Electric Shepherd at the Hemlock Tavern

Please don’t send me twenty five options for dinner.  Why don’t we just eat by the Boom Boom Room? Ok, 1300 on Fillmore looks good.  You’ll meet me at work?  Perfect.

Why does it take thirty minutes to find a cab in this town?  Yes, baby, I know that there are hotels and restaurants that way but I usually find a cab over here.  There’s one.  You were right again baby.

1300 on Fillmore looks rad!  Where do they put the bands?  Behind the curtain?  We should definitely check that out sometime.  I wonder what “twenty minutes extra wait” for fried chicken means in a half empty restaurant on a Tuesday.  Manhattan?  Yes.  Good wine too.  Chicken is okay, but your fish is amazing.  You always know what to order!  It is nice to just sit here and shoot the shit.  Excellent and friendly service.

Boom Boom Room is just up the block.  Looks like those guys are rolling a joint in broad daylight and not even trying to hide it.  Cops in this town will probably light it for them since they only have matches and it is windy over here.

Franziskaner is out?  Ok, let me taste the Arrogant Bastard.  Whoa!  As bad as I remember.  What about Stella? Out too?  Is it a problem with the CO2 or something?  How about Negra Modelo?  Thanks.  Yes, I got introduced to this beer by my cousin who likes it because of the name.  Yes, I’ve told you that before.  Good beer.  Not as good as Bohemia though.

I wonder which guy is Justin.  He said that he “might” be wearing sunglasses because his onstage persona demanded it.  I’ll go talk to the band.  Oh yes he’s in DVO.  I’ll go ask those guys.  Thanks.

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me!  It is so cool that you founded livemusicblog.com.  Did you live in New Orleans?  Chicago huh?  Nice!  We want to visit.  You have equipment for a podcast?  Perfect!  We want to get that going again.  We should meet again to talk video and not be rushed, I agree.

What a long sound check.  NVO does sound really good though.  Hate to run, but we have to catch Electric Shepherd at the Hemlock.  They played Brick & Mortar Music Hall earlier this month and had a nice write up in SF Weekly.  Always easy to catch cabs here, another reason to love the Boom Boom Room.

Hemlock Tavern, Interior, Night.  Me:  “Who’s up next?”  Doorguy looks at lineup on wall.  Shouldn’t you just ‘know’?  I mean you have one job here man.  Yes, we’ll take earplugs, this place is crazy loud.  I’ll get beer.   I can’t believe that there is no one here and we get to sit right up front!  Great band!  Awesome set!  Really glad that Electric Shepherd are SF locals.  Want to see them again.

Postcards from Mexico City: The Tlacoyo Nazi

The old woman had ruled this corner of La Roma for over 30 years, and man, that bitch didn’t like outsiders…

Skipper and I had been waiting 20 minutes for the tlacoyos that we ordered, or should I say tried to order from her. This particular grandma had the perfect neighborhood corner from which to ply her made-to-order vittles – the bakery a few feet away had huge pictures of pastries, desserts, and fresh bread covering the windows for about twenty feet in perpendicular directions – meaning that nobody could approach her corner without having been visually bombarded with massive images of delectable treats. Not to mention the muy delicioso aromas.

About twenty minutes ago, Skipper and I had succumbed to the same ploy.

“You gotta try these, dude,” he said as he licked his lips, “these are the kind of street food you can only get from Chilangos.” He explained that that tlacoyos were long, thick torpedo shaped blue corn cakes stuffed with cheese and beans and other goodies. You can find tacos nearly everywhere, but tlacoyos were harder to come by as they took a lot more handiwork and the recipes were proprietary and rooted in family tradition. In a city known for awesome street food, these were the literally the top of the food chain.

“Hey abuelita – what’s in your tlacoyos?” Skipper asked as he walked up. The chef looked to be about a few winters north of 82 years old and her face and hands were the color and texture of dried figs. She carefully completed one of her creations before deigning to answer through a clenched mouth full of gold teeth: “Nopales (prickly pear).”

“Cool. Can I get one?”

“Well, I’m in the middle of an order,” she said with a baleful eye, “it’s going to be awhile.”

Skipper shrugged his shoulders and looked in my direction. I nodded and he passed the nod on to her. She looked us over while continuing to shape and cook. It was clear she marked us as outsiders and potential troublemakers.

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The West Coast Greek Situation

Image by Naotake Murayama Just had lunch in SOMA today and it sucked balls.

Five Things I Hate About Cello Kebob & Pizza:

1.       Mold on the yogurt drinks
2.       Line out the door
3.       $15 for two tiny pieces of lamb, some rice, and vegetables
4.       Nasty service
5.       Cannot understand the employees at all

Last weekend I had some OK Greek food in San Jose at John’s of Willow Glen.  My leg of lamb didn’t have a bone in it, was a little dry and was slathered with some weird gravy (turkey?).   Why is it so hard to get good lamb in the bay area?  Is it because everything trucked in is half rotten by the time it arrives here from the central valley wasteland?

This made me remember the last time I was in Detroit.  The leg of lamb was bigger than the plate and I ordered a rack of lamb to go!

I grew up with solid greek food every couple of miles in Detroit.  Kokkari is probably the best in the Bay Area but, unless it’s your banker is picking up the check (happened recently) it’s a tad expensive.  The best place for Greek food that won’t break the bank is Vasili’s.  I love when the meat falls off the bone because it’s so tender.  But Vasili’s is in Santa Cruz so doesn’t really count (I count Santa Cruz as part of the Bay Area but they’re having none of it).

The question is, “Why is it so hard to get good lamb in the Bay Area?”  Is it the vegans?  Doubtful.  They couldn’t even keep open the Café Gratitude chain.  How many other vegan restaurants are out there?  There are only five listed  on Yelp in the Mission.  This out in a city of 700,000 full time residents and another million plus on the weekends.  The cause must be something else.  Is lamb too fatty?  No, it’s really lean.

Are there not enough people of Mediterranean descent in the bay area?  Doubtful.  I used to go to the Greek Orthodox festivals but even they have gone downhill recently.  Are there enough Midwest and East Coast transplants to support good Mediterranean places that are open outside of the 10-2 Monday through Friday lunch range?  Definitely.
 
I need to save up for a Vasili’s franchise. Going to Santa Cruz this weekend and Vasili’s is definitely on the menu.

Lafitte - Viva L'Evolution

Image by cyclonebillSan Francisco food scene falls down and completely FAILS.

Russell Jackson gave me the best food experience of my life. I was introduced to him a few years ago when going to one of his SubCulture Dining dinners.

I went through this awesome James Bond experience that involved a couple of phone calls, flashing lights in a parking lot, and ultimately walking into a condo, in the Dogpatch of SF, where I couldn’t leave to have a cigarette and, ultimately, was sober enough by the end of the 6 hour dinner to drive home.

To this day, it was one of the coolest things that I have ever experienced. It was *THE* coolest DINING experience of my life.

When I went to Lafitte the first time, I was *really* excited. I thought that the food sucked. Around the same time, a review came out. It was probably correct. Things didn’t work right away.

I kept going back for Russell and what he stands for. He never made me feel at home. He would shake my hand because he had to, and he sort of knew my face. His focus was on food. He wasn’t ever comfortable walking around shaking hands, and it was obvious. When he sent a drink (from him) to our table, he didn’t stop by. Maybe he wasn’t the person who sent the drink over… but for what it’s worth — it was the right drink. Bourbon and tobacco and whatever crazy insane combinations of the wrong ingredients it would take to somehow end up with awesomeness.

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