Saturday, February 25, 2006

Courtship Foul

Guys, let me give you a little tip. If you want to tell a girl that you like her, you should probably tell her directly, before blasting it to all her friends over email. Witness this recent email, which was sent to all of 8 people (including me) who are all trying to plan a trip to Italy together:

"> I'm just taking this opportunity to say hi to Julie, who I thought was really
> cute when I met her so very briefly in SF the other weekend.
> Oh yeah, the trip... Tuscany's fine w/ me, esp. given the cost difference...."

Of course, this prompted all kinds of well-deserved mockery from the other people on the thread. But I can't help but wonder why this person (whose name will be not be divulged) would send this statement in his "reply to all"? I'm sure I will never hear the end of it - this will no doubt provide endless amusement for the other people on the trip. Which I guess is allright, because you gotta admit, it is pretty funny.

PS: I forgot to give due credit to Dave for coining the term "courtship foul". I'm not that clever.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Restaurants I'm ashamed I haven't tried yet

A16 - I really do want to go, but the Marina is just so far, and I always feel not-cute-enough.
Zuni - How have I not been to this place? Weak!
Chez Spencer - Just heard about this place, but need to go soon, before the secret gets out!
Frascati - I never go to Russian Hill, so this will be a good excuse.
French Laundry - Actually, I'm not sure I want to go. Super expensive, and I might have to eat seafood or liver or something.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Sam's Anchor Cafe, a.k.a. "If you didn't get enough of the Greek scene back in college"

Ah, Tiburon. Great views. Ocean breezes. A great little escape from the city. But, damn! I forgot how fratty Sam's gets on weekends. It's like everyone who was ever a part of the Greek system converges on this one place whenever the sun comes out. While it's always entertaining to play games like "spot the thong", and "why's that guy not wearing a trucker hat", even these can get old after a while. And you definitely don't go to Sam's for the food, so don't get your hopes up. But hey, it's a great spot to enjoy the sun with a beer and some fries. But just don't count on seeing me there more than once every 6 months. That's about all I can handle.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Firecracker, my ass

Last weekend, my roommate and I decided to take a little stroll down Valencia to try out our local yuppie-Chinese place: Firecracker. Big mistake. First of all, the place had a bunch of empty tables, but they said they couldn't seat us until 9:30 unless we were willing to take the drafty table by the entrance. Ok, fine. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume that there were reservations for those empty tables. Plus they'll throw in free soup or tea if we sit at the drafty table. Score! We're in. I'm a sucker for free shit.

The soup was actually really good, if you like whitenized Chinese food. It was spicy, and didn't have any weird, unidentifiable meats in it. Problem is, everything else that we ordered sucked. Mongolian beef: soggy meat, no spice, little flavor. Firecracker chicken: random chicken pieces with lots of fat, and too much deep-fry batter, also no spice. C'mon, I could have gotten this meal for $5.95 at Panda Express, and would have saved myself some serious cash (each entree at Firecracker was 15 bucks!).

The clincher was that the one waiter who was stuck with serving all the tables took forever to clear our plates and bring the check. After 10 or 15 minutes, I had to flag him down, since we wanted to get away from this nasty food, pronto. We forked over the hefty sum for our so-called-dinner, and high-tailed it outta there.

Lesson learned. From now on, I will heed the warnings of my friend Dave, and stay away from yuppie Chinese food - no good can come of it.

The Cheesesteak Shop

Let's talk about cheesesteaks. Now, I don't claim to know what an authentic philly cheesesteak should taste like. I've never been to Philly. But let me tell you, I like me some cheesesteak. I don't care if it's "authentic" or not, as long as it's meaty and saucy and delicious. And the cheesesteaks at The Cheesesteak Shop on Divisadero are all of the above.

When I first stepped inside the shop, I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical. The place looks like a run-down taco bell, and smells faintly of cat piss. But my fears were soon laid to rest. The cheesesteaks come with none of the extra frilly ingredients like lettuce or tomatoes. Just meat, cheese, onions and an assortment of grilled sweet and spicy peppers. None of that bell pepper crap. Oh, and a healthy dose of grease. Or as I like to call it: meat juice. This sucker is very juicy. And the cheese doesn't just sit on top of the meat, it's all mixed in and totally melted. The peppers on top are tangy and spicy, and add a nice little kick to the whole experience. Seriously folks, this cheesesteak was so good, it gave me those special feelings that I normally only get for George Clooney. I want to marry this cheesesteak. Or, at least go on a second date.

And don't forget to order up some of their awesome sides: Onion Rings. Twisty fries. Enough said.

Next time I go, I'll have to try the mysterious "TastyKakes" that are apparently an east coast thing that I, California Girl, am obviously too ignorant to know about. But make no mistake, there will be a next time. After all, once I fill up my frequent buyer card, I get a free cheesesteak!