Posts Tagged ‘pacific heights’

Menus of Baker and Banker, the New New American Place at Octavia and Bush

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Get up to speed first.  

Now, here are the debut menus for Baker & Banker. Click to expand: 

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The neighbors, like Ashley H., seemed pleased, anyway:

“I live right around the block from Baker & Banker, and when I saw that a new restaurant was opening I was so excited to try it out, so I went for opening night, and it was great!

The inside decor is pretty nice and simple with low lighting and mirrors on the walls. To start I had a salad with goat cheese, pomegranate, persimmon, and I think pear, which was super delicious. It was a nice light way to start out the meal. For my main course, I had the scallop dish with brussel sprout leaves and sun choke puree, and it was superb! For desert I had the cheese cake apple crisp, and as a cheesecake expert, it was a great mixture of a traditional cheesecake with apple in the middle – I totally recommend it!

For me this place is a really cute neighborhood restaurant, and I definitely plan on going back. I also think it’s definitely worth a trip even if you aren’t in the neighborhood – it’s great!”

“Market-Driven New American Cuisine” – Baker & Banker Set to Open This Week in Pac Heights

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Combining our twin obsessions of food and money, it’s Baker & Banker! And they’re all set to serve up steak, cast-iron potatoes and more starting this week (probably tomorrow, December 1, 2009) at 1701 Octavia betwixt Bush and Pine.

Will our Quince replacement get along well with its NIMBY-ish neighbors in this residential hood? We Can Only Hope. 

As it looked a few weeks back:

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Eater SF has the deets:

“As you’ll recall, Jeff Banker (of Home fame) and his wife Lori Baker are opening a new American, “welcoming neighborhood restaurant” there, and lo and behold, it’s coming along quite nicely. Notable designer Michael Brennan has spruced up the cozy interior with some dark leather banquettes and a dark wood bar…”

Why don’t you drop by sometime and see the results of the efforts of this cute couple? It’s already(!) rated five stars on Yelp, so that’s a good(?) sign.

The aforementioned Baker and Banker:

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More details, after the jump.

Bon courage, B&B!

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Trauma Dies Today: It was Bad for NBC But Was it Good for San Francisco?

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Word comes today from Anna Bloom of the NewYork TimesesesBay Area Blog about how production of NBC’s horrible Trauma TV series will shut down tonight.

Certainly, Trauma has been traumatic for NBC, but what about San Francisco? Would we have been better off without subsidizing this inchoate production? Did we really pay SFPD officers to just hang out around the set for the filming of twelve episodes instead of having the cops do their regular jobs? 

Duboce Park as seen by Troy McClure SF. Click to expand:

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How does the Scene in San Francisco scheme work? The TV people pay for the cops but then we turn around and give the TV people all the money back?

“What costs are eligible for refund?

  • Fees paid to City Departments for the use or rental of City property, equipment or employees including: Port, MUNI, SPFD [SFPD?], SFFD, DPT, DPW, Treasure Island, Recreation and Parks, and all City buildings
  • All daily use fees paid to the San Francisco Film Commission
  • All payroll taxes paid to the City and County of San Francisco.”

So after Unfortunate, Innocent-Looking Whore In Tube Top and Flip Flops #5 cashes her minimum-wage paycheck for two days of temping (no benefits obviously) and we pay the cops full salary (or full salary plus?) to not do their jobs, what are we left with?

Certainly, Trauma was good for certain people in San Francisco, but was it good for San Francisco and San Franciscans overall? Is this the kind of thing we want to do again? Are there any Lessons to be Learned here?

Mmmmm….

There are Only Eight More Episodes of NBC’s Trauma Left – Let’s Savor Each One.

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Now, I’m not up to speed here – is Glenn the gay guy that just came out? Anyway, find out tonight on Channel 3.

Glenn’s attempt to follow his heart puts his career — and safety — on the line. Meanwhile, Marisa gets a surprise visit from an old friend. Elsewhere, Rabbit helps a patient deal with his devastating loss.”

And guess what? Ratings are up a bit lately. If only certain judgmental people hadn’t been so negative, and if it didn’t cost millions and millions to film old-school, episodic, Hill Street Blues-style television in pricey San Francisco, well who knows, maybe Trauma could have gone a full season.

See this “delicious young lady doctor” tonight:

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And see Aimee Garcia whenever you want, right here. (You know, some people were able to walk off the Hindenburg without a scratch - maybe A.G. will similarly escape Trauma without injury) 

Read about the five reasons Trauma got axed here before you tune in tonight.

Set your Tivo for 9:00 PM.

Trauma is as Good as Cancelled – NBC Picks Up All Its Other New Series for Full Seasons

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Leave us travel back in time to October 21st, 2009, when we last heard from NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin and NBC Entertainment chief Angela Bromstad:

Gaspin and Bromstad are expected to make their next key moves to boost NBC’s fortunes within the next few days, when the network will decide the short-term fates of newcomers such as ‘Mercy,’ ‘Community,’ ‘Parks and Recreation’ and ‘Trauma.’”

Trauma? Don’t they film that in our little town, (the fourth-largest in the whole state, I’m proud to say)? Yes they do! Maybe NBC could commit to nine more episodes (the “back nine”) so we could have a full season of on-location shoots?

Well, here’s the news from last Saturday (the Day Without Wind, incidentally):

“NBC has picked up full seasons of Thursday night comedies “Community” and “Parks and Recreation,” as well as its Wednesday night medical drama “‘Mercy.’”

Well, what about Trauma? Hello-oooo, NBC? Hello-ooooooooo?

Uh oh.

No matter, twirlypopper pilot Aimee Garcia will still maintain her official website regardless of when Trauma gets cancelled. (You all seem to just love her.)

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In light of recent developments, the unofficial NBC Trauma Deathwatch™ over-under date has been officially moved up to: November 30, 2009.

Adjust your wagers accordingly.

Enjoy it while it lasts – a new show (the Halloween one?) is on tonight at 9:00 PM.

[UPDATE: News tonight from the Hollywood Reporter is that Trauma is history as of today, October 28th, 2009. Oh well.]

Will the Makers of NBC’s Trauma Accept Nurses’ Invite to Conference in San Jose?

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Get up to speed on the slow-motion car crash that is Trauma here. Finished? Bon, je vous laisse continuer.

Here’s the latest – turns out that the flight nurses are even more pissed off about this show than pilots, paramedics, EMTs and doctors. So, the nurses have invited the Trauma crew down to San Hoser for the 2009 Air Medical Transport Conference to learn a few things about portraying emergency response.

Read all about it, after the jump.

Now let’s hear from an extra on the set. A sample from what Allie Pape of 7×7 magazine had to say about her recent experience making cold hard off of the production of the show – her opinion of Trauma?

“…on life support in the ratings, vapid, seems doomed to a quick and painful death, truly terrible show, headache-inducing, the dialogue painfully bad, the characters pre-packaged, it makes me want to claw out my own eyeballs…”

Ooh, harsh. Harsh but fair.

All right, let’s see here, we got to have a photo – how about pilot Aimee Garcia’s preflight checklist:

Giant chopper? Check

Giant Rabbit? Check

Giant helmet that’s way too big for her melon? Check

Let’s roll:

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As promised, another spanking for NBC, after the jump.

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Filming for NBC’s Trauma Comes to Pacific Heights Thursday and Friday – Cars Will Be Towed

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

I can tell you that one thing that the specific whites of Pacific Heights don’t like is commotion. But that’s what they’re going to get come tomorrow based upon this photo taken by San Franciscan Jeffrey Baker of the tow-away signs that are up there right now.

OMG, Trauma is coming! Will the circling choppers play Wagner ala Apocalypse Now? We Can Only Hope. (Does the digital trickery used by the makers of Trauma look better than Francis Ford Coppola’s analog efforts from three+ decades ago? Discuss.)

The horror, the horror of inconvenience for the sake of Art:

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Local punter Professor Z offers some advice today to the Traumatics:

“The only thing this show has going for it is the San Francisco scenery. Why the decision to exclude compelling characters, story arcs, or central conflicts? This show didn’t have to follow the ER model or the House model, but it should try to adhere to some basic storytelling model.

“I vote for bringing back the Zodiac killer in a three-story arc that offs every character not called Rabbit, then rebooting the show with at least a few C-list actors.”

How wude! Oh well. The good professor is tough, tough but fair.

And oh, check out San Francisco’s Newest Blogger - ebullient, radiant Aimee Garcia:

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(She knows her choppers, anyway.)

Lastly, a message for Pac Heights: Brace, Brace, Heads Down, Stay Down!”

You don’t want to have your car towed. But if that happens, just call DPT at (415) 701-5400 to get your ride back. Ask for the Trauma discount! Obviously, you don’t want to end up like this Craigslister. Oh well

Unfairly towed for Nike Womens Marathon on Sunday? (marina / cow hollow)

Me too! $417 out of the tow yard + another $53 ticket is WAY TOO MUCH. Not to mention I saw no sign of the event on Polk street near Aquatic Park besides the metal fences on the sidewalk ready for deployment at 3am. In addition, the street was completely full of cars at 1:30am, and towing began at 3am….if there were signs, were all these people idiots like me to ignore them? I doubt it. If your car was towed anywhere along the route, and you want to team up to appeal the tow and ticket fines, let me know – dammit. Thanks!
 

A Massive Lightning Strike Woke Up Central San Francisco this Morning – Power Outage

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

Were you “jolted awake by a blinding white fireball that engulfed” your building this morning around 8:36 AM, Saturday 12, 2009? If so, you were not alone. And if you miss that kind of stuff, as world-famous Xeni Jardin does, then you’re not alone, again!

It sounded like an airplane crashing into the Fillmore Center, if you happened to be at the intersection of Geary and Divisidero as I happened to be. Was it a groundstrike into Hayes Valley or the Western Addition or (or the NoPA, oh no, not the NoPA!) or Pacific Heights?

Of course the Pigs Giraffes & Elephants at our local PG&E power monopoly were dealing with power outages earlier this morning, but some additional service was lost by this big strike. (“Saint Francis Woods,” like there’s more than one? Where do these writers live, freaking Walnut Creek?)  Utility workers should focus their attention on soggy Golden Gate Park to make sure that Alanis Morrissette can put on her show this afternoon at Power to the Peaceful.

Did a transformer get hit? We’ll find out soon enough. Power at Post and Webster was out this morning just after the Big Boom of 9-12-9, so the strike couldn’t have been too far away.

Courage people, courage.

[UPDATE: Jay Barmann at SFist has the scoop. Here's the clap of thunder (craaaaaack!) and here's the result via PDX503. That's one less Audi, Chariot of the Yuppie, on the Streets of San Francisco.]

If only Megan Fox were here, to fix our transformer.

Oh, here she is, fixing the transformer of a 1969 Camaro in the movie Transformers:

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Or maybe PG&E, perhaps they could help….

It was Miller Time at the scene of yesterday’s lightening strike after workers towed away the cars and patched things back up. Actually, strike that, the bolt darkened the ground so let’s call it a darkening strike.

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For all you do, this Miller Time is for you.

Photos of 2009 Fourth of July Fireworks in San Francisco – Legal and Illegal

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

Tonight’s Fourth of July fireworks show had a fairly high fog ceiling, so it would have to rate as better than average. Better than last year anyway, but not as good as 2007.

Here’s an excellent eight-second exposure of the northern waterfront show from Lafayette Park in Specific Whites Pacific Heights. Click to expand:

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via bendjsf

And here’s a real-time shot of the same show from Twin Peaks:

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Everything is done double – that’s the way they do it. Here’s a double double:

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But this is what happens when the fireworks get too high – you can only see the bottom halves sometimes due to the fog:

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Let’s look across the Bay over at Sausalito. That’s USF in the foreground:

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Now here are some illegal explosions in San Francisco. This was an impressive burst above the northern Mission district:

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And here’s Mission Bay / Dogpatch with Alameda / Oakland in the background – very nice:

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The Mission and points south all had lots of illegal fireworks booming:

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Oh noes, it’s a flare, shooting high above Twin Peaks…

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…and then landing somewhere in the Castro District:

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And there you have it.

Tips on Enjoying Fog-Free Fourth of July Fireworks in San Francisco

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

When they tell you “Fog could shroud S.F. fireworks“ up in Fishermans Wharf at 9:30 PM on the Fourth of July 2009, what they really mean is Fog WILL shroud S.F. fireworks, barring some Act of God, or Gaia, or Whomever.

Sometimes the weather is good, sometimes not. This year, not.

Check it out from 2008. Click to expand:

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Eliya via Flickr

This is by no means the worst case scenario. So when they talk about special low-level fireworks and let’s cross our fingers, they’re spinning. And spinning is just the polite term for lying. So, what do you do? Head on over to the Mission District, where they’ll have oodles of Yelp-rated, illegal, illicit, MUY PRO HI BI DA DO (now I say that in Spanish because that’s how exotic and not allowed it is) fireworks, fog-free, for free. Just check out this screen saver album from 2007.

Of course, you can always go with the flow and follow the madding crowd northward into la niebla, le brouillard. And who knows, maybe it will be clear the way it was in 2007. Thusly:

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This is the view you had from Crissy Field on 7-4-2007 – those lights at the bottom have something to do with Fishermans Wharf.

But dude, don’t drive up there. Even if they didn’t block off the streets and you already had a parking space waiting for you, you’d still have to drive out of there in a traffic jam when the show’s over at 10:00 PM. Of course, you could always hang out at all the places that will be open up in the Wharf after the show, but maybe you’d be better off driving into the City with your bikes in tow and parking South of the 101 near the Giants’ AT&T Park. Then you could ride up the flat, flat Embarcadero (on the sidewalk – it’s legal) back and forth.

Can you dig the colors, man?

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But if that doesn’t pan out, you could follow the cable cars on Hyde (that’s the one north-south street they don’t block off, in my experience) and drop off the brood. Whatever you do, stay off of Van Ness. Or you could BART it to the Embarcadero Station and then hoof it up to Pier 39. But forget about MUNI, ’cause walking would be faster.  

And most likely it will be foggy anyway, you’ve been warned.

Dress warm. Panthers out.

Fourth of July Waterfront Celebration
Saturday, July 4, 2009
1:00 PM to 9:30 PM

“PIER 39 invites you to enjoy a fun-filled Independence Day celebration. Rock out with ‘Take 2′ from 1-4pm followed by San Francisco’s favorite 80’s cover band, ‘Tainted Love’ from 6-9:30pm. Immediately after the entertainment look to the sky as the City of San Francisco lights up the night with it’s Firework’s Spectacular, accompanied by a musical simulcast from KISS FM 98.1. PIER 39 has the best viewing area on the bay!  In addition, 39 of PIER 39’s businesses will remain open after the fireworks so that guests can miss the traffic, enjoy the PIER, have a drink, get a bite to eat, and shop.  Click here for the list of locations open after the fireworks.  Sponsored by Crystal Geyser ALPINE SPRING WATER, DeLoach Vineyards, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, The San Francisco Examiner, Tawain Tourism and Asus.”