Plumed Horse, Evvia, and Alexander’s - The bunch of you sure know your way into my heart. First and foremost I would like to thank Crystal for setting everything up from restaurant choice, to contacting most of you, and to keep all this under wraps until a couple weeks ago. A big thank you to all of you who came out to Evvia for dinner, and braved the cold for drinks at Nola’s afterwards.

Also, thanks to all of you who kept my phone buzzing all day with Happy Birthdays in nearly every linguistic arrangement possible. Thanks for keeping me smiling throughout the day.

Finally thanks to Richard and Angie at Alexander’s for always making sure that we’re always taken care of in a superb manner. We’ve enjoyed many a meal here, and they are able to keep it fresh, entertaining and most importantly of all fulfilling. Always having us leave with smiles.

So…To Many More!

-Wallace

Stumbled upon this video posted on Jason of Rotiform’s Facebook this afternoon and wow…listen to those Porsche Flat 6’s work.

-Wallace

Most of these presents are with Crystal in Oahu now.

Wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! Hoping all of you have unwrapped exciting gifts and spending the holidays surrounded by your loved ones.

-Wallace

Every now and again I catch a passing glance of a photo that I make the effort to take a second look at, and that second look stops me in my tracks, and invites a smile. This is the photo that literally stopped time for me today. It’s a simple photo at first glance, good technique and an classic technique for silhouettes. Something about it just froze time for me, and the longer I eye’d this photo the more I enjoyed it, not only is it romantic, it’s poetic - blending the couple in with the flora is almost metaphorically hinting at settling down, setting roots, and growing together - forever intertwined, feeding off each other, supporting each other, and protecting each other.

Although, unsure if it was the photographer’s intentions, it sure grabbed me and how glad I am that it did - for when I flipped the page to take a look at the rest of the set, what I saw literally MOVED me. Good photographs capture emotion, Great photographs create emotion.

The photographer’s name is Jason Lee, and he’s based right here in San Francisco. Engagement photographs are a tricky business, one of which I’m convinced the majority do it for the paycheck - as in their hearts are not in it. They take photos and turn then desaturate the life out of them and add a touch of soft focus for that dream like appeal. Photographs in my personal opinion should be in full color; vibrant, full of life, motion and a living memory. The last engagement/wedding photographer who’s work has captivated me is Shawn Starr, and although some might cry foul, I think Jason’s work is better.

The happy couple is Bonnie Lam and Brian Ho, also of San Francisco. I’ve known Bonnie for some time now, bumping into her in the most random places but she has the memory of an elephant and one of the most accommodating people that I know. I met Brian earlier this year while he and his jazz group played at Pampas - almost super-hero like, a school teacher by day and a jazz musician by night. You got to appreciate people who are passionate about what they do, and if you have ever witnessed Brian play - it shows.

Anyways, here’s a sampling of their portfolio:

Congrats Bonnie & Brian! Here’s to many more.

-Wallace

When I last wrote about John Mayer his album Continuum was swooning women everywhere, and while the rest of us were thinking, “When is he going to release his next album?” John Mayer was thinking, “How do I even top Continuum?” In his words, it was who he was at the time, he was happy how the album came out and was not sure if he could do better but the creative side in him got to him and John began work on the Battle Studies project.

If you haven’t figured it out, this is why I love this guy - he is consistently changing, adapting, and experimenting. Progressing. Mayer is might of originally rocketed to fame through traditional media and cloned sounds but he has since shed the boy ballad shell that has entrapped artists such as James Blunt or even Jason Mraz. Mayer has evolved, and transformed into rockstar royalty.

Battle Studies have been streaming through my speakers for the better part of 3 hours now and it only gets better and better. Highly Recommended. Obviously.

Anyways…Here’s some of shorts of the The Making Of…

I enjoyed this short the most, it’s a condensed photojournal of Mayer’s time in Japan.

Follow John Mayer here: www.JohnMayer.com

-Wallace

PS. On a similar note, another project that has gotten me hot and bothered is the much anticipated Black Keys album, “Blakroc” What happens when you mix up Rock, Blues and Hip Hop? Blakroc. That’s what.

Slope Dope just published a photograph of Heavenly by Al Saracevic. The gates have been lifted, the chairs started to hum, and the runs are fresh with powder. It’s time to strap those decks on and float down the mountain.

-Wallace

It’s been a way over a year since I’ve updated “The Food Diaries,” as I was being mistaken for a food critic, or at the very least a food blogger. The very LAST thing I want to be known for is either of the above, as when I think of “Food Critic” the image of Jeffery Steingarten comes to mind. Awkward, Socially Retarded, and as “radiodugger” bluntly puts it, I want to “CHOKE THE LIVING —-out of Jeffery Steingarten…”

I digress. Many of you have been curious to where I’ve been eating. Although the regular places such as Gochi, Alexander’s, and Pho Hoa are still frequented we’ve actually cut down on our dining expenditures. Not sure what happened, I personally think it was Crystal’s discovery that she loved kale, but either way when we do go out it’s because we’re bloody tired after work or making having a mini celebration which equates to some 2-3x a week. Here are my current favorites:

Azuma Japanese Cuisine in Cupertino - Yes, Gochi is just down the street from my office, but there’s just something about walking to lunch and Azuma is just that. It’s walkable, food is not exactly spectacular but above average - by average I’m talking Miyaki or Ariyake (yes, pretty terrible, but I assure you Azuma is not). Service is really awesome, it’s beginning to feel like a second home, kind of like when I was at Gochi 4x a work week. They also have daily specials for $9.25 - another similarity to Gochi, I don’t have to think. I sit, and tell them that I want the special - done and done. No muss, No fuss.

Starbelly in San Francisco - Usually when we’re in San Francisco we’re eating where people want to be seen; Slanted Door in the Ferry, RN74 in Soma, Salt House in the Mission, etc. Starbelly is across town on the edge of the Castro which is a great place in itself. If you enjoy bacon this is a restaurant you absolutely should not pass up, as the name implies it’s bacon themed. However, everything is not overly bacon - it’s used as a flavor enhancer rather then the star ingredient (unlike that slab of bacon I had at OXO in London). During our visit we had home made mini-corn dogs (see you’re hungry already aren’t you?), pan roasted ling cod with bacon roasted brussel sprouts, and home made spaghetti with bacon and jalapenos.

I have never seen a restaurant where its entire staff is so dedicated to not only the food but what seemed like the sole mission of the restaurant. When I ordered my espresso the guy literally shook and pressed the grounds some 4-5 times before forcing it onto the espresso machine. Quite amazing, and not to mention dirt cheap for a San Francisco restaurant of this caliber.

LB Steak in Santana Row - To be quite frank the only reason I sat foot in here was our waiter, Richard, at Alexander’s spent some time waiting tables for their lunch crowd. I told him I’d visit and to my surprise he bought me lunch. He has since left and is spending his evenings at Alexander’s, however I think I have discovered the perfect turkey sandwich at LB Steak. I’m hooked, I’ve been back 3 times for their turkey club now. Also recently we went for brunch…believe me when I tell you the food is more then reasonable here.

The Butler and The Chef Bistro in San Francisco - Jonanthan and Alycia took us here the other day and as soon as we arrived I noticed the Google Maps peg, Alice Water’s peg to be exact and I was excited. This place is charming on many levels, located in one of my favorite tiny neighborhoods in San Francisco and just the whole appeal of it reinforced the casualness of a bistro. This place was known for its quiches and egg benedict three ways.

I had the neiman ranch ham egg benedict and Crystal had a ham quiche. We all split a banana and honey crepe. Finger. Lickin’. Good.

-Wallace

So while browsing through Black Friday ads, Crystal pointed out a Nikon point and shoot and asked what I thought of it. Realizing that she was intent on purchasing it to replace her beloved, but lcd-less Canon Powershot she fished one of her Christmas gifts out of me. Rather then picking up the said Nikon, we picked up a shiny red Canon SD 780 IS for her…and as usual I played with it.

It’s small, sleek, and extremely pretty. In fact, I want one. The camera powers up real fast, there’s no annoying welcome screen and it’s able to take photographs in fairly low light. My next thought was, “Well…could we take decent photos in a dimly lit restaurant?” Well, we dined at En Restaurant in Santa Clara per Laurie’s suggestion and well…see for yourself:

cup of tea

Crystal on wood

agadashi daikon

chicken karage

tuna tataki

6 pc oden

Food was delicious, and the Canon SD 780 IS performed well - a whole lot better then what I expected. Now, it’s firmly in Crystal’s claspy little hands.

-Wallace

There’s no doubt about it - the significant drop in temperatures, the smiles on people’s faces, and the impossible avoidance of Christmas Carols signify that we are indeed in the middle of the holiday season. With that being said, I decided that Crystal needed her first tree in her first place. On one of my morning errand runs I picked up a bunch of Poinsettias, and this was the original plan until I ran into these saplings and knew that it wasn’t a merry, Merry Christmas if we didn’t have a tree. With this thought, the sapling was in my basket and I was out the door.

It will stay indoors at Crystal’s through the end of the holidays, then I’m going to transport it to my folk’s Stockton house. Guess we could decorate it annually there.

Happy Holidays! Have a festive one!

-Wallace

Today, I thought I’d do something nice for Crystal so I made french toast for breakfast. Relatively simple to do, all you need are:

1 baguette
2 eggs
1/2 cup half & half
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon
teaspoon of brown sugar
teaspoon of vanilla
teaspoon of grand marnier
2 teaspoons of unsalted butter

this will make 2 servings.

Slice the baguette into 3/4″ - 1″ slices then mix up the remaining ingredients, except the butter, in a mixing bowl. Let the bread soak in the mixture and heat up your oven to 375F. While that’s heating up grab a fry pan and melt the butter over medium-high heat, as soon as the butter’s molten start to brown the soaked baguettes. Once brown on both sides transfer the toasts from the fry pan to a baking pan and leave in the oven for no more then 5 minutes. This will crisp and firm up the outside giving you a nice ‘crunch’ when you dive in later.

By the time I finished Crystal decided to roll out of bed and into her seat in front of a plate of just out of the oven french toast, bacon and mixed berries.

The holidays have begun. I’m. So. Ready.

-Wallace