I’m a little late on the update, but thought I’d share this despite being about 2 months sale. Hawthorne Lane, which was always a nice wi-fi happy hour destination, has changed to Two. And, they have $2 bar snacks. I had liverwurst on brown bread. With a big Steelhead beer, it was great 5 o’clock Friday sustenance. More info here, at their site- “Just the facts”. Long and short seems that they wanted to mix it up and go back to the 70s. One issue is parking, it’s not pretty. Meters open up at 6pm, and there are some nearby lots. They have an interesting “drive-thru” lunch box phenomenon too.

Local author and editor Sara Miles, whose book Take This Bread is about her efforts to feed hundreds of families every week through a church food pantry, is profiled this week in a report on the PBS show Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly. The report shows Miles at work in the St. Gregory Food Pantry she started several years ago. (Disclosure: she’s also a good friend of mine.*)

Barbara Kingsolver, whose book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is about her family’s attempt to eat for a year only foods that were raised and produced locally, is the subject of a nice interview in today’s Chronicle. One of the foremost Bay Area proponents of eating locally — they’re called locavores! — is Jessica Prentice, who has her own book, Full Moon Feast.

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This month, as spring begins it’s mighty reign over hill & dale, local hopped beverage lovers have additional reasons to rejoice including the 24th Annual San Francisco International Beer Festival at Fort Mason on April 28th . Ye need not wait that long though, as a week long repeal of prohibition anniversary bash is ongoing at North Beach’s Rogue Ales Public House now through Sunday.

Indeed many frothy quaffs await yer presence all over the region with details after the jump. In addition to the 27 ales Rogue has on tap, they now have their own spirits line including a hazelnut spiced rum, and on Tuesday debuted the first pours of their Spruce gin. They also have grub including Kobe beef burgers, and on Friday they will feature a pig roast.

Things really get rolling this weekend with Saturday’s Rogue Olympics where entrants celebrate the repeal of prohibition by competing in activities like the Washington Sq tricycle obstacle course, beer pong and a root beer chug off. Sunday Rogue wraps up their weeklong anniversary bash with a pajama party bloody mary brunch and the swearing in for dogs into the thirsty & esteemed Rogue Nation, an honor once reserved only for people.

Other info on brew related local events coming up this month, including the Meet The Brewers dinner at Edlo’s for the occasionally hungry & unusually organized beer enthusiast after the jump…
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The restaurant industry is notorious for its failure rate versus other new businesses. So it was a delightful surprise to hear that AsiaSF, a groundbreaking establishment, has been around for over 8 years and continues to thrive. This place is a feast for the senses and would please Oscar Wilde to no end. I ended up there to celebrate a friends’ birthday party and was expecting a luscious dinner. What I wasn’t expecting was a packed restaurant and gender illusionists extraordinaire walking about on the top of the bar. I’m sure most of us have heard about AsiaSF, but all the reviews, comments, and word-of-mouth recommendations can’t compare to the real experience. It seems to be a hot spot for women in particular as there were three birthday parties and a bachelorette party to boot that Friday night. This restaurant definetly falls under the category of “only in San Francisco”. May you live long and thrive AsiaSF.

Okay, so it’s like early January, and that means if you want to have reservations for anywhere on Valentine’s Day in San Francisco, you pretty much need to book your spots now. Even so, I’m always on the lookout for really sexy places to go on dates, and I know many locals have their favorite picks… so here are my top five sexy date restaurants. I’m hoping that by showing you mine, you’ll show me yours. Tell me if you agree, disagree, where I need to take my next date — go for it in the comments!

My top sexy date restaurants in SF, right now:

5. Absinthe. Upscale French brasserie in Hayes Valley with an atmosphere evocative of an old New Orleans (or Parisian) Absinthe bar: low-lit, sumptuous colors, very intimate booth seating, and large windows to make you feel like you’re in some kind of European sexy film noir. An impeccable oyster selection, decadent house-invented cocktails and those french fries….

4. Ajanta. Okay, this one’s in the east bay — Berkeley, actually — but the Indian food there is honestly a sexual religious experience for your palate, the seating is intimate, and the walls are covered with highly suggestive erotic paintings — in case the food wasn’t enough to heat you up from the inside.

3. Millennium. Vegan food with so many flavors, exquisite textures and subtleties it’s a turn-on, not to mention they know their aphrodisiacs — they have drinks (and non-alcoholic ones) with names like “Love Potion #10″… and there’s a hotel upstairs. Gimme that vegan lovin’ baby!

2. Tsunami. Chic, eloquent atmosphere, cozy tables and low intimate seating on the sides, plus the best sushi in town — not cheap, but gorgeous presentation and very sexy food, at that. Many delicious inebriants — read: huge sake selection — to tempt and seduce the palate (and your seatmate).

1. El Mansour. Moroccan food in the Richmond, in a style that makes you feel like you’re dining in a sultan’s harem. The experience begins with a ritual handwashing in the dining area, which is decorated in outrageous Moroccan style — low-lit, colorful, low inlaid tables… Everything from food to tea is served in beautiful settings, the food is incredible, the tea is poured from really high, and there are no utensils. Bellydancers sometimes wiggle through during meal times. Spendy, but what an experience. (Image of El Mansour via Flickr)

In case you’re planning Chinese food for Christmas – I thought I’d mention the great pork dumplings at San Tung on 10th and Irving. We must have beaten the rush because we got to sit down almost right away, and as we were leaving people were cramming into the door and lined out outside. The main dishes we had were okay, but not outstanding. Everything was cheap. Now that I’m reading other people’s reviews, I see there are specific recommended dishes – the homemade noodles and dry fried chicken.

The boiled dumplings were divine: fresh, tender, tasty and gingery, with green onion, and perfectly cooked.

Photo by DC Metroblogger

What might these traps be for? Crab? Lobster? Some other oceanic creepy crawly?

And who would be using these traps? Fishermen, yes, but do you know any?

We of the white collar world often forget all the sweat that makes our lives easy. Sweat not found in the gym.

And salt, what these traps will taste again soon.

Sure Halloween weekend provides plenty of opportunity for hijinks, mayhem, numerous young ladies in Playboy Bunny outfits and during an election year, acts of strange political stumpery. Such was the case the other night when Chris Daly, no doubt feeling the pain from the multimillion dollar DumpDaly campaign being waged against him , decided to do a little positive posturing. Amidst the picnc tables in the backyard of Zeitgeist, the supervisor appeared before a crowd of beered up folks with bellies full of tamales waiting to see a new locally produced Anti-Authortarian Kung Fu Zombie Exploitation Flick called “Meter Maid Me Massacre“. After watching a screening of “Our Lady Of Tamale” and a performance by the band Orelode, Daly grabbed the mic and surprised the subject of the bio pic, Virginia, and presented her with some sort of official Board of Supervisors issued proclamation.

More Halloween Hijinks After The Jump
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I was walking down Market street feeling the giddiness that only the purchase of a new MUNI monthly pass can bring. Aww, yeah. With my MUNI pass, I own this town. Anything can happen.

It started to rain. But I was in the right place at the right time because The Ferry Building Marketplace was right across the street. Time for lunch. I got a window seat at the Hog Island Oyster Company.

When I sauntered in there I imagined I’d get a bowl of chowder or something, but I saw this on the menu:

Cowgirl Creamery Grilled Cheese Sandwich
with Fromage Blanc, Mezzo Secco and Cave Aged Gruyere served with pickled vegetable

Yeah. I know. Grilled cheese. You can make it at home, etc. But dude. Seriously. This sandwich blew my mind. I chased it down with that fancy, bottled ‘French Fashioned’ lemonade. The skies parted. More rain poured down. Jeesus, I was in pure heaven.

This tower of food feeds 3, two little girls and an adult: not pictured, the other tower. We all made the tactical error of coming to tea with an appetite, so we had to order an extra plate of cucumber sandwiches (8$). The scones were great, the carpaccio and salmon were yummy, too.
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