Adding Stir to Holiday Cheer: Forever Tango in San Francisco

By Emma KrasovThere are very few things in the world of performing arts as enticing as Argentine Tango. There are very few dance forms as consistent in skill in popularity, and as resistant to innovation and modernization. Any way you put it, tango remains a century-old statement on the basic instinct and the resulting war of the sexes. It refuses to conform to the American psyche – raised on Disney and programmed to play nicely and smile. One can tell the naturals from trained outsiders by their manner of gliding around each other – subdued and predatory; by all that kicking, swirling, circling – smooth hip turns, weightless foot slides, desperate or icy-cold facial expressions, endless fascination with the action – never forced, always alive and intuitive.As the best holiday gift for San Francisco dance lovers, Luis Bravo, creator and director of Forever Tango, brings his amazing tangeros to Marines’ Memorial Theatre for a limited run, now extended through January 12, 2011. Constantly touring since its first 92-week-long SF performance in 1994, and then 14 months on Broadway, Forever Tango is a widely-popular internationally renowned company of seven couples of dancers, (now including a Bay Area native Cheryl Burke, two-time Dancing with the Stars champion) a singer, and on-stage orchestra. The current show features some exceptionally beautiful dances, like Derecho Viejo and Vampitango, performed by David Leguizamon and Vanesa Villalba; La Beba and A Mis Viejos with Marcela Duran and Gaspar Godoy, and a crisp musical number Jealousy, with a violin solo by Rodion Boshoer, originally from Russia.While the majority of performers in Forever Tango hail from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alexander Sechkin, also originally from Russia, plays viola in the orchestra. (Write it off to Russian literature and a popular character whose life’s dream was to live in Buenos Aires, “where everyone’s walking around in white pants”).
Besides its regular performances (tickets $45 - $100) Forever Tango will present a special New Year’s Eve dinner and dancing package with a special 9 p.m. performance starring Cheryl Burke. Tickets $100 - $250 and are available now at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre box office, by phone at 415-771-6900 and on the web at www.marinesmemorialtheatre.com.
New Year’s Eve ticket options: A. $100 ticket includes performance at 9 p.m., a glass of champagne and party favors in the theatre lobby; B. $165 ticket includes performance at 9 p.m., a post-performance party with the cast of Forever Tango on the 10th, 11th and 12th floors of the Marines’ Memorial Club. Party includes an open bar until 1 a.m. and dancing on all three levels - 10th and 11th floor will feature live bands; 12th floor will feature a DJ; C. $250 ticket includes a 4-course pre-show dinner at 7 p.m. in the Leatherneck Steakhouse located on the 12th floor of the Marines’ Memorial Club, performance at 9 p.m. and a post-performance party with the cast of Forever Tango on the 10th, 11th and 12th floors of the Marines’ Memorial Club. Party includes an open bar until 1 a.m. and dancing on all three levels - 10th and 11th floor will feature live bands; 12th floor will feature a DJ. Pre-fixe menu includes: Open bar with wine service; Assorted chefs canapés; Scottish smoked Salmon with dill egg salad in a potato gaufrette basket, garnished with pickled radishes, beets, red onions, crème fraiche and caviar; Pan seared filet of beef and prawns topped with a black truffle butter, Roquefort duchesse potatoes and julienne vegetables; Chocolate bomb, dark chocolate mousse and marinated cherries crème brulee, crispy hazelnut bottom; Assorted macaroons. Marines’ Memorial Theatre Box Office is located on the 2nd Level at 609 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, 415-771-6900. Images: courtesy Lois Bravo Productions.

Rigolo Cafe Turns Riviera San Francisco

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri KrasovCouldn’t make it to the French Riviera this holiday season… snow in Europe, flight delays, all that. Good that Rigolo Café in Laurel Village neighborhood paired with Taste TV to create a limited-edition pop-up dining experience aptly named Riviera San Francisco. Last Saturday, Doug Mathieux, owner, and Jeff Gambardella, executive chef of petit cafe amusant got busy creating a full-service white-table-cloth candle-lit dinner inspired by the South of France and Barcelona. Taste TV, famous for its abundance of fresh culinary ideas, was on the scene, hosting and filming… The atmosphere of Rigolo Café – casual, playful, and kid-friendly (just look at Mr. Mathieux, holding his guests/friends’ baby Fillmore!),was transformed into intimately upscale with a help of a curtain separating a small fine-dining area from the rest of the facility. The menu underwent a major transformation as well, changing from daytime grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers, pizzas, and mac’n’cheese (however delicious) to scrumptious houte cuisine dishes embellished with black truffle, Dungeness crab, and pink peppercorn. All three courses were paired with very well-selected French and California wines. What remained unchanged, were Rigolo Café’s smiley service, French music playing in the background, and an affordable price.Just like in any place on the Riviera, or in any French restaurant in San Francisco, the pop-up dining experience started with an amuse bouche – duck liver pate on toasted brioche with a shaving of black truffle.
The first course presented a choice of roasted fennel soup with crab meat; pan-seared scallop with black truffle and wild mushroom ragu; and Salad Lyonnaise – frisee, bacon lardoons, Petaluma Farms Poached Organic Egg, and walnut vinaigrette topped with black truffles. My delicious soup (couldn’t believe it wasn’t butter) was paired with Petit Bistro Pinot Noir from France, and my dining companion’s Lyonnaise – with exceptionally delicious Vintner’s Bland cab from Ravenswood.
Second course choices were: local halibut, pan-seared and served over artichoke heart risotto and garnished with Bolinas Dungeness crab salad; duck L’Orange (Petaluma Farms duck breast and confit leg), with Button Willow mandarins, Coke Farms baby beets, and rainbow swiss chard; and Snake River Farms Kobe-style beef sirloin with chanterelle mushroom ragout, fingerling potatoes and pink peppercorn bourbon sauce. My exceedingly pleasing sirloin, nicely touched with the heavenly sauce, was paired with my favorite Philippe de Rothschild’s Mouton Cadet from Bordeaux, and my dining companion’s tender and crispy-skinned duck – with excellent Shenandoah Special Reserve zin – so enticing, we engaged in a little fight over who’s gonna finish up the pour.Desserts, sweetly paired with Sandeman Founders Reserve port, were warm chocolate fallen cake with vanilla chantilly cream (can’t go wrong!) and Greek yogurt panna cotta splashed with aged fig balsamic vinegar, and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds – light and satisfying. By the end of the evening, all the guests felt like they’ve just been to the Riviera, and the hosts were most likely tired, yet cheerful, smiling, and accommodating. Let’s hope that the pop-up dining experience was as good for them as it was for us, and that Riviera San Francisco dinners will continue, even if by any other name – at Rigolo Café.Located at 3465 California St., San Francisco, CA 94118. Open Mon-Sat. 7:30am - 8:30pm; Sunday 7:30am-4:00pm. Call 415-876-7777 or visit http://www.rigolocafe.com/.

In Holiday Spirit(s)

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri KrasovLoved and praised by the turn of the century French poets and artists, and feared by their significant others, absinthe was considered vile and dangerous by the authorities, and banned in the United States. Thankfully, the drink of green fairy is now making a decisive come back. The first legal absinthe to be distilled, bottled and sold in the United States in nearly 100 years, Vieux Carré Absinthe, emerald from natural herbs, comes around in a beautiful decanter-style bottle, and is great for classic, long-forgotten cocktails. Try this favorite of the great Ernest Hemingway:
DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON
1.5 oz Vieux Carre Absinthe
Chilled Champagne
Pour absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly. www.vieuxcarreabsinthe.com
Aromatic, light, and great for mixing, Bluecoat American Dry Gin is made with certified organic juniper berries, orange and lemon peel. It looks as pretty as a royal bride in its royal-blue bottle with charging-stallion-shaped swirls. Try it in this cocktail, as poetic as it is realistically-simple:
BITTER LOVE
2 oz Chardonnay
1 oz gin¼ oz Campari
2 oz grapefruit juice
Shake hard and strain into a cocktail glass. www.bluecoatgin.com The oldest brand of distilled spirits, Bols Genever, originated in Amsterdam in 1575, is now available and awarded gold medals in America. Made with corn, rye, wheat, and a special maltwine, the mixer-friendly spirit is sold in a handsome bottle with silver lettering, and in a shape resembling ancient clay jugs. It is great with a beer chaser, or in hot punches, but why don’t you try this delicious and protein-rich (see egg white) “breakfast” cocktail:
SILVER FIZZ
1.5 oz Bols Genever
1 oz lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup
1 egg white
soda water
Shake gin, lemon juice, sugar and egg white vigorously in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake again. Strain into an ice filled glass and top with club soda. www.bolsgenever.nl
If wine is something you are more interested in, consider giving a gift of the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Public Tasting.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, February 19, 2011, 2pm – 5pm at the Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. Christmas Stocking Stuffer (before December 31, 2010) $50.00l; avance Ticket (after January 1, 2011) $65.00; tckets at the door $80.00. Tickets are available now at: https://t8.clicknprint.com/tix/SilverStream/Pages/pgIndex.htmlsiteID=1578

Have a Nice Day at Bolongo Bay

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri Krasov‘It’s snowing in Chicago,’ said my friend Marina, showing me her iPhone. I looked at the pic sent real time by her daughter who was about to shovel their driveway back home, and averted my eyes. The view of shimmering blue Caribbean in front of me was so much better. We were lounging on a snowy white deck sailing from Bolongo Bay, St. Thomas, toward Buck Island’s Turtle Cove, United States Virgin Islands – yes, ma’am! Life was good.
When we were leaving San Francisco for our glorious vacation, it was a record cold night in California, and our friends coming from Chicago were wearing parkas and snow boots. Upon arrival on St. Thomas, we immediately assessed the benefits of the island living – eternally warm sea, tax-free shopping, and locally produced cheap and sweet Cruzan rum.We drove to Bolongo Bay Beach Resort specifically to take this Swim with Turtles cruise on their 53’ Heavenly Days catamaran, but first we had to taste the waters on a sandy palm-lined beach right in front of the cozy 65-room resort.Family owned for more than 35 years, Bolongo Bay Beach Resort strives to be an all-in-one destination for its guests, with an all-inclusive and regular stay plans; two seaside restaurants – fine dining and casual; beach and water sports with free use of equipment; dive shop; nightly live entertainment, and endless possibilities for weddings and honeymoons. While we were splashing in the calm turquoise lagoon, we watched hotel staff decorating a beach wedding spot with palm fronds and flower garlands, and then a small group of nicely dressed people arrived following a bride and groom. She – barefoot, in a slim white dress, and holding a bouquet of pink and yellow lilies, he – in shorts and a white shirt with rolled up sleeves.Before the beautiful ceremony was over, we headed to Iggie’s Beach Bar and Grill, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, for some fish sandwiches, Cruzan rum cocktails, and local Blackbeard beer, named after an [in]famous pirate of the Caribbean – one of many making their own history in this tropical paradise. And then it was time to embark on our half-day snorkeling trip aboard the award-winning catamaran, owned by the resort and offered to the guests at no additional charge.First, we were offered fruit juices and water, and promised some rum punch and snacks “after snorkeling.” Then Captain Peter gave us a safety briefing, and a lively crew of Theo and Jocelyn started putting up sails. Off we went, happy as clams, basking in the sun, wishing our smooth ride in deep blue waters with sugary caps would last forever… Shortly, we were putting on our fins, masks, and snorkels, and following Jocelyn on a guided tour to the protected anchorage. I was marveling at the clarity of water – 15 feet down below I clearly saw three turtles, slowly moving across the sandy bottom. One of them started ascending to the surface for a gulp of air, her round belly shining in the sun-pierced depth of water. Then she rolled back down vertically, like a round silver tray. Another one followed suit, gracefully moving her fins in a bird wing-like motion. Up, take some air, and down again. We moved closer to the Buck Island shore, along a shallow coral reef, where orange, yellow, and purple “trees” were surrounded by schools and nurseries of tiny fish – blue, purple, yellow, and half-purple half-yellow. I turned around and found myself in a flock of yellowtail snappers – hefty locals who often end up in restaurant plates. A solitary box fish, all square and spotted swam by, then a bunch of parrot fish arrived, all heavenly blue and green, with orange streaks of color, and started nibbling on sea grass covering the rocks.
Then we heard Captain Peter’s conch shell song – a signal for us to get back on the boat. That was timely – a prolonged water excursion just started to send chills up my arms. What a pleasure it was to get back on the sunlit deck for some rum punch-infused sunbathing! On the shore, we had just enough time before a weekly Cruzan Carnival Extravaganza began in front of Iggie’s Bar. Live music, dancing, makeshift birthday celebrations, fun couple contests, and local art fair were all a part of the festivities. A professional stilt walker directed teams of dancers from the audience to follow her mind-boggling equilibristic, and then a fire walker wowed the crowed with his electrifying dance on flaming glass shards.A carnival buffet of Caribbean staples included yummy spinach gumbo, fried plantains, pureed sweet potatoes, spicy chicken wings, finger-licking roast pork with mango chutney, and classic mac’n’cheese among other delights. And, of course, rum cocktails of all flavors and colors. Find out more about Bolongo Bay Beach Resort and everything it has to offer at: www.BolongoBay.com, or call 1-800-524-4746.