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ABOUT ME:

Name: Gutenberg

Location: Somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge.

Occupation: BRPR (Bunrab public relations.)

 
the BUNRAB blog spot
 

Do you need to answer back? You can send me comments if you want to.

If I want to, I'll post 'em in this very blog.

-Gutenberg




 

Sunday, July 31, 2005

 

Brunch is such a stupid word. A word that can’t decide what it is so it just slaps itself together into a cute, six letter compromise. Even though Breakfast gets first billing, it only gets a third of the letters. Lunch is clearly dominant.

Brunch has got to be the new quiche in terms of it’s culinary ability to emasculate. And nobody ever “has” brunch, they “do” brunch. Way too cute. Today I had an early lunch and nobody called it “eaunch.” That’s a word that only bulimics use, if you catch my drift.

To add insult to injury, I got the weakest-ass coffee I have ever tasted. The place I’m speaking of proudly served this stuff that was totally incapable of snapping me out of my funk. Why on earth would you import this coffee from the Northwest when there are great local roasters so close, whose coffee actually works?

They said that they use Boyd coffee. Personally, I think it’s for the Boyds. But then again, I’ll take any form of the brown liquid when I’m in this kind of mood, only this stuff was weak, there clearly wasn’t enough coffee in this coffee. It’s like the water was shown a picture of some coffee grounds and then heated up…and that picture was faded, underexposed, and 25 miles away. And under a rock.

Chubby was “so over” my funk. He decided to head out to one of his favorite sunny eateries.

 

got some mail from Sean B. on this very subject:


"Dear Gutenberg,

I feel the same ethical dilemma you're feeling about Starbucks. (yes, I'm addicted to their product) But you know, you're right, when you want a decent, predictable cup 'o coffee, Starbucks always comes through, despite their heartless corporate leverage and annoying lexicon. I've had this argument with a few of my coffee-snob friends, but I contend that for the coffee swilling layman there is absolutely no discernible difference between Starbucks and any other of those pretentious coffee boutiques. It's like gasoline, all gas stations provide the same thing and it'll make your car run as long as there not too much water in it. Starbucks can be fun too! Living in midtown Manhattan I had a 1 mile stroll to work and I made it a game to try an visit a different Starbucks every day! How exciting is that!? Doing this did surface a certain pet-peeve of mine: I like my coffee black (like my sheep) with exactly 2 1/2 packets of Sugar In The Raw for a "grande". And I get irritated, almost belligerent when the barista fills it half-way despite the fact I ordered it "black". For a company that likes making up words for their cup size and ingredients, I wish they'd come up with a consistent term for "Black coffee, fill the damn thing up to the brim..." Sometimes they understand "no room" (for cream) but I've used this term and have been given a look of "what are you,a wise guy?" in return. I suggest a psudo-Italian sounding term like "Noncrema" or "Swartzo" or "Topoffa"... Whaddaya think? Oh, and don't worry about catching some gastro-intestinal buggy from the barista touching the inside of your cup, the searing hot liquid poured into it will kill off any germs, unless of course you're getting a Frappachino, then you're doomed.

XOXO Sean"

 

Gutenberg replies:


I find this very astute, sir. Aren’t you the same Sean that claims that one of the great truths of the universe is that you can never get too much bacon?


-G


 

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Hits and Misses:



Today’s hits:

Fatted Calf
The Cheeseboard
Berkeley Bowl


Today’s misses:

Fantastic Four
Starbucks


First stop today was the Fatted Calf at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market for these Lamb Crepinettes. They plump when you cook them.

Had these with a vegetable wheat salad and heirloom tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella. YUM


Check out Chubby’s (S)hopping list entry for The Fatted Calf. They have recently expanded to sell their meaty wares at the SF Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. So you don’t need to cross the bridge to get your sausage fix.

Chubby has been on my case about going to Starbucks so much. He says that I should support the smaller, local roasters that produce quality cups of joe. I say, when I need coffee, I NEED coffee. Anyway, I ordered my beverage and the “barista” does the thing I hate most in this world. She handles the inside of my cup. Do you know how many cootie infested bills and coins have passed though these 10-digit-vector-for-disease-ecoli-laden-extremeties???? Chubby says, “it’s a dirty world” I say, “don’t touch the inside of my cup” ew.

Caught the late show of the Fantastic Four. I know, that’s SO two weeks ago, but whatever. Normally, I get annoyed when my fellow moviegoers talk or make a fuss. But it was full of these little boys who made the most asinine comments that I had to laugh (at least there was something to enjoy about this film.) Within the first 5 minutes, I knew what I was in for (and it wasn’t my thing.)

-G


Friday, July 29, 2005


I just got a notice that they shipped my cool new insulated lunchbox today.

Not only does it promise to keep hot things hot and cold things cold, (how does it know?) it’s machine washable. I can’t wait to test drive it next week.

In my contained, unnoticeable protest to Starbuck’s three-language ordering system, (tall, grande, and venti) whenever I find myself there I order “one twenty-ounce cup of coffee please.”

I get a blank stare and invariably someone translates for the cashier. I know it’s lame to try to confuse someone on purpose, but I feel that is what they are trying to do to me…so turnabout is fair play right?

Chubby stayed off the stimulants
and went somewhere that he could pick up a couple of 16 oz. units of beer instead. Check out his review of the Broken Drum Brewery & Wood Grill in San Rafael.

 

Thursday, July 28, 2005

 

Continuing study in the art of the Vietnamese sandwich today is in the form of a BBQ Pork and BBQ Chicken Banh Mi from Wrap Delight:

The meat was moist and flavorful, they must have noticed my ears because the put a generous portion of grated carrot on top with the required cilantro and thinly sliced jalapeno. This was one tasty sandwich for $2.25. If I had my druthers, I would Frankenstein together a Banh Mi with Saigon Sandwich’s veggies, Baguette Express’ bread and meat from Wrap Delight.

Wrap Delight
426 Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA
415.771.3388

Dessert was a cello wrapped $1.25 treat from Hung Phat Bakery (yeah, yeah, no jokes please.):

Tapioca pearls conceal a mung bean interior. Dip these into a tangy, coconut milk dip to complete the effect. Deeeelish (but probably not everyone’s cup of tea.) Chubby thought these were just too strange and went of babbling something about needing a "fusion burrito." And he thinks my tastes are odd! Anyway, with all the good and cheap burritos in San Francisco, he ended up finding what he was seeking in Mill Valley. Check out his latest review of Avatar's Punjabi Burritos.

-G


 

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

I was in the mood for a greasy spoon today so I headed to Sausalito (but nowhere near the tourists) to Fred’s.

They hide your bacon and eggs under a doubled quilt of gi-normous pancakes (but not for long enough that the bacon gets de-crispified):

This is the sort of chow that you just can’t get anywhere but ‘merica. If you want this basic kind of familiar breakfast food cheap and friendly, Fred’s is a good bet.

Fred’s
1917 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA
415.332.4574

Chubby headed to the City today for some fast Asian eats. Check out his latest review of Thai House Express.


Chubby got some mail from his cyber-friend Sam about Picco Pizzeria:


Sam writes:


"I have been to Picco twice so far. I will not write a review until after my third visit. Why three visits? Well - because my experiences on the first two occasions have been so mixed, I have to give it a third try before I establish an opinion. These people seem very upset - and rightly so if what they say is true. They left two comments on my blog about it too, and I only mentioned the word Picco in passing the other week. I'll let you know when my review is up and running - maybe by the end of next week or so?"


Chubby replies:


Dear Sam,

Thanks for the Picco update. I often agree with your assessments of restaurant food, so I’m interested to hear your opinion. If you see a chubby, yellow rabbit eating a pizza during your next visit, come up and say hi and we can compare notes.

Your pal,

Chubby


 

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The person in this car was scary:

Not only were there empties piled to the ceiling, stuff was flying out the window. Yikes.

Chubby decided to forgo the freeway today and went to the waterside. Check out his latest on Fish. in Sausalito.

-G


 

 

Monday, July 25, 2005

The heat is on:


How hot was it this weekend? I saw this on Van Ness today:


The weather is getting warm enough for outdoor dining. Chubby made his way to Marché aux Fleurs. Check out his latest review.


He also got some mail about Picco Pizzeria:

Stacy O. writes:


"Either you're friends with the owners of Picco Pizza in Larkspur, or we hit it on an *exceptionally* bad night of staff stupidity. Sunday night. 8 pm. Husband and I decide to try the new Picco Pizza restaurant since it's in our neighborhood. Place was not busy. One couple sitting at the counter. One group of four just about finished at the outside tables. Two waiters on staff. About 2 or 3 other kitchen help wandering about. We sit down, look at the menu and order. Waiter just struck me as a dumb ass. Had a blank look in his eye, like waiting on patrons was something alien to him. We order: warm olives, one bowl of gaspacho, one specialy pizza, one pizza that's really a salad on a pizza. No opportunity to place order for a glass of wine. He walked away while we were still ordering. For what? Nothing. He just walked away. I would swear he was stoned. Or dreaming about being stoned. Warm olives arrive. We finally place an order for 2 glasses of wine. Olives are so friggin' hot they burn our fingers. Warm, said the menu. Clearly the cook doesn't read the menu. Gaspacho arrives. Nice and chilled as it should be. The wine. Now here's a concept. Leave the wine sitting out in a hotter than hot restaurant so it becomes room tempurature. (Approximately 76 degrees.) Keep wine glasses in the refrigerator so they're nice and icy. Pour hot wine into cool glasses. After 10 minutes, the wine is still warm. So the point of the cold glasses? Who knows? What's with this place? The warm olives are burning hot. Wine served warm instead of temperate. A waiter who's a moron. Good signs for a success. Pizza number one arrives. Braintrust waiter says: "do you want me to take that (empty) soup bowl?" Me, to self: "no, just leave it sitting there dumbass. We like empty bowls with food residue on them sitting on the counter with us." Dumbass waiter number two: "do you want me to take those (about one-third finished and still piping hot) olives away?" Me: "um, no. we're still eating them." By now, I've eaten one piece of pizza number one, assuming pizza number two for my husband is arriving momentarily. Um, no. That would be too big of an assumption. Finally, he gives in and eats a piece of my pizza. I said to dumbass-i-wish-i-were-stoned waiter: "Excuse me, but where is my husband's pizza?" Look of complete emptiness covers his face. "Um. What?" "Um. That was put on hold." Me: "Put on hold? What the hell does that mean?" Dumbass: "OK, we'll get that right up." Yeah. Right up. Sure. 15 minutes later pizza number two arrives. In a box. As if we weren't dining in. As if these two people sitting at the counter dining on appetizers, pizza and drinking piss warm wine for the last 45 minutes were just an illusion. We often sit in a restaurant and order our food in a BOX because we like the feel of take out. At this point we just paid our bill to get out of this madness and took the handily packaged pizza home, where my husband would eat lukewarm pizza in the comforts of our own home. The conclusion of this story? After a few bites of his first slice at home, what did he notice? A spider. Walking across the arugula lettuce leaves so carefully placed there by some other moronic employee of Picco Pizza. Lovely. Guess what? We won't be back".



Chubby Replies:


Dear Stacy,

Wow, sounds like the word “comp” should have entered in somewhere. What a bummer.

When Picco Pizzeria opened, they didn’t seem to be having a problem, is it growing pains? Is it a fluke? Is Gordon Ramsay doing a new hidden camera show? Hmmmmm….

Last time I was there, there was some "service confusion" too, I don’t think they've worked out a real system yet. I do like the food alot, although I haven’t tried the spider pizza yet. I’ll report back about service observations (and who is/isn’t stoned or is dreaming of being so.)


Thanks for the update.


-Chubby


What do you have to say about Picco Pizzeria? Write me and let me know.


 

 

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Rabbits Club-Foot:

What kind of twisted mind came up with this???

No wonder the youth of today are combining tractor starter fluid with cold medicine, straining it through a coffee filter and getting high. Put this in the crib with junior and you’re bonsaiing a formative mind.

Had din at a friends al fresco and am totally inspired to break out the smoker after they served up a smoked turkey breast that was moist and deeelish, lentils, orzo and a fresh garden salad:

It’s such a bonus when friends are also fab cooks.

My pal Alex turned me on to this website that has respect for lagomorphs. I particularly like the 30 second version of Pulp Fiction acted out by bunnies.

Chubby hung out in Berkeley to chow down on some baked goods from one of regular haunts.

-G


 

 

Saturday, July 23, 2005

I saw the twirling meat in the window of this clean little restaurant:

...and had to go in and check it out.
This is a combo beef and lamb gyro ($5.50.):

Here it is before it got rolled up and placed on the grill:

The meat was plentiful but had a faintly grainy texture. The tomatoes, lettuce, onions, yogurt sauce and cucumber tied it all together for a satisfying protein experience.

 

Gyro Kebab
637 Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA
415.775.5526

Chubby gyrated over to Golden Gate Bakery to grab a custard tart like the one in his review.

-G


 

Friday, July 22, 2005

All of Mi:


My definition of a good baguette changes when it comes to Banh Mi. Normally, I like the texture to be crisp and crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside. With Banh Mi baguettes, I want a crispy crust and a light airy dough inside. I understand that many banh mi places bake their baguettes with rice flour to lighten the texture.

Today’s BBQ chicken banh mi is from Baguette Express. Their bread has that good texture going on, but the filling isn’t as tasty as yesterday’s Saigon Sandwiches (although it was still pretty good, what do you want for 2.50?)


Grated pickled carrots, cilantro and lettuce was smooshed in the bread gash with chicken. The jalapeno contained a lot of seeds making this super hot since I got the whole slice in the first bite (next time I’ll be more careful.)

Dessert was a plastic container of cassava cake ($1.25). Lightly sweetened with bits of grated cassava, this was good, but I really wanted another of those steamed banana rice desserts from yesterday.

BE looks tidier than Saigon Sandwiches, and they have more places to sit (SS has 2 chairs total)

Baguette Express
668 Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA
415.345.8999

Chubby decided to head out to Stinson Beach before the weekend. Check out his latest review of the Parkside Café.

When he got back, he answered his email:

Liz H writes:

Dear Chubby,

"I love your site. I just found it looking for a review of Picco in Larkspur. Your reviews are right on. For example, we have been dining at Bette's since my college days at CAL (and we were there just yesterday). But my favorite part of the site was the Burger Holy Grail. Burger's are hands down my favorite thing to eat. If you are ever down south you must try the Apple Pan's Hickory Burger on W. Pico Bvld. My personal favorite is The Spot in Carpinteria, CA. A block from the beach on Linden Ave. There will be a line so you can't miss it."

–liz

Chubby Replies:


Dear Liz,

I like the Apple Pan in LA too, but I haven’t tried The Spot yet.
I agree with you about burgers being mighty tasty. The mini ones at Picco are worth a try.

Thanks for the tips and the compliment, I think that you're pretty cool too.

-Chubster


 

 

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Mi time:

I heard an article on NPR today about Quiznos. Apparently they are being struck by meat slicer burglaries. The thieves are leaving the registers untouched and carrying away heavy industrial slicers. I guess they cut and run…

Speaking of sandwiches that are a steal…

I have been checking out the Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) on Larkin Street. Today I went to Saigon Sandwiches and had their BBQ Chicken sandwich with cilantro, jalapeno, grated carrot (obviously trying to appeal to BRs) on a French roll:

For $2.25, who wouldn’t be happy? I also got dessert wrapped in a banana leaf. It’s slightly sweetened, glutinous rice steamed with a banana in the middle. Sounds funky, but it’s delicious (and $1.)

Saigon Sandwiches
560 Larkin St
San Francisco, CA
415.474.5698

Chubby said he wanted some ‘mercan food and headed to Fairfax to the Iron Springs Brewpub. Check out his latest review.

 

Miss Amy writes:


"I just started using a tote bag for shopping and have found that people are nicer to me. It's very weird. My old bag also held my shopping but it was more messenger bag looking. My new tote bag seems to bring smiles to the faces who usually avert their eyes. Have you noticed anything like this in your bring your own bag adventures?"

Gutenberg Replies:

Dear Amy,

I agree. Not only are people nicer, they are relieved to get a little help with the bagging when it’s busy. There are a couple of people who are nose down with all the other customers and actually look up to see who has the black fishnet bags. Pervy….

Your pal,


-G


 

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Not my bag:

I have been road testing these reusable string bags for several months and I can't go back to the non string variety.

They smoosh down to a small size, they don't get bits of onion skin collecting at the bottom and they stretch out to accommodate a whole watermelon. I regularly ask the checkers at the market what percentage of people bring in bags and it's shockingly low.

Even if you don't remember to bring them 100% of the time it makes a big difference. Do you want to be one of the people producing 1.3 tons of garbage a year?? (I got that figure out of People magazine which some people argue is garbage.)

They make their money back after a mere 140 uses (if you go to one of the places that credits you a nickel per use.) If you go to Whole Foods they give you a poker chip to put in one of the charity boxes so you can apply that princely sum to some obscure group who actually takes donations that don't cover the price of driving to get the donation. Anyway, that's not the point. You like trees, right? Okay, even if you're not hot on trees, you must like oxygen. Well, trees make it, so get some reusable bags.

Chubby said I was talking like a hippie and went to get some food out of a gas guzzling venue. Check out new his review of Mi Grullense.

-G


 

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Cop Rock:


It’s a sad day in Daly City. The original policeman from the Village People was arrested for possession of rock cocaine and a .45. I guess professional courtesy didn’t’ come into play. And while we’re on the subject of Macho Men:

"You overcook it, it’s no good. It defeats it’s own purpose”

Jake LaMotta might have been a little dim, but he sure knew how a steak should be prepared.

Check out this Baseball steak (a circular top sirloin cut that is reminiscent of a baseball):

...that Chubby brought me back from Marin Sun Farms. I seared it in a hot pan (just like Jake likes it.)

Marin Sun Farms is that place in Point Reyes Station that feeds it’s cows grass (instead of the soylent green for cows that turns everyone’s brains into sponges.) They just moved to their new location and expanded to include an eatery. Check out Chubby’s latest review of this new Meat Emporium.

-G


 

Monday, July 18, 2005

Went to El Yucateco (1035 Geary, SF) for lunch today and got some major belly ballast:


A burrito de cochinita, chicken tamalae, and panuchos. It was all passable, but the panuchos were kinda interesting. They are mini fried tortillas with tomato, chicken, pickled onion, cabbage and avocado. Yum.

I washed it all down with a tasty rice cinnamon horchata.

Chubby wasn’t in the mood for panuchos and chowed down on some of the baked goods he picked up at Tartine Bakery instead. Check out his new shopping entry.


-G


 

Sunday, July 17, 2005

I always drive by the Cherry lady, but today, I decided to stop and check out the goods. Rainiers and Bings. She gets them from Washington and sells them out her car on Sir Francis Drake:


The Bings were nicely firm and sweet
, the Rainiers benefited from a visit to the fridge to get rid of their flabby texture. Not the best of the season, but a fun thing to munch on during the summer heat.


Chubby helped me polish them off and went in search of something a little more substantial. He wound up at Tartine.

Not only does Tartine Bakery produce carbo goods, they cook up a few things for their café.

Check out Chubby’s new review.

-G


 

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Joe, status quo, and Picco:

I was at Trader Joe’s and found a new caffeine delivery system:

They contain 3mg of the wonder drug per drop. A cup of coffee can contain between 40-180 mg of caffeine so I have to eat 14-60 of these little Go pieces in the next 10 minutes. They’re pretty good, but I’m not giving up on Peet’s yet.

After my afternoon iced coffee, it was time to fire up the grill.

Chicken, sausages and grass fed beef burgers. Yum.

Chubby didn’t come home in time for the Q, but had a nice burger (or four) of his own. Check out his latest review of the newly opened Picco Restaurant (right next door to their Pizzeria)

-G


 

Friday, July 15, 2005

Rabbit Response Team:


Although I don’t like the word “infestation” when used to describe a grouping of my fellow species, I appreciate this sympathetic group of lagomorphs.


Chubby thought they just looked hungry and went out to get some cake. Check out his latest review of a bakery with the best logo ever.


-G



 

   

 

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Vive le Franks!

 

One reason to celebrate Bastille Day is because a bunch of French people overran a jail. Chubby told me it was time to declare my independence from the computer and storm his favorite Bistro.


Those Bouchonites know how to party like it’s 1789. The grill symbolizes the bars of the Bastille prison. You can see that I am liberating “Francs” from them against the wishes of the Kingsford:

 


Check out these skirt steak brochettes. Herb marinated, tender and flavorful:


The crepes were made to order. This one is with Compte cheese and ham. I am pretty picky about crepes and this was the best one ever:

The house made ice cream sandwiches were made with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate cookies. This was Chubby’s fave.

There was a light and delicious patriotic cake with sweet strawberries and blubes.

As well as these mini chocolate bouchons.

And champers to wash the little choco stoppers down with:

Who knew civil disobedience could incite good chow? You gotta respect those French rebels.

 

-G

 

-------

 

Reader comment from Ellen:


"Love the site!!!!!!!!!!! Keep it coming!"


--------

Gutenberg replies:


Ellen,

You obviously have great taste and totally rock.

Thanks for the encouragement.

-G


 

 

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Trail Mixup:


I’m sitting at the computer enjoying my Darth Mix M&Ms (with a few pistachios thrown in for good measure) when Chubby comes up to see what I’m doing. He looks in the bowl and says “oooo, trail mix” takes some and hops away. Up until then, I thought it was candy with a few nuts but trail mix sounds healthy.

Health food has been on Chubby’s mind since he heard that curry contains a compound that may fight cancer.

He went to one of his favorite places to spice shop in Berkeley when he caught wind of this discovery. Check out his latest shopping review for Indus Foods.

-G



Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Parenthood is for the birds:


BBQ!

Cheeseburgers and dogs with Doctor B’s homemade hot dog relish.

Aptly named. I relish it.

Then it was time to cool off by seeing a doc filmed in Antarctica - March of the Penguins.

They should show this film in high school. It portrays parenthood as the bleakest imaginable hardship. Nobody would have children if they had to do what these creatures do.

Then it was off for a cup of tea.

I don’t know what they were thinking when they gave me my green tea maxi pad. What is up with this? It looks like a recycled airline pillow (I wondered what they were going to do with them when American Airlines announced their discontinuation, now I know.)

Chubby is no tea totteler, he had a nightcap instead from his favorite local distillery, Hangar One.

-G


 

Monday, July 11, 2005

Cross it when you come to it:

 

The Golden Gate Bridge trumps the Bay Bridge.


The Bay Bridge doesn’t trust you and gets it’s money up front, the GG waits until you are done and ready to move on before you pay. You can walk over the GG, not the BB. The GG is emblematic, the BB problematic. The GG stays together in an earthquake, the BB crumbles like a granola bar. The only thing the BB has over the GG is less of a head on collision factor (since they have separate levels for each direction.) Stay out of that left lane.

Chubby crossed and then burnt some bridges of his own. Check on his latest review of Café Rouge in beautiful Berkeley.


-G



 

 

Sunday, July 10, 2005

 

The Blackberry bush is going all Audrey 2 on me. Last year the jam pots were going twice a week. This year it’ll be lots of blackberry cobbler, galettes and sorbet.


This represents a light harvest (which is now converted into sorbet in the freezer.)

I Blackberried Chubby for help, but only got a text saying that he was at his usual diner. Check out his latest review.

-G



Saturday, July 9, 2005

Food is love:

Chubby felt bad about eating all the Laz so he made me dinner:


Lebni? What’s Lebni? He told me to think of it like thick tangy yogurt. He put some olive oil on top (since when do you put olive oil on yogurt?) Then he gave me this walnut, pomegranate red stuff and told me to dip the pita in them.

He took this watermelon and chopped it up with cheese, olives, onions and some other stuff. Cheese and watermelon?? Whatever.

Za’atar chicken, farro and veggies and pistachio macaroons.

Even though all this stuff was unidentifiable, it was pretty tasty.

Enough with the weird food. Pass the dark chocolate M&Ms.



I got a note from Sam over at one of Chubby’s fave sites: Becks and Posh who writes:

"I am was happy that Chubby seemingly likes Tabla as much as I do, although I think it is one huge step up from being described as 'hole in the wall'. Look out for a subtle name change soon - most likely to Tava - because the New York restaurant called 'Tabla' has apparently complained about the competition. Maybe that is because if you do a search for "Tabla dosa" on google, they don't come up tops.----"

 

Gutenberg replies:
Dear Sam,
Chubby’s doing the dishes now, but he wanted me to tell you that he agrees that it’s not a hole in the wall and that I (Gutenberg) wrote that in the daily feed. Oops. I’ll fix it.

-G


 

Friday, July 8, 2005

Best Buy…with a credit card:


I got in line at the Best Buy.
Mr. French guy is in the front and I see 4 people (waiting behind him) waved to the next available check stands. I am signaled to go next. So I turn to Mr. French guy and ask why he doesn‘t go. He replies: “I am paying with cash.”

Since when has cash been such a freaky method of payment that 2 check stands can’t accommodate it? Mr. French guy is going to go back to France and say, “zee crazy Americaines, zey n’accept pas zer own monay” and Mr. French guy would be right.

Seems like it’s not just the customers who have some issues

Chubby ate a bunch of my laz and headed out to SF to check out some Basque chow. Check out his latest review here.

-G

 


 

Thursday, July 7, 2005

Ah, Lasagna:


Lasagna...

...is the best way to combine breakfast sausage from the Fatted Calf with Cowgirl Creamery cheese. It’s a miracle food, eat it hot, cold, room temp. It just waits for you in it’s deliciousness (unless Chubby gets to it first.) Lucky for me, Chubby decided to go to one of his favorite micro-eateries in Larkspur. Check out his latest review.

-G


 

Wednesday, July 6, 2005

One button short of a keypad:


Comp USA is my idea of hell. They want you to buy their expensive, state-of-the-art computers, (hence the name) but here is the one they use to access store info. Yow. They don't call these "dumb terminals" for nothing.


I particularly like the missing “enter” key, very cutting edge. And check out the layers of grime on the keys that are there. Ew. You could get some sort of KTD if you touched this.

Today the employees (who outnumbered the shoppers) were fighting and insulting each other (not in a playful way.) Maybe they should call it IncompUSA.

Chubby skipped the tech supply trip and went out to get some ice cream style refreshment instead.

Eyeball was checking out the photos of people who volunteer to get buried alive for 15 minutes.


He decided to pass on their San Francisco buryings on Friday.


-G


 

 

Tuesday, July 5, 2005

Temporarily losing my edge:

Some of my best pals surprised me with this:


I guess I really don’t have much to complain about when my friends are sensitive to my meringue and hazelnuts needs. Life’s pretty darned good.

Chubby’s in a pretty good space too. He went for a leisurely b’fast among the hippies. Check out his newest review.

-G


Monday, July 4, 2005

I donut know about this:


It’s really unfair that the San Francisco Pride parade comes before the 4th of July. Every parade after the Pride parade seems, well, less proud.


Who is in charge of organizing this Marin parade anyway? Is there a theme? Is there a plan? Does anything have to do with anything?

I particularly liked the Giant Ghandi followed by the military vehicle convoy:



And what bonehead came up with the idea to throw candy from the parading cars?

Are we teaching our youth to run into the street while not paying attention to oncoming traffic and rewarding them with sweets?

The best parade bashing food has to be donuts. Not those fancy donuts made with yuzu and lemon verbena. Just plain old donuts from the Donut Alley:

They are famous for their apple fritters, but they were out today so a glazed buttermilk bar and a chocolate dipped French twist had to do. Both were sufficiently donutty and delivered the necessary carboload to continue whinging about the odd procession of randomness unfolding before me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it because it was bizarre:

Where else do you see Fat Bastard standins beside Political leaders and people doing Pilates on top of a truck? Well... maybe at the Pride Parade.

-G

 


 

Sunday, July 3, 2005

Fix up, look sharp:

Just got back from seeing Rize:

David Lachapelle’s brilliant documentary with an unbeatable soundtrack and cinematography like you’ve never seen in a doc. There are a couple patches that lag, but it’s a great film worth seeing.

My neighbors invited me to an incredible meal including a tomato salad and herb stuffed, grilled fish.

For dessert, M made a sesame ice cream inspired by a visit to il laboratorio del gelato.

I have great neighbors.


-G


 

Saturday, July 2, 2005

LivesWrong:

Today I saw a guy taking a cigarette break while wearing a “Livestrong” bracelet. Huh? What exactly are you raising awareness of? Irony? Lack of forethought?

Speaking of which, what is up with the lady who Ebay’ed tattoo advertising space on her forehead to get $10K for her 11 year old son to get help with schooling?

The tattoo artist did everything to talk her out of it but she must have really wanted the ultimate martyr trump card to play on her kid forever.

While I spent my time reflecting on how everyone is acting wrong, Chubby went to the new pizza place opened by famous San Francisco chef, Bruce Hill. Check out his new review.

 

-G


 

 

Friday, July 1, 2005

Becky Reed Citizen of the year:


What is up with this?

Who is this “Becky Reed”? I didn’t hear about any citizen of the year vote. Also, it’s July 1st, what if Becky starts kicking puppies and spitting on babies til December? This reeks of corruption, old boy networks and back room deals. Also, whose money is being used to finance this billboard campaign? All I’m sayin is that I don’t think we’re talking about a level playing field here, Becky.

The problem with a t-shirt that says “staff” is that you are a big liar once you leave your job.

Dude, I’m sorry that your employer is way too cheap to buy custom made shirts, but bring a shirt to change into when you’re off duty. I knew I shouldn’t have gone into Starbucks. Not only is it hypocritical after slamming it the other day, but there was this schizoid guy talking to the lady in the Starbucks logo like she was his gf. He did a little dance for her too (which freaked out the little girl behind him.) Ah, life in the city.

I wanted pizza, but the new place that was supposed to open today is still setting up shop. I took a look at one of Chubby’s pizza reviews to tide me over.

-G

 

 

 

 

 
 
   

 

 

 

 
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