KNOW WHERE THIS IS ??? GUESS CORRECTLY AND WIN A PRIZE...

 Ah... an early-spring view of picturesque whaling cottages set in a salt-air swept Nantucket garden, with the village Congregationalist church in the background.  

NOT.  It's in San Francisco.   Do you know where? 

I realize I've been collecting these unexpected glimpses as I explore and photograph the Bay Area, New York, and other places.  And I thought a fun way to share them would be to see if anyone else recognizes them.  Then I can give you the skinny in an upcoming post.  

So if you think you know your city, and are first to guess correctly, you'll get a prize: a limited-edition set of four notecards and envelopes from my recent photography show.  Hey, people paid ten bucks for them during the show (and they'll soon be available on etsy)! 

(P.S.  Keep posted: Awaken's asked me to create a new show for sometime in the summer!)

GREAT FINDS: FAVE DOUGHNUTS, BURGERS, AND ICE CREAM IN THE BAY AREA

No surprise that all this good food's in San Francisco's Mission. None of these three places are brand-new, but if you haven't tried them you owe yourself a visit; each has great food and focuses on sourcing ingredients locally and from organic providers.  Any faves you wanna share?

Best Doughnuts:  It's weird the Bay Area doesn't have that many great doughnuts (though the vegan doughnuts at Awaken Cafe in Oakland are yum-my). We've only tried a quarter of the varieties Dynamo Donuts carries, but they've all been amazing: spiced chocolate with cinnamon and chipotle, pistachio and lemon, coconut and coconut milk (needless to say only the person who doesn't think coconut tastes like nail clippings really savored that one), and maple-glazed bacon apple (obviously only The Omnivore devoured that one.) They're on 24th Street between York and Hampshire (why, even before PDAs, Google, and Yelp, have Bay Area papers never listed cross streets in reviews???!!!) and their storefront window is always hopping and the staff is really friendly.

Best Burger:  Urbun Burger (NOT Urban Burger) is now my fave non-restaurant burger--heads above local mini-chains Bistro Burger, Barney's, and Burger Joint--and while the food at Mission Burger may be good, the the distracted, blank stares from the greasy-haired hipster cooks kinda spoils the experience--and besides it's only to-go.  The beef and turkey burgers here are great, as are the whole-wheat buns, and the sweet-potato fries and onion rings.  The burgers are customizable, they have veggie burgers, and the staff is really helpful.  They're on Valencia near 17th Street.

Best Ice Cream: Okay, by now everybody, even friends and strangers in fa-flung places like Eugene, New York, and France know about Bi-Rite Creamery and their great flavors, combinations, cones, ice-cream sandwiches and other treats.  And you may even be hip to their recent expansion and additional seating.  But did you know that any day now, their store-front window dispensing soft-serve (or custard ) will open ???!!! Yes.  Everything Sam and his family does is wonderful from the grocery to his gallery, so I have no doubts about this new addition, at 18th Street near Dolores.  They have great sorbets and soy ice cream options, so I'm hoping against hope they've figured out a custard (as we used to call it in New York) for the lactose-intolerant...

Q.W.E.P.*: TWO MEDIA FINDS + THAT 'OTHER' DEXTER

"The Most Dangerous Man in America:" I really recommend this documentary about Daniel Ellsberg and the "Pentagon Papers" that my friend Tom and I saw recently; I'm embarrassed to say that I had only a very general understanding and the vaguest childhood recollection about this pivotal episode in American history and the major role it played in the Vietnam War, the downfall of the Nixon administration, and freedom of the press. (Fellow Hunter College High School Alumnae/i: Did we spend time on this in American History??? Or was I just cutting class that day/week/month/year?) I thought it told a great story about one "establishment" man's evolution, choices, and eventual devotion to peace.

"This Emotional Life:" David and I really enjoyed this PBS three-part, six-hour series produced by Nova and created by Harvard social psychologist Dan Gilbert; it goes beyond the recent 'happiness studies' to really examine the scientific basis of how we live in this world, interact with others, and react to and change our circumstances. It explains new scientific discoveries as well as common perceptions and misperceptions; shows real-life, powerful, case studies; and includes short comments from well-known, popular-culture individuals who talk about or use their emotional stories in their writing, acting, or work. Gilbert's personal/professional story's also pretty cool: high-school drop-out to Harvard professor and Guggenheim Fellow.

Dexter Wells: Does anyone else who reads The Sunday New York Times Magazine regularly get weirded out by Pete Wells' regular column about his experiences cooking with and for his son Dexter? Food, and the growing, cooking, and eating of it is a very, very, very big thing in my life; and a kid who enjoys food, eating, and cooking is great; but Wells' obsession with how his life is being shaped by how his child's life is being shaped by food makes the child seem almost ... Damien-esque. Or Wells himself like Shirley Partridge chasing after the schoolbus to keep up with her hipster kids. Anyway, what reminded me about that was that this week's column had a recipe for Cuban Black Beans (and in my earlier black beans post I forgot to link you to my dear friend Dena's great recipe too...).

And, Oops, Actual Affordability: Lastly, I updated yesterday's post, because I neglected to mention the important point that, in addition to not being TOD or green, how 'affordable' is affordable housing that's sited where residents will need to own and run cars to get anyplace?

*quick week's end post

THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING HAS NO CLOTHES: THESE DEVELOPMENTS ARE NEITHER TOD* OR GREEN

I like local architect David Baker: he runs a cool firm, supports good orgs and causes, bikes everywhere, and has designed a lot of in-fill, multi-family projects around the Bay in recent years, with a lot more on the drawing boards.

And I'm a big supporter of SPUR--the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association--and their work and programming, which until recently was headed by the amazing Jim Chappell.

But two recent SPUR events were billed as tours of new green, *transit-oriented development (TOD) projects designed by Baker: Ironhorse in West Oakland and Tassafaronga Village in East Oakland. And I would venture that ultimately, because of where they are and how unconnected they are, they are definitely not TOD, and ultimately not green.

Ironhorse is one of the new developments around the historic, but still abandoned, Central Station in West Oakland. The tour included a twenty-five minute walk through blocks of empty lots, warehouses, and manufacturing from the West Oakland BART station--how is that TOD? We know there are few places to build new, affordable housing in the Bay Area, and I believe fervently in brownfield remediation, but how green is it--in fact how healthy is it--to build new housing between manufacturing, the Nimitz Freeway, and the Bay Area's major shipping port?

It's nice to see that the tour of Tassafaronga Village involved getting SPUR members out on their bikes, but that's probably because again, it's a twenty-five minute walk through warehouses, empty lots, manufacturing, and major trucking routes to the Coliseum BART station.

I'm not saying that these are not worthwhile, well-designed, and much-needed affordable housing developments; but they are not TOD; and I think we need to have more thought and discussion about the inaccessible, unhealthy places we build new affordable housing in the Bay Area, and that ultimately, 'affordable' housing where residents need to own cars isn't even affordable housing.

And in case you've never seen the inside of Central Station, abandoned since rail service was discontinued in the 70s, here are some pictures from a recent event I attended there--pretty amazing:

DOES THOM MAYNE HATE BICYCLES??? (and insider photos from special tours of two Thom Mayne-designed buildings)

A short piece in Momentum, a magazine for urban cyclists, about the struggle by employees to get bike racks installed in San Francisco's newish Thom Mayne-designed Federal Building, made me remember these posters I saw put up by frustrated students advocating for bike racks in the brand-new, Mayne-designed Cooper Union academic building in New York.

We know that architects can only design in response to their clients' project programs, but Mayne and his morphosis architecture firm--who have utilized their starchitect heft to ensure specific design elements remain in their projects--pride themselves on their progressive green and urban vision. But how sustainable and connected can new, large-scale, central city projects be without secure and accessible bike storage for tenants?

I actually love the overall aesthetic and design vocabulary for both these projects (I grew up in a mid-60s Brutalist/Corbu inspired building so I get my affinity for raw concrete honest) the way they fit into and relate to their urban contexts, and the attempt to create gathering spaces within the buildings. But I think the bike issue is a good example of a lack of follow-through: I saw first-hand that the implementation isn't well-done, detailing and construction are not top-drawer, and most importantly, many of the spaces and connections within the buildings don't work well for users.

I also got a look inside the newish, Caltran Los Angeles District headquarters when I was working with the City, Caltran, and Metro on a Los Angeles TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) Strategic Plan.

SPILLING THE BEANS + A QUICK MAGAZINE RANT

Carbs of Color: My dear friend Dena's mention in her great food blog about a recent post of mine made me realize that, in typical fashion, when I talked about our "non-white food diet" (i.e. whole foods and grains as much as possible, processed foods and 'white' carbs as little as possible), I alluded to the increasingly well-known health benefits, but neglected to mention the equally important personal reason was, as time went by, whenever I ate processed carbs, I would fall into a "carb coma," feeling tired and sluggish after meals. Now, even with whole grains and less processed carbs, I try to limit grains and starches at breakfast and lunch, since feeling a little sleepy after dinner is actually a good thing :-P And yes, that does mean no white potatoes, too.


Ecumenical Beans: To follow up that explanation and requests, here's another legume meal that we love: Black Bean Soup over brown rice (often called Moors and Christians in Latin America) and Braised Broccoli Rabe. The little egghead-y touch we love is the Chinese fermented black beans or sauce I add--I kinda love the idea of black beans and black beans--and it adds a nice salty/smokiness.


Soaking the dried beans overnight results in an approximately 45 minute cooking time the next day: I brown sliced turkey bacon in hot olive oil in a hot pot; saute large-diced onions, carrots, and celery until soft; stir in diced green pepper, sliced cremini mushrooms, minced garlic, and ginger, fermented black beans or sauce, sage, and bay leaves; stir in some diced tomatoes or tomato paste and red wine; add the drained black beans and stock to cover; bring to a boil and lower to a simmer until the beans are tender; adjust the salt and pepper added at each stage. Serve with parsley and lemon wedges over brown rice.


Slice off any tough parts of broccoli rabe stems. Heat olive oil in a hot pan; add sliced garlic, ginger, and hot pepper flakes; add broccoli rabe (no need to dry from rinsing) and salt and pepper and cook until tender; squeeze some lemon and serve.


The Ultimate Food City???: Dena's post also reminded me about March's Saveur, a magazine I usually love because of the great way the focus on the food of a place and culture in each issue. But this cover story focused on L.A. as the "ultimate food city," and waxed poetic about their pizza, farmers' markets, Asian cuisines, and local food. Um, at the risk of offending you Angelenos, NOT. I admit I have a strange love-hate relationship with Lala-land, but compared to San Francisco, New York, smaller places like Portland (OR and ME) and many, many other places, there is good, innovative food, but definitely not the best and not even a place incubating new trends or tastes (unless you count 80's Wolfgang Puck pizzas as a good thing)--and how can anything be local when you have to drive thirty miles of seven-lane highways just to get to dinner?

(From) HAIL TO DARWIN

Hail, Hail, the Hail's All Here: We occasionally get the odd bit of hail, but San Francisco had a truly freak hailstorm today--lasting a good five minutes with hail the size of peas, accompanied by a ten degree drop in temperature, and bracketed by rain. In my quick vid you can see my window fogging up because the temp was dropping so quickly, and that's the sound of it bouncing off the windowsill, not popcorn popping:

Half an hour of rain later, the hail was still in drifts in the tree beds and in the corners of the garage doorway.


Evolving Darwin: Following in the natural phenomena vein, the Oscars hoopla reminded me about "Creation" a film about Charles Darwin writing and struggling with "On the Origin of Species," and based upon the book "Annie's Box" by Darwin's great-great grandson that my friend Tom and I saw last month. It was a well-done period piece with interesting insight into Darwin and his marriage and family, but the premise that the twenty years delay between his voyage on The Beagle and publication were due solely to internal and domestic (Unitarian!) religious angst and family tragedy seemed simplistic. So it was serendipitous to find an old Smithsonian magazine in my doctor's office with a great article on how it took that long for him to fully grasp evolution. One unbelievable thing is that the film got such a small U.S. release because of anti-evolutionist concerns.

QUICK WEEK'S END POSTS: GARDEN UPDATE, HEIRLOOM SEEDS, HIDDEN PG&E BEAUX-ARTS INTERIOR (and mini SF CHRON rant...)

Reworking the Plot: I finally admitted to myself that some of those older seeds I'd sown just weren't going to germinate--the only way to know was try--and filled in with new arugula, mache, and mizuna seeds. It was a joy working in the garden on the first recent sunny day: the adjoining mini-park was packed with parents watching their kids play, dogs and their owners, young couples, and best of all, a classical violinist playing Grieg sonatas.


Heirloom Possessions: I purchased the new seeds at the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds retail store recently opened in the historic Sonoma Bank Building in downtown Petaluma. A fitting home for an exhaustive heirloom 'seed bank,' and the staff is warm and knowledgeable; I'll definitely be back for summer vegetable seeds once I kit out a seed-starting set-up in the garage.


Hidden Beaux-Arts Interior: PG&E was doing work on a substation I pass on my bike on the way to the garden, and it was a treat to get a glimpse of the hidden, early-20th century Beaux-Arts industrial interior with three-story colonnades supported by classical columns surrounding a central, skylighted atrium for heavy machinery. This is the kind of stuff John King could highlight in the San Francisco Chronicle if he actually knew and walked the city, or had a real curiosity or knowledge about architecture, urban design, communities, context, or precedence.

ORGANIC FARM IRON CHEF, or LIVING (LARGE) OFF THE LAND: GETAWAY PART III

As good as getting to see the farm animals up close was the Full House Farm organic vegetable garden just for guests where we (literally) had the pick of beautiful, cool weather produce.



I'd decided not to bring any food, supplies, or equipment (not even my trusty cast-iron skillet)--or spices, herbs, oils, or vinegars. For those who know me, this was big, especially because we were hoping to eat in quite a bit: but I decided it was a lesson in trust--that the garden would provide, that a 'fully-equipped kitchen' meant just that, and that we could create good meals with whatever we found.


What we found, cooked, and ate was great: broccoli, cauliflower, onions, carrots, and beets for roasting; swiss chard and beet and mustard greens for sauteing; all different types of kale for soup; and arugula, mesclun, mizuna, and other greens for salads topped by broccoli flowers. And plenty of rosemary, thyme, and other herbs.


The great Wild Flour Breads also got turned into croutons for salad and soup, and the freshly-laid eggs (can you tell which ones came from the araucanas?) made great omelets and breakfasts (can you see the color and height of those yolks??). Christine's homemade goat cheese was great on the beets and toast, and we got to sample her homemade goat ice milk and yoghurt too.



It was fun trying a completely vegetarian getaway with such incredible materials at hand. We heartily recommend the Full House Farm experience; we found it on the Weekend Sherpa blog, a favorite resource for Bay Area outdoor adventures.


And to end this trip, some veggie porn (or truly raw food): "Aloha, from Carrot Man!" (May not be suitable for all ages! :-P )

HORSES AND CHICKENS AND GOATS, OH MY!: RECENT GETAWAY PART II

On our recent West Sonoma trip, an incredible find was Full House Farm, where we thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the Studio Cottage. Cozy, comfortable, fully fitted out and perfectly sited on a secluded, wooded slope on a working, organic farm west of Sebastopol.


Included in the very reasonable rate was a farm tour by owner Christine Cole. Christine really took the time to tell us about and introduce us to her animals, and really let us interact with them, and answer all of our questions. She clearly loves her animals and caring for and sharing them with her guests.


We talked in the stables as she led her horses in and fed them, we helped to feed the chickens, and Willow and Oreo, her two goats, nuzzled like puppies eager to be scratched. We can't wait to go back and learn how to milk them.


Christine also keeps sheep and has plenty of wild turkeys roaming her fields.


It was such a treat to stay right on the farm and get an introduction to farm life, and also be some place so quiet, removed, and relaxing. We didn't do much beyond walking the farm and country roads, visiting the animals, listening to the birds, sipping wine on the deck, watching the fog and sunsets, and soaking in the hot tub each day of our stay.

THREE GREAT WEST SONOMA FINDS: RECENT GETAWAY PART I

We recently had a great getaway in West Sonoma County, and on our first day's transition to a slower pace, we made a couple of stops along the way:


A winery, a general store, day spa, and Wild Flour Bread make up the entire town of Freestone, but it's worth a detour just for the bakery: all of the baked goods that come out of their wood-fired, brick oven are incredible--we stocked up on savory breads and sweet rolls that we enjoyed our whole trip--and the staff is so warm, they have a beautiful organic garden to tour, and the place is a treat for all your senses.


The old railroad town of Occidental isn't much larger, but it is at one end of my favorite country drive in California--Coleman Valley Road--and home to two, competing, old-fashioned, family-run, Italian-American, red-sauce eateries of the kind that have disappeared from San Francisco's North Beach. They're both good, fun, and historic, but my vote goes to Negri's: it's not fancy or specifically organic, but it's incredibly good, generous, and everything's served with open arms and smiles, original 50's decor and music--and it's the kind of honest, homemade food I remember feasting on as a kid on visits to New York's Little Italy. Full dinners are served family-style with (a tureen of) minestrone, salads, antipasti, salami, ravioli, and zucchini fritters, all included and brought to the table to share. And it's reasonable and they work hard to accommodate any dietary needs.


Patrick Amiot is a Sebastopol artist who works with found objects, and his larger pieces can be seen all over town and West Sonoma. A great treat is to stop at Screamin' Mimi's for some all-natural ice cream cones and walk down four-block long Florence Avenue, where Patrick lives and works, and where he creates smaller-scaled sculptures for his neighbors' front lawns. Neighbors bring him parts, and many of the sculptures reflect his neighbors' vocations or avocations.

At the south end of the street are the Florence Lofts, a well-designed, small live-work development that nicely separates and integrates retail, offices, and homes; public and private space, parking and walkability, and storm and graywater remediation. The aesthetics aren't mine, but the design and scale are great, with a larger building with retail facing busier Bodega Avenue, and the office/residential along Florence, with good land-, hard-, and waterscape details throughout.

QUICK FOOD POST: LENTILS, CROQUETTES, and BREAKFAST SAMMIES

After seeing an article that referred to some actor's "weird, no-white food diet," I felt like I wanted to show some of the ways we've been trying to eliminate as much processing as possible in our diet, and focusing on whole food and grains, and combos of ingredients and cooking that help us better access nutrients. And my dear friend Dena and other friends exploring gluten-free diets got me thinking about how much we like beans and legumes. So here's a dinner and breakfast from a recent weekend:


Braised Lentils
I browned turkey bacon and turkey kielbasa in hot olive oil; and added cut celery, carrots, leeks, and red onion, and salt and pepper and cooked until softened; and stirred in garlic, bay leaves, sage, and thyme; and added sliced mustard and turnip greens and kale to wilt, and then lentils, chicken stock, red wine, and water to cover, and brought to a boil and simmered for about 30 minutes until lentils were tender. We had it over barley, followed by an arugula and spinach salad.


Whole-Wheat/Yoghurt Biscuits
I mixed 1 cup whole-wheat flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and salt and pepper in the food processor; thoroughly mixed in 2 tablespoons cut-up, cold butter, and mixed in 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt until the dough gathered together. I kneaded it briefly, and formed the dough into 4 1/2 thick circles and baked on parchment paper in a 450' oven for 10 minutes.

I didn't add cheese, shallots, or chives to the dough because I was using in breakfast sandwiches: I sliced the biscuits in half and melted muenster on them, and added spinach, caramelized onions, turkey bacon, and a fried egg to each.

Sweet Potato Croquettes
I mashed sweet potatoes boiled until tender with grated asiago, pinches of nutmeg and sage, salt and pepper, an egg, and enough whole-wheat flour to form croquettes; coated them with panko crumbs, and pan fried them in hot olive oil until browned.


I'm sure I'll have new recipe and menu ideas after finishing Michael Pollan's Food Rules; it's next up on my nightstand. In the meantime, any good-food-choice strategies you use? Or gluten-free ideas I can pass along to friends?