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.

Hyatt Means Holiday [Business]

By Emma Krasov, photography by Emma and Yuri KrasovHoliday season offers several out-of-office days in a row, and those who travel start to think, where to. More responsible ones already know, and are now Brazilian-waxing in preparation for airport scans and pat-downs. For those who stay, Hyatt Regency San Francisco at Embarcadero Center offers a chance to become a tourist in your own city. The 17-story atrium lobby is decorated with 300 000 cascading lights, a 45-foot illuminated tree, and giant wooden Nutcrackers.Real snow falls from the ceiling every day through December 31 on the clock at 1, 6, and 9 pm.While kiddies of all ages are enjoying the Embarcadero Holiday Skating Rink through January 2, 2011, their parents can safely partake in Holiday Happy Hour at Eclipse Lounge that serves holiday cocktails, like Sparkling Poinsettia and Rudolph’s Red Nose.Holiday Shopping Package is offered through December 30, and includes Hotel Savings Pass with more than a hundred shopping and dining discounts and specials. Breakfast with Santa provided at Eclipse Café on December 4, 6, 11, 12, 18, and 19 from 8 till noon, and Christmas dinners are scheduled for December 24 and 25 from 4 to 10. New Year’s Eve Package on Dec. 31 – Jan. 1 promises unobstructed view of fireworks on top of custom-designed celebration. New Year’s Breakfast Buffet is from 8 to 2 on New Year’s Day. All information and reservations at 800-233-1234, or www.sanfranciscoregency.hyatt.comHyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf comes up with a holiday Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Dinner Show in a private facility with professional actors mingling with the unsuspecting dinner guests. Voted “Best Dinner Show” in Los Angeles and Denver in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the largest Murder Mystery Dinner Show in the United States is now scheduled at Hyatt on Friday, December 10; Saturday, December 18; and Friday, December 31. Doors and a cash bar open at 6:15 p.m, prior to the 7:00-9:00 p.m. dinner show. Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf is offering a special 10% discount off of the hotel’s Hyatt Daily Rate (based on availability). Use code “DINNER” when booking at www.fishermanswharf.hyatt.com

On Palette and on the Palate: Arts and Wines at Stags’ Leap

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri KrasovInvited to Jefferson Hayman’s photography exhibition at Stags’ Leap Winery, I didn’t think twice about attending. The opening, aptly named The Artistry of Wine, promised to bring together Napa Valley wines, gourmet cuisine, and contemporary art in a historic 1890s Manor House, admirably maintained and lavishly decorated.
What I underestimated was a road to the promised land. While hopelessly-city, I adore weekend visits to the sunny Wine Country, but the elegant wine and art party was scheduled to start after dark. Napa’s nighttime rural routes with invisible signs turned out to be pitch dark, winding, and never ending.
After my husband and I missed our freeway exit, and then an entrance onto a side road, and performed a series of screeching U-turns, we spotted a shady figure, or rather a normal-looking young man enshrouded in deep shadows, and with a flashlight.
He directed us toward another winding road deeper into the forest. There was another young man out there, also with a flashlight. After some more driving in the dark and fearing some unknown creatures of the night that might hit our car or be hit by it, we finally reached the oasis of warmth, hospitality and conviviality, which is Stags’ Leap.I knew that the pioneering estate put California on the world wine map with its 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon during the first blind judging in Paris back in 1976, but I didn’t know that art patronage was a time-honored tradition at the winery. As if in some sort of revelation, the earthy delights and inspired art joined together in harmony in one enchanted evening.The festivities started with a taste of 2009 Napa Valley Viognier, paired with creative bites, like crab salad with walnuts on endive leaves, and goat cheese topped with red pepper caps, or wrapped in grilled eggplant slices.On the second floor of the gorgeous stone building, filled with antique furnishings and vintage photographs, the guests were offered 2009 Napa Valley Chardonnay, and a view of Patrick McFarlin’s portraiture, with the artist present to talk about his Napa Valley: Portrait of a Community project.2007 Napa Valley Petit Syrah was served in the dining room, perfectly matched with succulent lamb chops and salsa verde.Then the star estate cab – 2007 “The Leap” was offered on porch, as a great prelude to welcome speeches, poetry reading and historical introduction by Theresa Whitehill, and a Q&A with winemaker Christophe Paubert and photographer Jefferson Hayman.The photography exhibition was presented in the new grandiose cave of the estate, lined with barrels, and enhanced by 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon barrel sampling. M. Paubert, the winemaker, commented on the new wine while standing in front of his own photographic image that was a part of Hayman’s body of work.A self-taught photographer, in his Stags’ Leap show, Hayman concentrates on vine- and wine-related details, winemakers’ portraits, and vineyard landscapes presented in a series of black and white photographs with soft lighting and receding shadows. Each silver gelatin photograph is produced in 25 prints and framed in antique or artist-made frame.More information at: www.stagsleap.com

Fall Chocolate Salon Charms San Francisco

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri KrasovThe new holiday-oriented Fall Luxury Chocolate Salon launched by TasteTV in San Francisco this November, turned, not-surprisingly, into a celebration of increasingly creative dark confections. More than 30 big-, great-, and grand-name chocolatiers presented their newest and boldest flavors at Fort Mason, attracting enormous crowds of chocolate lovers and chocoholics in various stages of addiction.Yuzu, ginger, masala chai, passion fruit and pepper, chestnut honey, lavender, burnt pumpkin, green tea, and kaffir lime were just a few of the available flavors of amazing morsels formerly known as chocolate truffles. The Oscars-style voting allowed the judges (this reporter included) to nominate their personal favorites in various categories, based on their individual tastes. Among the gold medal winners there are Amano Artisan Chocolate in Best Dark and Best Milk chocolate, Top Artisan Chocolatier, Most Luxurious Chocolate Experience, Best in Salon, and Most Gifted Chocolatier categories; Vice Chocolates in Best Milk, Best Truffle, Most Delicious Ingredient Combinations, Most Artistic Designs, Best Gift Set, Best Flavored and Best Presentation categories; Socola Chocolatier in Most Delicious Ingredient Combinations; and Chocolatique in Best Traditional category.Carlos Mann Nicaraguan Artisan Chocolates took silver and TCHO picked up bronze in Best Dark Chocolate.Socola Chocolatier, Salt Side Down Chocolates, Au Coeur Des Chocolats, Gateau et Ganache, and Saratoga Chocolates also got several silver and bronze medals each, as well as other wonderful chocolate makers, too numerous to mention them all.Additional information and more chocolate addiction opportunities can be found at:
www.FallChocolateSalon.com and www.tastetv.com

Love and Other Drugs – Holiday Season’s Feel-Good Fairy Tale

By Emma Krasov

Jake Gyllenhaal as a pleasure-chasing lover boy – say no more. The movie could be a [generic] version of Sidney Pollack’s long-forgotten Bobby Deerfield or Arthur Hiller’s iconic Love Story – it’s doomed to succeed with the audiences of holiday-high Cinderellas. Love and Other Drugs, based on Jamie Reidy’s non-fiction, “Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman,” and directed by Edward Zwick, follows Jamie (Gyllenhaal), a good-looking pharmaceutical sales ace as he gradually falls in love with an incurable (and also good-looking and living in an artsy loft) Parkinson’s patient Maggie (Anne Hathaway). Despite the predictability of the scheme – boy meets girl boy looses girl boy gets girl back, and the undying cliché of public display of deep emotions in moments of revelation and redemption, the script is nicely written and keeps the tempo, while the excellent cast of supporting characters really supports the entire structure from falling into a sentimental mush. Great acting, some humor, more than average Hollywood nudity, and a probable tear or two closer to the happy end all bode well for the run. In Bay Area theatres now. More info at: www.loveandotherdrugsthemovie.com

An Affair to Remember: Sonoma Wine Road

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri KrasovOur affair started on a sunny afternoon at Kendall-Jackson Wine Center in Fulton, Sonoma. Awashed in golden light, California Wine Country vines were bursting with color from bright yellow to scarlet red, to deep purple. The air was fragrant with fallen leaves and sweet late roses still in full bloom.A Wine and Food Affair was presented on the first weekend of November by Wine Road Northern Sonoma County, with dozens of premier wineries participating from Alexander, Dry Creek, and Russian River valleys. Creative food pairings complemented featured wines, with all the original recipes collected in a beautifully published cookbook, “Tasting along the Wine Road.” While it would be impossible to visit all the great wineries and try all the food pairings from Sebastopol to Geyserville, my husband Yuri and I set off on a two-day road trip trying to get a skinny on Sonoma’s bounty.Inspiration Vineyards paired their 2008 Estate Chardonnay from Russian River Valley with chilled corn and sundried tomato chowder topped with fresh tarragon. Jon Phillips, owner/winemaker, and his helpers Lori Marie Adams and Ben Posluszny were pouring gold medal winners 2007 Pinot Noir from Los Carneros region and 2007 Zinfandel from Alexander Valley in an inviting new tasting room in Santa Rosa.
At the neighboring Carol Shelton Wines, the winery’s founder and namesake was involved hands-on with pushing down skins of fermenting petit syrah while her visitors were trying multiple-award-winning zins paired with Karachi beef stew.Twomey Cellars on Westside Road heading to downtown Healdsburg, boasting sweeping views from its glass-walled tasting room, offered comforting pumpkin gnocchi with brown butter, walnuts, and sage to complement a complex fruit-rich 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir. Posh Kendall-Jackson in the heart of Healdsburg presented several of its esteemed wines and a delicious ham hock and pumpkin quesadilla, freshly browned on a portable grill. Of all the food and wine pairings we tried on our colorful journey, there were too many too good to list them all. We found a match made in heaven in Hauck Cellars in Santa Rosa, where 2006 Meritage (merlot, cab sauv, petit verdot, and malbec) was paired with boeuf forestier, redolent of full-bodied cab.
Then at Rodney Strong Vineyards in Healdsburg a perfect culinary revelation came in the form of butternut squash and apple soup with cream and sage, happily married to 2009 estate sauv blanc. The upcoming events on the Sonoma Wine Roads are: 19th Annual Winter Wineland on Jan. 15 and 16, 2011, and 33rd Annual Barrel Tasting on March 4-6 and 11-13 2011. More information at: www.wineroad.com