Where else can you get slow, organic, artisanal ice cream with Rechutti fleur de sel chunks for just $8 a pint?
I was there to see the Vivienne Westwood exhibit at the DeYoung Museum before it came down,and to celebrate my friend Bruce’s birthday. I stayed at the Mosser downtown, did a bit of shopping, got completely exfoliated at the Kabuki Spa (nice spa, good prices, but the front office staff leave a lot to be desired) and squeezed in dinner at Delfina, one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. (hint: if you see seascape strawberries with red wine granita and basil zabaglioni on the menu, don’t hesitate).
Herewith, some reflections:
The Mosser: a serious deal in the heart of downtown SF. BART will take you there from SFO for $5.15 (though I took a cab back out to SFO out of pure exhaustion, which cost $40, including tip). Walking distance to Union Square shopping and in the other direction to Yerba Buena and SFMOMA. Lots of options for public transportation just about anywhere you want to go. I could definitely reduce my carbon foot print by moving back up there. Annabelle’s is next door and offers limited room service. I had great drinks and a perfectly good hamburger in the bar. The room is tiny, but it was super quiet and the custom made bed was incredibly comfortable. I shared a coed bathroom with tub with others on my hall, and a water closet for women only that was vacant every time I wanted to use it. There is a vanity sink, a hair dryer and an iron and ironing board in the room, along with robes. The amenities were decent. It’s like an upscale hostel, and very clean. It was inhabited mostly by musicians (there is an adjoining recording studio) and young European tourists. It worked for me, especially since I got my squeaky clean on at the Kabuki. The pipes groaned in the bathroom, but I’m the kind of girl who thinks that’s charming.
The Vivienne Westwood exhibit: I’d heard mixed reviews about this one, but I have to say I loved it. I wish I’d had time to go back. I’m a huge Vivienne Westwood fan, but even so, I was shocked by how much her aesthetic has influenced contemporary fashion. The BCBG shoes I own are a knock-off of her Gillies. Half the skirts I own reference her Nostalgia of Mud collection. Bubble hems, petticoats, tube skirts, the suit Carrie wore to her Vogue interview in Sex in the City, sky high platforms – tell me, who did it before she did?
I love the cheeky femininity of her models and the pure grace of movement her clothes have when they float down the runway (as seen on wall monitors scattered throughout the galleries.) I love that she shot her models sauntering around the galleries of the Wallace Collection, looking at the portraits they were incarnating.
I took the audio tour, which at first was awkward – something of a misguided attempt to recreate the anarchy of punk pulled together by grandiloquent museum curators more accustomed to Victoriana than modernity. But once the narration got past Viv’s early Sex Shop days and glided into the post-punk collections, they started to get it right, bringing in the experts from the V&A and other fashion historians to create a thoughtful context and to give the woman her due. Its not often that intellect and fashion walk so easily hand in hand these days.
Many of the people visiting the show seemed to be seeking a nostalgia buzz, and they must have stopped paying attention to Westwood after she broke off with Malcolm McLaren circa Bow Wow Wow and the Pirates era. “I had no idea she got into couture,” one woman said, whose multi-colored hair matched her rather unfortunate skirt. But it’s not particularly surprising, considering that at least in the U.S., fashion magazines have de-emphasized her collections in favor of those who design for adolescent archetypes just this side of kiddie porn. Women wearing Westwo
od’s clothing take up space, and that’s just not done. Anyway, I agree with one of the commentators on the audio tour who called her one of the great modern designers. I think she’s one of the great creative geniuses of the 20th Century, right up there with Balanchine, Stravinsky and Prince. If I thought I could have gotten away with it, I would have grabbed the black stilettos with the silver spikes at the heels, along with the butter yellow rubber Bettina suit to go with, and oh, yes – the Jungle Dress, and the Nostalgia of Mud skirt with the Peruvian dancers at the hem. Also the bird’s nest hat with the stuffed pheasant, though it would probably just sit in my closet – no one wears hats in L.A.
The Farmer’s Market was just a glint in the eye of Alice Waters when I left San Francisco, or I probably would not have left. Now, if it’s Saturday morning and I’m in SF, I’m at Ferry Plaza with my friends who go to work with an admirable efficiency, collecting their week’s groceries from their favorite farmers in record time. This week, I had a mission,which was to forage for ingredients for that night’s birthday dinner for bff Mary’s husband Bruce. I collected pullet eggs, apricots and raspberries for a faithful version of the Pavlova dessert I wrote about a few weeks back. Again, sooo easy, and a real crowd pleaser.
The drink of the evening was the Sazerac, the famously sublime New Orleans potion of rye whiskey, herb saint / pernod and Peychaud bitters; I’d like one right now, please. Bff Mary is one of the best home cooks I know, and she started things off with these great little nibbles of chicken marinated in pomegranate molasses and cumin. Then a lentil salad with spinach, bacon, sour cherries and blue cheese. Then her wonderful “lamb pops,” served this time with couscous. The recipe for the couscous came from the Epicurious website, and called for chopping all the vegetables into uniform ½ inch bits, and then cook them with the couscous. I had the idea that it would be a more rustic accompaniment for the lamb to chop the veggies into randomly sized chunks and then roast them to bring out their sweetest and add a hint of smoke. Instead of just saying this, I made some snide comment to the effect that the Epicurious recipe was a little “too Nob Hill for me.” Not that I really even know what that means, but I agree it sounds pissy. I’m not a food snob. The cocktails made me say it.
Bff Mary’s lamb pops
3 racks of baby lamb, chined and frenched
Salt and pepper to taste
Several sprigs of rosemary
Olive oil
In a roasting pan, salt and pepper the racks of lamb and drizzle with olive oil
Tuck sprigs of rosemary here and there
Let sit for 6 hours at least, or overnight
Heat oven to 450, roast for 20 minutes. Let sit for about 15 minutes more.
To serve, cut the rack into individual “pops.” Mound the couscous in the center of a serving platter, and arrange the lamb pops around it.
You can use any couscous recipe you like, even the one from Epicurious. I like Paula Wolfert’s “Couscous with Seven Vegetables in the Fez Manner” from Couscous & Other Good Food From Morocco.
Vox Pop Sudari 