelli Square
415.928.3886
www.frjtzfries.com

Tipping Points

sf_keckler — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 09:23:35 +0000

What does one tip in this city for the following:
Massage?
Facial?
Apartment manager?
Apartment handyman employed by apartment manager?
Haircut/style/general hairdo-ing?
Each city has their percentage, what’s San Francisco’s?

Mijita Cocina Mexicana

sf_keckler — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 17:09:57 +0000

A new Mexican restaurant opened in the Ferry Building yesterday. Well, it was open to some of us yesterday and to the rest of the city today.
All the Ferry Building Marketplace vendors got the chance to try out Traci des Jardins’ (of Jardiniere) newest culinary experiment and I was one of the lucky few. We were given Mad money and allowed to order whatever we desired from the brand-spanking new Mijita menu.
I brought home some booty and my husband and I sampled the chips and guacamole (to die for) and their tacos de carnitas, which were “crisped braised pork in soft corn tortillas with red tomatillo salsa, cilantro and onions.” It was damn good. I also tried the Mexican wedding cookie but it was much cakier than I prefer. The green salsa is quite incredible, and I can’t wait for the weather to turn cold, so I can grab a cup of Mexican hot chocolate. The sopa de albondigas (beef and pork meatballs in a tomato-based broth with vegetables) sounds quite tempting, as does the jicama, grapefruit, and avocado salad with pumpkin seeds.
With a take-out window positioned near enough to the ferry platforms to make commuter ordering a breeze, I suspect this bright terracotta-tiled eatery will be a huge success. Mijita even boasts weekend specials of chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, and chorizo con huevos.
I know where I’m eating on my next lunch break — a bottle of Mexican Coke is already calling to me.

My Views

sf_keckler — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 10:08:19 +0000

Hee — “Cootie free”!

Looking at Twin Peaks from Alamo Square Park

Thoughts of Snow

sf_keckler — Fri, 06 Aug 2004 11:45:16 +0000

I know it’s getting close to the San Francisco Summer, but my midwestern thoughts are already turning to autumn. And when they turn to autumn, they invariably turn to snow.
After my deep drift depression last winter, my husband promised we’d check out Lake Tahoe this year. That way I can roll in the flakes, make angels, and generally get my snowy ya-yas out.
Here’s the problem: having just moved here, we don’t know anything about where to stay. What’s cheap and pretty?
And by cheap, I mean less than $100 a night. And by pretty I mean, well, pretty.
Snow and cold, that’s all I ask.

I’ll Have Another Burrito and Then Some Ice Cream for Dessert

sf_keckler — Tue, 03 Aug 2004 15:08:27 +0000

Years before we ever moved to San Francisco, I was already aware of two places that demanded my immediate gastronomic perusal: El Farolito and Mitchell’s.
El Farolito, while not a exactly unique favorite, is the only burrito place I’ve tried in California. Every time we venture out for a craving-sating mass of beans, rice, and al pastor, we make a concerted effort to try either La Taqueria or Cancun or any number of other places that have come highly recommended.
Our resolve lasts as long as the ride on the 22 Fillmore. Something at El Farolito always pulls us to the cop-guarded door.
Is it the green salsa that the owners once allowed my husband to pump into a large Styrofoam cup just so he could bring it all the way back to his parents in Washington, D.C.? Maybe it’s the array of marinated meats, fresh velvety chunks of avocado, or the hot and salty chips.
Mitchell’s. I have four syllables: “Ma” “Ca” “Pun” “O.” I didn’t begin to live until I tasted that particular frozen confection of huge chunks of sweet coconut nestled among pillows of cream.
We’ve tried other flavors — black walnut, purple yam, buko (baby coconut) — and loved them but did find the mango to be a bit on the blah side.
If people want to make other ice cream store recs, we might actually go out and try them especially since Mitchell’s is such a hike for us.
Mitchell’s Ice Cream
at the corner of 29th Street
(415) 648-2300
11:00 a.m. to 11:00 pm.
7 days a week
El Farolito
2779 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110-3103

Return of the Metreons

sf_keckler — Sat, 31 Jul 2004 13:26:54 +0000

A few weeks ago my husband and I saw our first movie in San Francisco. Previous cinema trips had been over at the Art Deco-licious Paramount in Oakland to see Casablanca and my grandmother in The Women. Finally, we scrimped and saved our pennies and were able to treat ourselves to the $9.75 tickets to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at the Metreon.
We don’t go out to a lot of movies. In fact, we really prefer to rent especially since Netflix makes that process so deliciously easy and because I have grown so intolerant of Other People in Movie Theatres. For instance, during the previews the chick two seats away from me hissed “I’ve gotta pee!” Thanks, I really wanted to know that. Then there was this other girl down in front, who didn’t just stop with the ballsy move of answering her cell phone, she actually proceeded to have a complete conversation. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOVIE! And it was on one of those walkie-talkie cell phones where you have to pull the phone away from your ear to talk into the mouthpieces and then Over the chirp back.
I think it’s because we go so infrequently that, when we actually do take in a picture show, I’ve totally become Dolby’s bitch. Even supposedly bad movies (Nemesis) totally pull me in with the BIG screen, the SURRRROUUUUND SOOOUUUUND, and the popcorn with fantastically fake butter.
In fact, movie theatres might actually be the best place to give me bad news because I’d be all “My editor did WHAT to my piece?! Ooh, previews…pretty….”

Notes from a Small Island

sf_keckler — Sat, 24 Jul 2004 09:56:59 +0000

I’m up in Northern Washington for a week. It’s the first real vacation my husband and I have had since our honeymoon nearly four years ago. The San Juan Islands — Friday Harbor in particular — are amazing. They’re beautiful, clean, inspiring, and peaceful.
A bit too peaceful.
I couldn’t sleep last night because of the peace. Because of the quiet. It makes me hear things. Crackles on the lawn outside, sea lions splashing, bugs banging against the screens — they all make me sit straight up and demand from my snoozing husband, “What’s that?!”
It makes me miss San Francisco and the predictable noise outside our apartment. The cars, the occasional sirens, the drunks at closing time, loud dogs going for a midnight dump in the park — these I can sleep through. I understand these noises. I expect them. They’re my white noise.
The dark here is very dark as well. I can open the shades and not see my hand in front of my face. Outside, there is no city glow to compete with the blanket of stars above. Still, not seeing the hand in front of my face is kind of scary. What else am I not seeing in front of my face?
These boogeyman thoughts aren’t new. I had them as a kid when we came out here in the summers to visit my grandparents. I guess even then I was a city kid, and maybe that’s the problem. I’m a city kid who has turned into a city adult and even on a peaceful, restful, needed vacation, I miss my city.
As a kid, that city was Minneapolis.
Then it was Boston.
Now, my city is San Francisco.