STERN GROVE

HEY HEY!

Got the heads up from KAREN who read it in the Chronicle yesterday. The kick off show for the STERN GROVE festival is going to be AIMEE MANN! Sunday June 18th, 2006.

Former lead singer of 'til Tuesday, AIMEE rocks. I've seen her two or three times, and she always puts on a good show. In fact I believe she was the first show I dragged AJ to see together.

Her latest album is a bit lackluster, but it has a few gems - and I'm sure she'll be playing stuff from her other albums as well. and if we're lucky, a few 'til Tuesday songs as well (last time I saw her, she closed the set with an acoustic version of "VOICES CARRY" which rocked).

Let me know if you are interested in going. I'm sure it'll be packed. She's double headlining with a Brazilian artist named Seu Jorge which I know little about. I can't wait....

OH yeah, obviously this blog is quickly becoming more than a NEW RESTAURANT OF THE MONTH sort of thing, so if you want me to stop posting about other events, please comment. Otherwise, I'll continue to post thing group events....

BUSHI-TEI

AJ and I ate at BUSHI-TEI for our anniversary (6 years!) last week and it was AMAZING. A bit pricey, but SOOOOOO DAMN GOOD. It's Japanese-French fusion and the food was outstanding. The service kicked ass too. And the decor was all Japanese wood and modern glass and steel. Very modern meets old school Japanese. Lovely.

I got the 5 course tasting menu which apparently changes daily, never to be seen again, which made me sad, because the veal medallions with morel mushrooms were so fantastic. and now I'll never eat them again. On the other hand AJ got the KOBE BEEF steak, something that were part of the standard menu and they were spectacular. I'm pleased that those can be eaten again.

We ended the meal with a delicious apple dumpling with fresh caramel sauce (actually my tasting menu ended with a white corn ice cream which was surprisingly good - but we ordered the apple dumping as well and ended up sharing both) and a sparkling unfiltered dessert sake that was incredibly fruity with apples and pears up front. Mmmm. I've never had sparkling sake before.

ANYWAY they have a huge centerpiece table that fit 16 people made of old Japanese wood dating back to 1863 and glass and steel, which would be perfect for us. But since we just went there, I think we need a break before we go back. But keep it in mind everyone....

And I did ask the manager, and he said the head chef would gladly create a vegetarian plate for anyone who doesn't want meat.

NEW RESTAURANT LIST

I've decided to make a list of new restaurants that I personally want to go to. Please feel free to add to this list via the comments section, as well as comment on any of the restaurants if you've already been.

I'll be adding more as I think of more, and i'll be checking them off as we go to them!

1. DOSA - South Indian Cuisine. Loads of vegetarian options.
2. LOVEJOY'S TEA ROOM - we must go there for SUNDAY TEA! I want the QUEEN'S TEA. it looks fabulous!
3. FIRECRACKER - Chinese Cuisine. It's been around for ages, but we still haven't gone. I hear the Walnut Shrimp is great.
4. BAR TARTINE - first the raved about bakery (which, despite the over hype, does have quite fabulous croissants) which happens to be around the corner from us. and now the raved about restaurant.
5. MYTH - French California. formerly MC2's space.

anyone else want to add?

anyone like GUINNESS?

Ah GUINNESS. The beer that you can chew....

I got an email invite to a GUINNESS event. My friend who forwarded it to me said that he's been to a few similar parties and they are fun. So if anyone's interested here's the info:

Subject: San Francisco: GUINNESS® Private Invite

You, a friend and a celebration of the world's most famous beer.

In other words, a perfect night. Bring a friend and be our
guests at this exciting event. We're serving up great food, good
times and cold GUINNESS® beer. There's no catch or sales pitch: just
our way of celebrating the passion of GUINNESS® Believers.

Your presence is requested.

Your password is: BELIEVER. You will need this password to enter the site and for future access.

http://www.believerrsvp.com/index.aspx?emc=ECCog1_SF_040406

A mandatory $5 charity donation will be collected at the door. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to a local charity.

Here's what others had to say:
"It changed the way I see and drink GUINNESS®."
- Believer from New York (Oct. 2004)
"Incredibly fun... I'll definitely be telling my friends about it!"
- Believer from Atlanta (Oct. 2004)
"Very interesting. A memorable night."
- Believer from Chicago (Nov. 2004)

ATTENDEES MUST BE AGE 21 YEARS OR OLDER.
DRINK RESPONSIBLY.

enjoy and comment if you go!

RNM!

So it's decided. Several people mentioned RNM as the place they were most interested in, and so I called them to see if they had room for us.

We now have reservations for April 27th at 8:30pm, at RNM restaurant. For those who haven't been there, feel free to check out their website by clicking their name above. Their address is below.

RNM restaurant
598 Haight Street at Steiner
in the LOWER HAIGHT
SF, CA 94117
415.551.7900

If there are any changes, please let me know ASAP as I had to leave my VISA card to hold the reservation for 12 of us.

Yes you heard me. 12 of us. Whoo hoo! The list includes:

AJ
Irvin
Peter
Grant
Karen
Ben
Felisa
Chris
Melissa
Jenny (friend of Melissa's)
Annie
Annie's friend (she's keep the person a mystery).

I never heard from DAVID KIM...so if anyone wants to bug him and see if he's still interested feel free...I think I can add a couple of more, but I gotta know soon...

Anyway, can't wait to see you all there!