In contrast to my meal in San Francisco, my friends Trish and Jeff made a more ‘down-to-earth’ dinner for the 4th—Jeff made his fabulous (really) ribs and Trish made a delicious potato salad.  Here they are in all their glory being consumed with Guy Fieri’s bourbon brown sugar barbecue sauce (yummy) on a hot Sacramento July fourth evening.  

Kir

My friend Irene and I had dinner last night at Atelier Crenn in San Francisco and it was…amazing!  One of those meals that was both visually and sensually fun and delicious.  We showered praises on Dominique Crenn (the chef) who is this beautiful, very thin, tattooed, woman with intense, dark eyes, a lovely French accent (of course) and total lack of pretension (that is the impression at any rate).  We asked her about her experience on Iron Chef—she was on in June (I think) 2010 and won against Iron Chef Symon.

We arrived at 8:50 and the table was not yet vacated by the previous diners so the young woman at the desk suggested we have a drink at this cool wine bar, Pe Yale, next door.  We both got a sparkling rose which was quite nice and watched some of the unusual presentations as they were carried down the passageway between the restaurant and the wine bar.

We had read a sort of pooh-pooh review of the restaurant in the SF Chronicle by Michael Bauer where he gave the food and overall experience only 2 1/2 stars out of 4 so we weren’t sure what to expect.  Well, we were simply stunned with our experience and would definitely give this restaurant 4 stars.  We were seated next to a table of four gentlemen who were celebrating a birthday.  They were very nice and tolerant of me taking photos of some of their dishes (they had arrived at 6:30 and ordered the tasting menu—they left around 10:30).  Irene and I decided we preferred the choices on the 4 course menu so we ordered that as well as a bottle of Varneri Collio Merlot 2006 that was delicious (though one of the men serving us—wearing Buddy Holly glasses—told us the wine-maker, Marco Felluga, was “a jerk”—we had all loosened up and become quite friendly towards the end of the meal—another aspect of the ambience that we loved—in spite of the somewhat austere atmosphere, everyone was warm and friendly J.

I took photos of everything (as you can see).  The only plate I didn’t photograph was our “first course”—we had two small milk and sea salt rolls on a plate which were very good and promised an interesting meal.  Then we had what one of our servers deemed “funzies” (amuses geules): in the glass was a froth with tiny pink pearls of essence of cantelope, the spoons each held half a tiny delicious radish with tiny bit of salt, then there was frozen pea soup on the other spoons and the tiny red kiss meringues were beets—there was a lot of flash-freezing, nitrogen-whatever, I’m assuming, that went into some of the incredible tastes and presentations and they were, almost all, just fabulous and surprising in the depth of flavor in contrast with the unexpected textures and appearances.  The next plate was our ‘kir’—you pop this little “eyeball” (Irene said they would be perfect for The Cannibal The Musical dinner) in your mouth and you can’t help but almost squeal with the sensation of the liquid bursting out of the shell.  It was really, really good and I have no idea what the shell was made of but I wanted about ten more.  The meal was also fun because the men at the next table were so pleasant and would often comment on our dishes, saying—“You’re going to love that” or “How is that?”/”What is that?”

Finally we come to our first course.  Irene got “’Le Jardin’ and its soil, pickled vegetables”, I got “New Potato ‘memoire d’enfance’, peas and Comte crisps” that was heavenly—my favorite course of the evening.  Each bite was incredibly flavorful, every vegetable, each tiny potato ‘turret’ was deeply resonant of its potatoe-y, vegetable-y taste.  Following this was our second course.  I got “Foie Gras and Summer nuances”, Irene got “Walk in the Forest textures of wild mushrooms”.  The foie gras was very good of course (one of the men was swooning over it) and I was quite happy but Irene’s dish was amazing!  I realized how silly I was to have ordered something I could get basically anywhere when I should have followed the more adventurous path (though I’m not complaining—mine was delicious but my taste of Irene’s was like the potato dish—full of surprising textures and intense tastes).  I took a photo of the “bonsai tree for dessert (they only bring that out with the tasting menu) which is just so cool .  Then we had an “intermezzo” which was some sort of fennel granita with a frothy mint something—we weren’t too sure exactly what it was but it was good and refreshing.  We both ordered “The Sea, arctic char, mussels, smoked oysters, uni and ‘sand’” for our main course which was very good (neither of us liked the uni though—it was the only thing left on our plate).

For dessert I had the cheeses (duh—I always order the cheeses.  I particularly liked this Abbaye de Belloc sheep’s milk cheese—from the Basque region).  Irene ordered a chocolate, cherry, almond concoction that was elaborately decorative and fun.  The pastry chef came out to talk to us after dinner (Dominique came in between courses) and then sent us a little sweet finale.  It was just a fabulous experience and we both want to go back another time.

Here I am admiring my new pedicure in the garden of a dear friend in Atlanta.  While sipping a lovely Tempranillo and listening to jazz.

I had friends over for dinner Saturday night and they brought two delicious wines, neither of which I was familiar with.  One was a 2007 Mourvedre from the Bunnell Family Cellars Northridge Vineyard in Washington.  The other was a yummy red wine also from Washington state, a 2000 Dead Horse from the Mark Ryan winery Ciel du Chaval Vineyard on Red Mountain.  It is a blend of 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot.

I just had to write down something about this situation with Dominique Strauss-Kahn which I find very disturbing…on many levels not the least the issues of sexuality and approaches to sexuality it raises.  I have a great deal of appreciation and respect for the sensuality of French culture and the acceptance of sexuality, sexual desire and sexual relationships that the French firmly believe are personal NOT political issues and I have a lot of problems with the prurient attitudes of Americans who are simultaneously repressed and obsessed with all things sexual, who are full of guilt and shame over something the French (both male and female!) joyfully embrace.  That said, I find this situation with DSK disturbing because it does not appear to be consensual sex (which I do believe is a purely personal matter) but a situation where a man in a position of power politically, economically and culturally, uses that power to force sexual attentions on someone with no power…and it appears that this is not the first time he has done this.  Of course the situation is fraught with all kinds of cultural difference and antagonism.  Here in America there is this bizarre anti-French attitude that raises its head at any opportunity which undermines the idea of impartial justice and in France there is also a tendency to dismiss American ideas of justice as hypocritical and politically based.  These two attitudes centered on a figure as internationally and nationally important as DSK and you’ve got a political and cultural minefield.  So, I understand that many in France feel outraged and indignant over what they see as the humiliation of a popular, powerful political figure in a country they see as sexually and politically retarded, however it is disturbing that so many seem unable to separate out the real outrage which is that no man in power should have the right to force himself on women (or men) simply because he wants to.  By focusing on the idea that Americans are puritans who confuse sex and politics rather than the very real problem of power and sexual abuse, I think those who are outraged miss an opportunity for discussion about the rights of men and women regarding their sexual desire and autonomy.  In France just as in America, rape and sexual assault is certainly not tolerated whether it is by a powerful political figure or by someone no one has ever heard of and yet there appears to be an unwritten code whereby sexual abuse is just ignored or swept under the rug when it is connected with a powerful figure like Dominique Strauss-Kahn.  Anyway, it is a very troubling situation, not least because you have to wonder at someone with so little control that he would chase a maid around his expensive suite!  Very bizarre.  I just had to get that off my mind!

Sunday night I watched a documentary on Benazir Bhutto on OPB.  It was a fascinating, disturbing, inspiring and depressing story of a woman fighting for the country, the religion, and the people she loved against great odds and in a period of great turmoil, including personal conflicts and scandals within her family.  As I watched, I despaired of the human race for whom murder and assassination seem the only recourse in response to passionate, irrational political and socio-cultural/religious conflict.  I thought of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, of Mahatma Ghandi and Yitzhak Rabin and how devastating those attacks had been and then I thought of America’s assassination of Bin Laden and I stopped short.  I had no compunction about his death or the fact that we had engineered this death and yet I was appalled at the deaths of these leaders who I see as representative of what I respect and admire (in spite of varying degrees of difference).  I thought back to that September day in 2001 when we were attacked and I remembered the utter horror and desolation as I watched the planes burst into flame as they entered the towers, thought of all the innocent human beings whose lives were lost and all the others Bin Laden has destroyed and sworn to destroy with no thought at all of each person’s value or rights and I thought, “What is the difference between these deaths?  Why do I think it is all right to “take out” Bin Laden and not Bhutto or King or Ghandi?” and the answer, though simple, is that none of the leaders listed above were involved in the justification, the legitimization of mass murder as a righteous act whereas that was and is the sole modus operandi of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.  Leaders like King and Ghandi were, in fact, focused on peaceful resolutions of conflict and disagreement, they preached and lived according to a moral imperative that human life is valuable and that every individual should be given respect and dignity no matter what differences existed between them.  And, although there are many who will argue that America has supported behind-the-scenes removal of dictators and have been equally involved in supporting dictators, at least the goal stated by the United States of America has never been to callously destroy and murder untold numbers of innocent, helpless civilians as was and is the goal of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

I sit here each morning with my cup of tea looking out on the terrace before we begin our adventures.  Way too cold to swim though the weather was often sunny.  We had lunch with friends who drove over.I cooked most of the meals–rabbit in mustard sauce, pork, salad greens dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, bresaola, parmesan and mache, risotto, duck confit, roasted carrots, beets, onions and potatoes, thin French-cut steaks flash-sauteed in a pan and drizzled with lemon juice, lots of local wine and cheeses and bread.  I saved laundry until the final day–it rained the day before but on the last day we were there the sun shone so all the sheets and towels dried .

Last Sunday I worked on the final edits, re-writes of my novel, Women Who Die Less Vertically.  I feel basically pretty good about it though it has been a wrenching experience–struggling to get the characters, ideas, ‘tone’, plot “right”.  Each time I thought I had succeeded I would re-read the ms and realize there were snags, gaps, problems that stopped the flow of the narrative.  Finally though I feel I am close to realizing what I want to do with the book but I realized, almost simultaneously, that this is a novel that will have a hard time finding a home (or an agent) so, Monday morning I woke up, decided to set Women aside and begin my next novel.  After working all morning on the new book I took a walk and when I returned I was stunned to find a message from an agent requesting the first 50 pages of Women!  NOT that that means she’ll want to represent me…of course I know that.  But what a nice boost just to know that someone is actually interested enough from my query to want to read something!  So…with renewed energy I am attacking the new novel and adding the finishing touches to Women in the hopes…eternal, etc    Good luck with whatever project you’re working on and DON’T GIVE UP!

I had been so looking forward to watching the Oregon/Auburn game.  I have stunned my friends because I have NEVER been “into” football but, since my son started going to University of Oregon, I have become a screaming Ducks fan .   I really enjoyed the game and thought the Ducks played really well considering the HUGE guys Auburn has (and that lucky tackle where Dyer’s knee didn’t touch!) and Auburn played really well (of course) though I would have preferred the Ducks to win.  Still, it was a good game with both teams making some exciting plays.  However I thought the interviews with Chizit and Newton at the end of the game were pretty mindless and I thought Chizik was a jerk—not one mention about how well the Ducks played, just all about how Auburn is # 1, the school is #1 and then all about God being on “their” side.  I mean, really!  He and Newton both going on about God—as though God would choose Auburn over every other university/football team (as though God gives a damn about football or which team wins!).  I know that people, athletes especially, believe that claiming God as “being on their side”, “helping them win”, etc is some sort of statement of humility—it’s too bad they don’t see the arrogance!   There, just had to vent.