Mesrine, Killer Instinct
Just because he's mesmerizing doesn't necessarily make him a nice guy
Lee Pesavento told us to go see Mesrine, Killer Instinct (at the Cinearts in Pleasant Hill), so we went. I trust his taste in movies.
The US had John Dillinger. France had Jacques Mesrine. A career criminal who robbed banks and home, kidnapped, murdered and broke out of prison, Mesrine was Public Enemy #1 in France. Captured, he wrote an autobiography. His story is so large that they made two movies–Killer Instinct is just part one, you have to go back to the theater to see the other half, titled Mesrine:Public Enemy #1.
The film stars Vincent Cassel who simply consumes the screen. He won the Cesar, the French version of the Oscar for this role. He has the intensity of Al Pacino and Sean Penn combined, with Gallic good looks as an added benefit. Costarring is Gérard Depardieu, who was never good looking and is now approaching Marlon Brando size and shape, which doesn’t get in the way of great acting.
Although the film begins as a character study of the French anti-hero, it spins out of control towards comic book violence and just plain silliness. Things that happened in real life are portrayed in such ridiculous fashion that all believability is lost as director Jean-François Richet seems to be channeling Ridley Scott at his most explosive.
As we left the theater, I don’t think either of us would have returned for the second part. But reading about the real life of Mesrine, and knowing that it is a true (mostly) story, I guess we have to go back and see how it ends.
Not hip enough for the room
The rebirth of Oakland is amazing. I’m not in the habit of giving Jerry Brown much credit, but what has the uptown renaissance is astounding. The new restaurants, the boom in art galleries, Oakland is now a destination rather than a place to avoid.
The first Friday of the month is Art Murmur day. The galleries are open late, the food vendors come out as they close 23rd between Telegraph and Broadway, music is everywhere. It’s the place to be for the young, hip, slick and cool. Fortunately, they let me in there too.
Last night, Gail and I met some friends and hit the scene. We started out at Mercury 20, a collective gallery on 25th street, where we saw some very innovative work by our friend Laura van Duren. Next door and upstairs to Mercury 20 is Vessel, an absolutely stunning gallery space.
Vessel gallery
Vessel gallery
The corner of 23rd and Telegraph
So after a couple of hours of looking into galleries, shouldering our way through the crowds, sometimes coveting the art and sometimes reviling it, we were ready for dinner.
We were out with friends, one of whom works and displays at Mercury20 and knows the latest and greatest in Oakland dining. He had chosen Mua for us. (You really want to click through to this website, it’s just cooler than I can explain)
Situated in a cavernous building which was once an auto repair place, Mua is the place I always wanted to be hip enough for. I wasn’t then and I’m not now, but they still let me in. There were 7 of us, and they showed us to a table on the balcony, right next to the upstairs bar. The people watching was spectacular.
The dinner was pretty alright, too. The menu isn’t extensive, but covers the basics well and has a few nice touches. Instead of a salad, I started with the hamachi crudo, which is just another way of preparing sashimi. Thin slices of raw yellowfin tuna, touched with lemon juice and served on slices of cucumber. It isn’t for everyone, but I thought it was quite well done. Gail had the carpaccio, and didn’t leave anything on the plate. Our tablemates shared a couple of orders of green olives stuffed with feta cheese and fried. If you have to eat death food, it should always taste this good.
Blackened Catfish on dirty rice. Not fancy, just good.
These Brussel sprouts are so good almost everyone would like them.
My main course was blackened catfish on dirty rice. A simple dish, simply presented. Sometimes restaurants are trying so hard to be clever and innovative that they forget to get the basics right–not here. Gail and I shared an order of brussel sprouts (sorry Mike) and loved every one.
Okay, the place is loud and busy. The service isn’t particularly fast, but we weren’t in a hurry, either. The prices are reasonable–the bill for 7 of us, with 2 bottles of Prosecco and my iced tea, was under $400. Give the place a try, and don’t forget to gallery hop on the first Friday of the month.
This may be a short Legend
There is a theory that modern man is too far out of touch with the sources of his food. We don’t live on farms anymore, or have any real contact with the animals we consume.
Legendary Palace, a restaurant on the corner of 7th and Franklin in Oakland’s Chinatown, gets us closer to our food by maintaining large banks of aquaria from which you choose your dinner.
We went there last night with Mike and Gretchen, Winnie and Jerry. I never think its a good omen when the front of a dinner establishment has where the only thing I can read is “$1.99” and “$2.99”. I never found out what the sale items are, and nothing we had was anywhere near that affordable. The decor is the typical Chinese restaurant garish , with all the subdued lighting of a bus station. You want atmosphere? This place has all the atmosphere of the lunch counter in the downtown Shanghai Woolworths.
But you don’t come here for atmosphere, you come here for seafood.
Being a fan of The Deadliest Catch, I can’t look at a king crab without wondering if Cap’n Sig of the Northwestern caught it. And right there in the top fish tank was an enormous king crab, which we naturally had to have.
Our dinner, fresh out of the tank
Because it was so large, the waiter said he would prepare it two ways–one of them was in garlic sauce, and the other, um, well, I guess wasn’t in garlic sauce.
The same crab, 10 minutes later.
I like crab just drowned in a bit of butter. To me, the flavor is too delicate to cover with a gloppy, overpowering sauce. The did do a great job of cracking it, though.
We ordered pea sprouts, and got something like the leaves of the pea plant sauteed in garlic. Not bad, but not pea sprouts, either.
On the other hand, we were able to order Peking Duck without having to give 24 hours notice. Little steamed buns, crispy ducks skin backed with a layer of fat, plum sauce and slivers of green onion–this always feel to me like China’s greatest gift to dining.
Winnie raved about the eggplant. I rank eggplant right next to mushrooms, so I’ll just take her word for it.
Dessert was “double happiness”–they brought us two. Mango pudding, which was plenty mango-y but not very pudding-y. Way too stiff for me. Then “sponge cake”, which was more still warm from the oven and quite tasty.
The bill, with tip, came to $400 for the 6 of us, which is a hell of a lot of money for a Chinese dinner and a bottle of Mondavi Chardonnay. (Did I talk about the wine list? Any white you want, as long as it’s Chard. Some reds. White Zin. When I’m a more sophisticated about wine than the restaurant, you’re in big trouble.)
If you want great Chinese food, try Uncle Yu’s in Lafayette, or Yan’s China Bistro in Walnut Creek.
Old dog, new trick
Although I love to take photos, I’ve never much thought of myself as having any particular artistic talent. After a lifetime painting houses, if I take up watercolors I can make a brush do anything I want it to but that isn’t really talent, just experience with the tools.
So it was with some trepidation and great hopes that I took a course on “Drawing with the right side of the brain” at some center in Oakland with BJ Ledgerwood.
I’ve never drawn anything I liked. I’ve never drawn a person who would be recognizable.
Then I took the class. We did some exercises, talked about some techniques, and started a project to copy a photo.
I did. I can't believe it, but I did it.
It’s simply amazing what you can do if you give it a try. Why not take a class in something you think you can’t do?
The saga of the pants continues
Gwen and Leroy
Dinner guests last night–Gwen Lecthner and Leroy Parker. Leroy is an artist, and professor of art at San Jose State.
Gwen wearing one of her creations
Gwen is a graduate student of Leroy’s, and an accomplished artist already. She is creating clothing out of hand-made paper–hats and corsets, which she makes from body casts of her clients.
It was only after I served the tri-tip that Gwen mentioned that she hadn’t eaten red meat in 3 years. She tried a little, then finished up the rice and the asparagus. I guess the lesson is never to serve beef to young California women, the odds are against you.
The Pants
Loyal readers will remember the saga of the pants from my trip to Ethiopia in June, how it took me 10 days of hard searching to find a pair large enough in a nation where I was the largest man.
After we returned, we had a party which Leroy attended. I greatly admired the painted pants he was wearing, shown in the photo above, and was mightily pleased when he took the Ethiopian pants and a pair of plain black suspenders and said he would paint them. Last night he delivered on his promise:
Leroy and me
Wear these pants, you gotta dance!
Flashy coming and going
As is always true in life, this much fun doesn’t come cheap–I admit to being somewhat staggered by the price, which he forgot to mention when he took the pants in the first place. On the other hand, they may be the cheapest art in the house and will get the most notice, so I guess it’s a bargain anyway.
The things i do for love
Every couple of months I get a pedicure, just to keep my tootsies in good shape. And I think it’s romantic to go with Gail and get them together.
Today Barbara Hanson, the president of my fan club, heard that I had a “pedi” appointment and urged me to get the maroon polish.
Just for Barbara:
Win some, lose some
Saturday night dinner out with Mike and Linda. Looking on Opentable for a reservation, I found a new Italian restaurant in an old location–1606 North Main Street.
20 years ago, I was keeping company with Lois Frankland’s baby sister, Doreen. Every Tuesday night found us at Sepp’s Pizza enjoying a deep dish Chicago Style pie. Eventually, Joe Sepp got a real job and sold the place to an Indian family who couldn’t really cook a decent pizza, so it folded. Then it was a French place for many years, which we liked, and now it is Ottavia.
The restaurant has been repainted in warm chocolate colors, although the design with kitchen in front and the dining in a narrow hallway and a rear dining room remains difficult.
My hopes were high as I started with an incredible appetizer of prosciutto, burratino (very fresh mozzarella) and figs. Service had been slow, but I try to cut some slack to a place open only 6 or 8 weeks.
They were losing points when I got my iced tea and they only had the pink sweetener–this is a cost saving measure you only find in lesser establishments. The good ones offer the blue and the yellow, which cost more but are vastly superior. I can’t believe anyone even uses the pink stuff anymore.
I had the papardelle with Kid Goad sugo, which I enjoyed although it was on the bland side. Linda, though, ordered the tagliatelle with Venetian Seafood sauce, and was quite surprised to find it exceptionally spicy, so much so that I wouldn’t have been able to eat it. Seems like the sort of thing you should put on the menu.
Oh yes, the menu. Strange, oddly organized and difficult to understand. The menu is supposed to create a sense of excitement for the guests, not puzzlement and confusion.
Gail ordered what was advertised as “American Kobe” beef. While she had a perfectly acceptable filet, I don’t think you can really serve “American Kobe” at that price–I’d like to see the invoice from their supplier. I’ve purchased that beef, once, from a mail order house and it was $80/pound. You can’t sell it in a restaurant for $28.
My dessert was, theoretically “zabayon”. A real zabaglione is made with sugar, egg yolks and marsala wine. Whatever they served me had never been near a wine bottle, it was just pudding. Mike and Linda shared a bread pudding that was much better.
So, although I have such a long relationship with the location, I don’t think I can recommend Ottavia to my loyal readers. I can’t read the menu, don’t trust what I can read and don’t like the dessert. Three strikes, they’re out.
Remembrance of things past
Okay, so I cribbed the title from Proust. It isn’t plagiarism, it’s research.
Most of the time, going back to places you visited as a kid is disappointing. What you recall as shining and glamorous is dingy, cheap and old. Lacking the wonderment of youth, the glories of the past are too often sadly tawdry.
Yesterday, none of that was true, and I can’t wait to tell you about it.
We went to Sunday lunch at the Cliff House in the City. The first time I saw the Cliff House was when my father brought us up here from Los Angeles house hunting in 1961–it was still the remnants of the Sutro Baths, and a famous city landmark, along with the camera obscura and Playland at the Beach just down the road. Like any kid, I was amazed and fascinated.
Since then, the building burned down, the camera obscura was demolished and Playland at the Beach and Laughing Sal have been replaced by condos. Time inexorably marches on, and landmarks become just memories.
Daughter Kate and Sweetie-in-law Brad
We went to lunch with Gail’s eldest daughter, Kate, and her sweetie, Brad. We’ve reached the age where children become good friends, and we enjoy spending time with them as people more than as progeny.
You have a couple of choices here; there is a large Sunday Brunch Buffet, or an order-off-the-menu restaurant. We chose the restaurant, partly for the food and mostly for the view–the buffet room, for some inexplicable reason, is heavily curtained, blocking the stupendous views.
The room in which we ate was all glass, as you would expect. Hanging over the Pacific Ocean, designed and decorated in a warm yet very modern style with a view seemingly all the way to Tokyo, it was just perfect.
To start with, I had a house specialty Ramos Fizz–which was incredibly delicious, and I got quite a buzz out of it. You can’t taste the liquor in a drink like that, and I’m a major lightweight when it comes to hard liquor. At least I’m a lightweight somewhere…..
The food was as good as the room. I started with Ahi Tartare, a timbale of diced sushi-grade Ahi Tuna, mixed tableside with quail egg, onion, Asian pear, pine nuts and jalapeños. My entree was the lamb loin sandwich, thick slabs of rare lamb served on a roll with tapenade, wilted spinach and grilled onion. I enjoyed them both.
Salmon Hash and Champagne, all the fixings for a perfect Sunday lunch
Gail had the Salmon Hash, topped with poached eggs and hollandaise. The presentation was beautiful and the dish excellent. Sweetie Brad enjoyed the Fried Oyster sandwich, and Kate savored the Fritatta. There were only good words about any of the dishes, including the Crab Cakes we had as an appetizer.
The Cliff House isn’t cheap, it deserves the $$$ in the listing on Opentable.com. But it’s like the MasterCard commercial: going back to the places of your youth and finding them even better: Priceless.
Dinner at Izzy’s
The mysterious Mrs. Kribs is on the left, Mrs. Katz is in the middle on the right.
I had the illusion of a healthy dinner tonight.
We went to Izzy’s Steaks and Chops, in San Ramon. The occasion was dinner with Pam Katz, the Bandlers and Buzz Kribs and his wife Janice. Yes, the mysterious Janice who I’ve only met 4 or 5 times in all the years I’ve known the Buzzard. She’s really very nice, and I’m not just saying that because she is a loyal reader.
Pam Katz is doing fine. Grandson Aaron is 3 now, son Andy is married and going to graduate school, daughter Jodie is happy and healthy. Pam went to Spain for a wedding a while back, and is off on an Italian adventure next month.
Izzy’s, at the corner of Bollinger and Alcosta in San Ramon, is an old-fashioned steak house, specializing in large slabs of meat. Gail had a Prime Rib, and I saw no leftovers. Buzz demolished a filet, Mike also had a Prime, everyone had BEEF.
Being a contrarian at heart, I ordered the halibut, thinking that it would be the wiser and healthier choice. Silly me.
The halibut was one of the best I have ever tasted, but I suspect that the pound of butter they coated it with had something to do with the excellent flavor. Toss in the baked sweet potato (so-so) and the creamed spinach (better than excellent), and I had a heart attack on a plate masquerading as the heart-healthy choice.
Wisely, we passed on dessert.
Izzy’s is a fine restaurant. Just don’t tell you cardiologist where you’re going.
So, was Crystal great?
The big question about our trip: Is Crystal all it’s cracked up to be? The answer: Well, sorta. My previous sailing experience has been on Celebrity, which I really liked, and Cunard, which has set a standard for luxury cruising for 100 years. But this was to be the Bandlers twelfth Crystal cruise, my friend Don loves the line, even Susan Rowley spent a month on the Crystal Harmony once and is still talking about it. So I was expecting a combination of the French Laundry, La Costa spa and the Ritz-Carlton. I”m not sure heaven itself could live up to the Crystal hype.
The Ship
Modern cruise ships are floating resorts, with swimming pools, spas, gyms, theaters, tennis and basketball courts, golf driving cages, bars, sundecks, game rooms, shopping malls and casinos, kept pristine and shining by legions of dedicated crewmembers. You’re going to love either cruise line. Crystal carries about 1000 passengers, Celebrity as many as 3000 on their newest ships. Bigger ship = more amenities, at the cost of crowds and lines. The larger ships also have a greater range of staterooms, from tiny, windowless inside cabins to expansive suites. Crystal has no interior cabins; their passenger list is considerably more homogeneous in terms of economics.
Food
Dining room
The food on Crystal is very good–just like on the other cruise ships. I enjoyed being able to order caviar every night. The cheese cart is fabulous. But the reality is that there is a limit to what you can do when you are trying to serve 500 people at once. The food is good, but it’s no better than Celebrity and perhaps not as good as Cunard. That isn’t a complaint–it would be a very lucky man who had Crystal quality food every day of his life. I call this a draw.
Buffet
The Lido deck on Crystal is incredible!!. Excellent food from the buffet or two specialty food facilities. Service as good as the dining room. You can eat indoors or out, it’s just a pleasure. On Celebrity, we called this area “the trough”. In far too many ways, it reminded me of the college food service cafeteria. Carol Scott refused to eat there, ever. A clear win for Crystal.
Room Service
Sorry, Crystal, but your room service menu is just too bloody small. Celebrity offers considerably more choices, more hours of the day. Winner: Celebrity
Entertainment
Crystal is justly famous for its speaker program. Every sea day brings 3 lectures, from leaders in the fields of history, science or current events. Our cruise featured Howard Fineman, a senior writer for Newsweek and a frequent guest on MSNBC. The lectures are topical and fascinating, offering insights that are often unavailable to us mere mortals. Celebrity offers lectures, but without the superstar speakers.
Both lines offer daily bridge while at sea, as well as a host of other programs from dance lessons to computer classes and handicraft workshops. There are libraries on all ships, with books, CDs and movies. In the evening, size matters. Celebrity ships are much larger, holding 2ooo or even 3000 passengers. They can afford better entertainment, with larger casts, bigger bands, bigger stages, more production values. I guess this is a draw: Crystal wins the day, Celebrity wins the night.
Shore Excursions
When a cruise ship drops you in a foreign port like Captain Kirk beaming down, you need some help figuring out what to see and how to see it–and the cruise line is right there for you. For a fairly steep price, they offer tours of everything you might ever want to see or do. Crystal even offered an excursion to the Lamborghini factory near Venice, with the **chance** that you would get a ride in one. That little jaunt was $1800 per person.
Because they have so many more passengers, from a wider economic spectrum, You can also manage trips in the greatest spots in Malaysia, including trips from phuket to phi phi in any transportation system you choose. Celebrity offers more excursions, often at more reasonable price points. The downside is that there are just too darned many people, too many buses.
Totally Unauthorized 