Week of December 27th 2010: Live Sushi Bistro

My coupons for Live Sushi were definitely piling up when my old friend, Kevin, wandered back into SF
and wanted to meet up for dinner. Since sushi options are limited across the pond, he asked if we could
get that and I was more than happy to oblige (Yes, I have been going to a lot sushi places lately. Yes,
there are more sushi posts coming very soon).

I really like sushi as a social dinner experience. It’s kind of perfect for two people because you can learn
about how daring someone is with trying new things, you can keep ordering if someone isn’t full, and a
large sake is just about enough alcohol to make two people very chatty.

But I digress... Live Sushi had some really tasty rolls. Kevin picked out a special called the Sheriff Roll, and I picked one called the Monkey Roll that had hamachi and unagi. As you might have guessed some of the ordering was done based off of names.... We also ordered the usual salmon sashimi and a couple other specials (whose names neither of us remembered and that weren't on the website since they were specials... I blame the sake).

Everything was delicious, but I could see that place being a little pricey if you didn't have a coupon. Luckily, there are coupons for this place all over the place. I inadvertently got like 3 different ones for this place without realizing it. I should also point out that the service was pretty bad. Including us, there were two groups in the restaurant and it still took a while for the waitress to help us out.

I would definitely recommend it to people who like sushi and you can make your own judgment!

Week of December 20th 2010: (LA Edition) Pizza Antica

Since I was home for Christmas, I decided to do another LA post. My mom really wanted to spend the day after Christmas at the remodeled Santa Monica mall. The mall used to be pretty standard and was connected to the famous 3rd Street Promenade. They recently rebuilt the mall portion to make it more of a mall/outdoor plaza hybrid and it looks really cool.

On our way out there, we got a call from my brother asking what we were doing for the day. He decided that he and his daughter would join us for the day which made me so happy because I love spending time with my 3 year old niece.

After walking around for a bit and buying a few items on sale, we decided we were really hungry. My mom wanted to treat us all to lunch so we decided to check out Pizza Antica. The concept is pretty simple – clean, thin crust pizzas with simple, fresh ingredients. 

The first pizza we got was just a simple mozzarella, basil, tomato pizza and we had some fresh garlic added. I love simple pizzas so this was perfect for me and had exactly what I wanted on it. We also ordered one with shaved broccoli, pancetta, and carmelized onions. It was also good but they overdid it on the broccoli a little bit which overwhelmed it.

I realized when I got back to SF that I had some pizza crust in my fridge so I bought some tomatoes, basil, garlic, and mozzarella and tried to make my own version. I took a picture of it to share with you guys. I think it turned out pretty well and I can’t wait to tweak it to perfection in the future!

Week of December 13th 2010: Walt Disney Family Museum

I don’t remember exactly how the conversation came about (I was a few hot buttered rums deep at a holiday party), but when my friend Oleg asked me if we could “get culture” together I was really excited. He apparently didn’t know that I was into checking out the city and doing touristy things like going to museums and parks. It’s something he’d wanted to do too and didn’t know who to go with until he saw my blog. 

A week or so later, Oleg reached out to me and asked if I was free for some culture that weekend. I agreed and we made plans to go to the Walt Disney Family Museum.

As you know, I love Disney so when I heard there was a Walt Disney museum in the nearby Presidio, I knew I had to check it out. I wasn’t sure how Walt Disney related to the Bay Area or why this museum was here so I was rather skeptical about it. I wasn’t expecting much more than a few family portraits hanging on the walls.

Boy was I wrong.

 

We walked into the red brick building (fitting with the Presidio architecture – don’t worry about missing the building though, it’s covered in big red “Walt Disney Family Museum” signs) and were greeted by a cute little café and gift shop. We bought our tickets and looked around the first room which was filled with cases of all of the awards that Walt won in his lifetime. The most memorable for me was his Academy Award for Snow White which was one normal statue and 7 little ones. Adorable.

A lot of the other awards looked cool and Oleg had fun trying to find the Russian or Eastern European ones. I really wanted to find a Brazilian award but was unsuccessful until I saw this one. I was wondering what weird caveman award this was until I saw from the caption that it was for the Brazilian Children’s Award. Way to bring us forward guys…

We then went into the actual museum exhibit (which unfortunately did not allow photography). The first room went through Walt’s family and early history. There was a train track that went around the room to show his movements from place to place around the country. There were also little videos that went through each part of his early life. 

The next room was simple and showed some of his very early videos and introduction to cartooning and movie making. The rooms started to get more complex as the next one went further into his career. There were movie posters on the walls and a giant Hollywood sign that signified his move to Southern California. The posters and a few letters of the sign would occasionally start playing movie clips and videos which was cool to watch. We learned about his first character, Alice, and the movies he created using a little girl playing a role in cartoon shorts. 

From there the galleries showed how he went from Alice to Oswald to Mickey. Once Mickey was developed, there was a whole room on Steamboat Willie. There was one wall completely covered in cells that represented 15 seconds of the famous cartoon. A few of the cells were also videos that would show different clips from the cartoon. 

The history then went into how he went from short cartoons to Silly Symphonies (many of which make up Fantasia) to his first real masterpiece – Snow White. The galleries continue to go through his subsequent Disney movies and the concurrent history that simultaneously took place while working on these projects such as wars and strikes. 

One of the coolest parts of the museum was (of course) the Disneyland room. The room is two stories. You start out on the top and walk down a ramp that slowly wraps around a giant model of the original park. I had a great time comparing the original rides to what I remember as a kid to what the park is like now. 

The museum then went through Disney’s beginnings in television and the plans for Epcot and Disney World. The exhibit only goes through his lifetime so there wasn’t too much more after that.

I really want to highly recommend check it out. I glossed over 90% of the details just to keep this post at a reasonable length (and leave something to the imagination if you do choose to go). Even if you’re not the biggest Disney fan it really is interesting to see the story of a man with humble beginnings creating an empire just out of his own creativity and passion for drawing. 

The museum also follows the Disney tradition of putting a lot into the details and creating an interactive environment. It’s one of my favorite things about Disneyland and it was nice to see them follow the same idea here. They definitely could have presented the same information in a much simpler way but it would have severely detracted from the enjoyment of the visit.

Week of December 13th 2010: Toyo Sushi

I am kicking myself for not having pictures for this post. I thought about it taking one of the exterior as I was leaving but since I got to Toyo Sushi a little before the dinner rush, I was the only person there when I left. Needless to say the host and sushi chef would have given me some weird looks if I stopped for a photo op on my way out.

Anyways - back to the beginning. I had an eye doctor appointment on the 18th and since my eye doctor is in the Sunset, I thought I would make a day of it. After my appointment I had a huge craving for sushi so I was happy to see that Toyo Sushi was in the same shopping complex as my doctor and the prices were reasonable so I went in.

Part of trying new things for me isn't just about going new places. Although I had to get my salmon sashimi, I also decided to try something new. Luckily for me, the restaurant had a special on a "Snow Roll" so I got that. It was a roll with scallop and cucumber on the inside and butterfish on top. It was amazing. The butterfish is so tender and I love scallops in sushi. I was still a little hungry after all that (I eat a lot...) so I also got a white tuna and garlic hand roll. This was also a tasty new treat for me although I'm not as big of a tuna fan.

The service was also amazing. Granted I was one of 3 people in the restaurant the whole time I was there, but it was still nice. My cup of tea was never empty and neither was my plate. I did sit at the sushi bar too so that might have helped. If you are dining by yourself or in a pair, I really recommend sitting at the sushi bar. I always have way more fun, you get your food with perfect timing, and some of those chefs are really fun characters.

I definitely am going to be going back here next time I need to get my eyes checked!

Week of December 6th 2010: Eve Lounge and Cat Club 80's Night

I decided to start my December right by spending the first two Wednesdays at two separate open bar events. The first was the SF Weekly Benefit that I wrote about last week and the second was my company's annual holiday party. I was very lucky to get a job in the middle of the recession at a company that weathered the hard times reasonably well so we've always been fortunate to have a rather great holiday party. In fact, it's the more or less the thing people warn you about when you join the firm. Last year, our CEO told us that we would sell our computers before we stopped having this party - it's that much of our company's culture.

Despite all of that, this year was relatively tame in my opinion. Although there was lots of drinking, and a few of the managers were heating up the dance floor (caught on iPhone video by some of my East coast coworkers), nothing really ridiculous happened. So, we did what we do every year and headed out to another bar afterward.

You'll be shocked to learn that I am part of the social committee at work (or as we like to call it, the Party Planning Committee, PPC for short) so when they announced last call at the party, I was being asked where we were going next. I sent out a couple text's and learned that Eve Lounge was open. I'd been wanting to go there since a friend's boyfriend is involved in the place and I figured it would be nice to bring a few patrons with me.

I'm not going to lie... my experience at Eve is a little fuzzy. I remember there being a lot seating and I remember having a great talk with a coworker who is joining the Peace Corps in a few weeks. I remember seeing the usual suspects flirting and dancing, but mostly I remember being a floater. I spent a little time talking to the IT guys, and a little time with the boys that I talk sports with, a little time with the New York office employees, and a little time talking a little more in depth with the one or two other people that for some reason I've always clicked with. For some reason in this group, floating really works for me.

Anyways, maybe next time when I make it to Eve, I won't be so far along in my night and I can give you more details about the place.

Although most of the next day was a little slower, I felt like myself by the time I got home the next night. So when I got texts from a friend asking me to come out to Cat Club, down the street from my apartment, I couldn't say no. Little did I know, it was also 80's night so I was in heaven. I love the 80's. Sometimes I joke that I would have been better off being born 15 years early so I would have been a young adult in the 80's and gotten able to really enjoy them instead of listen to 80's covers and re-watching Back to the Future.

80's night was really fun. I would highly recommend going with a group though because the place was a little seedy. Anytime I got too far away from my group of friends I was approached by some guy that gave me the creeps. I'm pretty sure there were at least half a dozen incarnations of Disco Stu so make sure you have a friend of your preferred sexual orientation who will pretend to be your significant other when you need an easy out from a persistent creepster.

Don't get the wrong idea, it was still a really fun environment. If you love to dance and love 80's music and don't mind getting hit on by some characters then you will have a great night. Plus, I got the DJ to play "Just Like Heaven" which is one of my favorite songs (and on Rockband 3!!).

Ok, I have a fat kitty who just made a bed out of my arms and I'm losing circulation in my fingers. Boa noite readers!