Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

Click on the orange link below to read a "second look" review of How to Eat a Cupcake: A Novel by Meg Donohue.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/sweet-dreams-are-made-of-this/

Ain't She Sweet

Click on the orange link below to read a review of How to Eat a Cupcake: A Novel by Meg Donohue.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/aint-she-sweet/

The Man Who Couldn't Eat

Click on the orange link below to read about the newly-released book, The Man Who Couldn't Eat: A Memoir by Jon Reiner.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/the-man-who-couldnt-eat-event-notice/

Stairway to Heaven

Click on the orange link below to read a review of No Rest for the Dead: A Novel.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/stairway-to-heaven-sedaka/

Out of Time

Click on the orange link below to read a review of Coming Back: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller. Has this series run its course?

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/out-of-time/

San Franciso Nights

Click on the orange link below to read a review of Jessica Z, a novel by Shawn Klomparens (Two Years, No Rain).

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/san-francisco-nights/

Did Dave Eggers produce a heartbreaking work of staggering genius?

Click on the orange link below to read a review of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. New journalism or retro?

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/dave-eggers-goes-retro/

If you liked No One You Know, will you like The Year of Fog?

Click on the orange link below to read a review of Michelle Richmond's book The Year of Fog. Richmond is the author of the best-selling novel No One You Know.

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/the-year-of-fog/

Coming Up Next...

A review of The Year of Fog, a novel set in San Francisco, by Michelle Richmond. Richmond is the author of No One You Know.

A fictional true crime story?

Click on the orange link below to read a review of No One You Know by Michelle Richmond (The Year of Fog).

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/mystery-to-me/

The great coffee wars continue...

Click on the orange link below to read this great article from Michael Bauer's "Between Meals" column in the San Francisco Chronicle. McCafe, anyone?

http://tinyurl.com/mw7jbr

A Very Good Place for Beer and Burgers in the Hashbury (Haight-Ashbury), San Francisco

In the past, Mrs. Bear and Pook and I have had lunch at the then-Magnolia Pub, which is now known as Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery. Here is an abridged look at the current-day Magnolia G&B as detailed by Tara Duggan of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery:: There is something quintessentially San Francisco about this Haight-Ashbury restaurant and brew pub. The building has enough history to give the place a weathered feel, even if the distressed walls and ceilings are painted on. More important than the look, it has the weight and solidarity of a longtime hangout.

More than a century old, the building still shows signs of its former life as an apothecary shop with drawers behind the bar used to hold cutlery. More recently, it was simply called Magnolia Pub, but a year ago the owners elongated the name when launching a more ambitious approach to the food. The result is a flexible menu that meshes well with impromptu visits - there are no reservations - and the extensive list of house beers.

The vibe: High, dark wood booths in the center of the room create an English pub feel, and windows along both the Haight and Masonic bring the street scene inside. A large bar area has lots of room to stand up or sit and eat.

The crowd: Fashionably unkempt in a way that only San Franciscans can be. The ironically mustachioed staff channels NASCAR fans from faraway lands.

Best seats: Head to the communal bar table facing Masonic Street, or take a seat at one of the window tables.

Killer app: There are a lot of grazzing opportunities (such as) small plates of fried chickpeas ($5). The plate of house pickles ($5) includes seasonal tidbits such as pickled ramps, the garlicky shoots that are only around in spring.

Signature drink: House beers are made in a downstairs brewery, with the likes of a hoppy amber-colored Prescription Pale ($6) and the 9-ounce Kalifornia Kolsch ($3), inspired by the refreshing brew of Cologne, Germany and served in typical slender glasses.

Also on tap: Some of the draft beers are also available as cask ales. These are kept downstairs in a 56-degree cellar in traditional English firkins (small barrels) for three weeks and served fresh.

Bonus: All day on Tuesdays, house beers are $3, and Thursday is fried chicken night, from 5 p.m. until it sells out.

Vitals: 1398 Haight St. (at Masonic), S.F. (415) 864-7468. Noon-midnight Mon.-Thurs., until 1 a.m.; 10 a.m. - 1 a.m. Sat., 10 a.m. - midnight Sun.

Note: A look at the Yelp! reviews indicates that while all the former customers of Magnolia Pub are not thrilled with the transition to Magnolia G&B, the burgers are still being served and are still highly rated, with or without cheese!

A prescription for what ails you...

This is a Prescription Pale Ale from the Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery. More on this Haight-Ashbury (Hashbury), San Francisco, institution soon.

The glory of Kitchenette, San Francisco...

Kitchenette of San Francisco is a unique type of restaurant. Here's a recent write-up by Amanda Gold of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Kitchenette:: The Dogpatch neighborhood is largely defined by industrial warehouses and storage garages, and based on its facade, Kitchenette fits right in.

At this space in the American Industrial Center, however, you'll find a gaggle of hungry lunch patrons sitting on benches out front. Some are waiting for food to come out of the open door a few steps above the street; others have already dug into the lunch boxes on their laps.

This out-of-the-way gem is the brainchild of a group of chefs who boast impressive pedigrees - think Chez Panisse, Incanto, Foreign Cinema and Betelnut, among others. Their daily-changing, street-food-inspired menu is posted online, or you can follow them on Twitter, where they post the daily menu.

On any given day, look for items like Korean pork tacos, Fatted Calf knockwurst on an Acme roll, pan bagnat or spring chopped salads (prices range from about $5 - $10). 4505's spicy chicarrones ($3), freshly bakes cookies ($0.50-$1) and one drink - a strawberry rhubarb refresher ($2), for example - are available for purchase to round out the meal.

Get there early for a guaranteed lunch - with just one or two main items each day, you're out of luck once the food runs out.

Vitals: 958 Illinois St. (near 20th Street), 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. (or until food runs out) weekdays. No alcohol. Cash only.

www.twitter.com/kitchenettesf

And don't forget to follow us at:

http://twitter.com/troybear07

Photo: yelp!

Just a beautiful photograph...

Of Ocean Beach, San Francisco.

Mogwai hits San Francisco...

Scotland's finest quintet, the creators of music as the soundtrack of your life, will play in downtown San Francisco this coming Sunday, May 17th. Mogwai performs at The Grand Ballroom, 1290 Sutter Street, with Dead Meadow opening the show that begins at 8:00 p.m. For information, call (415) 673-5716.

If you're fortunate enough to make the show, make sure to yell out for I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead and I Know You Are, But What Am I. According to one source, Mogwai's live show "remains one of the best around, with a potent balance between delicacy and power." (flavorpill)

Peace, brother, may it serve you well.

Photo: flickr (Toni Blay)

Next: How you can hear the new Green Day CD before it goes on sale.

the word of the day

Today's word is hearth, meaning a brick, stone or concrete area in front of a fireplace, or the floor of the fireplace. It can also mean home or a vital or creative center as in "the central hearth of occidental civilization." (A.L. Kroeber)

Thus, if you were moving out of your house in San Francisco and heading east, and you suddenly realize that you forgot to remove the brick from the front of the fireplace in your former home, you might yell out, "I left my hearth in San Francisco!"

We are experiencing some technical difficulties...

The Blogger network, which hosts this site and other Blogspot sites, had an outage last night at 11:00 PDT, 2:00 a.m on the east coast. Some Blogspot sites have experienced problems since the service was resumed. A number of sites, like this one, can only be accessed using the full Universal Resource Locator (URL) address; this means you have to type in the "www" part in your browser.

Based on what I'm reading, some bloggers cannot currently put up new posts - so these sites may appear to be inactive - and a few others cannot add photographs, so those posts will be plainer than usual.

Fortunately, I can still post photos so here's a nice black & white one of the moon over San Francisco's Coit Tower. Let's hope that things soon get back to normal at Blogger so that we can all return to business as usual. Until then, in the words of a Small Faces song, we're all "waiting here in Patience."

Photo: flickr (km6xo); click on the photo to see a slightly larger version.

San Francisco Rock Music Examiner: Where has all the music gone?

Click on the orange link below to read the article.
Photo: flickr (theperpsworstnightmare)

San Francisco Rock Music Examiner: Where has all the music gone?

Posted using ShareThis

Matt and Kim hit S.F. amid wellsprings of joy...

S.F. Weekly said that Matt and Kim's "updated take on early-90s (music) is as American as the most colloquial heartland rock." Like John Mellencamp, no doubt. "Matt takes the reins with his brash but endearing vocals, while Kim's driving backbeats provide the anchor. Their latest album comprises simple, irrestible nuggets of pop confection. ... Grand (their second and soon-to-be-released CD) is a testament to the power of uncompicated hooks... Matt and Kim's rapid rise to indie fame may be mystifying to some, but these kids are clearly doing something right."

Joe Blankholm of Flavorpill said, "It's hard to keep a grin off your face as you watch Matt & Kim tap into their seemingly bottomless wellsprings of joy."

Want to be there at the creation, or near it? You can see Matt and Kim play live for a cover charge of only $10 at the Cafe du Nord at 2174 Market Street in San Francisco, on Monday, February 2, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. Call (415) 861-5016 for information.

Years from now people who weren't there are going to swear that they were!

Note: The Cafe du Nord has no connection to the Nordstrom department store on Market Street.