Allie Reads the News

In August 2012 The Berkeley Voice reported news of the upcoming ban affecting 90 businesses in Berkeley

On January 1st, Alameda County began imposing a ban on plastic bags, and charging a fee for paper bags in certain stores. My county joined other counties and cities like San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, and Washington D. C. that have already passed laws to cut down on plastic bag pollution. Plastic bag laws. Businesses here may still distribute recyclable paper bags at checkout, but customers must pay a minimum of 10 cents per bag, and the hope is that the charge will encourage patrons to bring their own bags. The law affects stores that sell prepackaged food and alcohol and large pharmacies.

Many shoppers resent paying for bags, believing that stores are profiting from this new practice. Actually, no one is making money. Grocery stores typically pay 7 to 12 cents per paper bag, and less for plastic. The 10 cent charge will help compensate them for the mandatory paper selection. Fancy gift bags cost much more.

The law makes perfect sense, especially in this maritime environment where so many bags wind up in the bay or ocean. And now shoppers can make a fashion statement with their reusable bags.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL

 This is the card I regive to my husband Dean every year.  It's his favorite. Our cats change over the years but the message stays the same. And there is zero waste!                                    

     My birthday was fast approaching and this year I wanted to do something a little different. Different as in Birthday Lunch instead of Birthday Dinner. And what better choice than a mid-day visit to my favorite dining room in the world—Greens Restaurant! With one o'clock reservations for a table by the window, we set out. The day was glorious, and the drive through scenic Marin county and over the Golden Gate Bridge was a treat in itself.

View  of the Bay, Golden Gate Bridge and Marin County from my favorite dining room in the world

     Greens is located in a reconverted warehouse at Fort Mason in the Marina district of San Francisco. Fort Mason, former Army post.  The restaurant was opened in 1979 under the auspices of the San Francisco Zen Center with Deborah Madison as head chef. She developed their distinctive culinary style— an elegant and ebullient expression of creative vegetarian cuisine. With an imaginative mix of casual elegance, exciting tastes, and a subtle message of health and  Zen harmony, Greens changed forever the way we think of vegetarian restaurants. From the beginning they relied on beautiful, organic produce from Green Gulch Farm, run by the Zen Center in a valley in the Marin Headlands just north of San Francisco. The  farm's lush landscape, which gardener Wendy Johnson describes as "a brocade of every shade of green" is open to visitors on Sundays. Green Gulch Farm. They also sell spectacular produce at the Marin and Ferry Plaza farmer's markets.

Green Gulch Farm in Marin County

   The Tassajara Bakery, a legendary favorite on Cole Street in Noe Valley, baked the bread and some desserts for the restaurant when it first opened. The bakery, which opened in 1972, was sold, and later closed.  Now all the wonderful desserts are prepared in-house. Annie Somerville, who started cooking at Greens in 1981, became executive chef in 1985 when Deborah left for Rome, and then Santa Fe.  She has remained in that position to this day. Ms. Somerville feels that the recipes have evolved over the years and are  a little leaner now, with less emphasis on cream and butter, but the creative inspiration of Deborah Madison remains at the heart of their kitchen

The old Tassajara Bakery in Noe Valley

     Getting back to my birthday...We walked up the stairway to the restaurant, passed the spectacular flower arrangement and entered the dining room with its lofty ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows—an open, spacious, lively scene which was as welcoming as ever.

For the best experience, ask for a table by the window

     We were escorted to a lovely table at water's edge and quickly perused the menu. We ordered two different local beers, settled on three tempting items to share for lunch and then amused ourselves by watching a duck diving and surfacing over and over again while we waited for our first course. I tried to snap a photo of the duck before each plunge but he was too quick for me.

     First to arrive was our verdant salad of "County Line lettuce, little gems and watercress with Brokaw avocado, Owari satsumas, oro blanco and spiced pumpkin seeds," glistening with a light citrus, chili vinaigrette. I was so taken with with the  sparkling beauty of the salad that I took pictures at all angles on the sunlit  plate. The salad was delicious as well as beautiful, and I now include crunchy pepitas on top of my own salad creations.

     Next  our "grilled ridgecut Gristmills polenta with grilled wild mushrooms, crisp shallots, herb cream, shaved grana padano and arugula" was served. We indulged in the perfect blending of grainy, grilled polenta and woodsy, wild  king and trumpet mushrooms bathed in cream and crowned with melting cheese. More photos were snapped.

     Our third dish was "garlic parsley linguine with braised beluga lentils, Mariquita Farm rapini, shallots, pepper flakes, Arbequina olive oil, goat cheese and grana padano," which surprised me with it's spare use of lentils, the creaminess of the goat cheese and the spiciness of rapini. I was so absorbed with enjoying my pasta that I neglected to take a photo.

     I did, however, photograph our dessert, a trio of sorbets—Cranberry-orange, quince-vanilla and pear- cinnamon, which were a creamy, flavorful and refreshing end to a lovely meal.

Trio of sorbets— cranberry-orange, quince-vanilla and pear-cinnamon

      Only later, when I read the article in the New York Times dining section, did I get the message that some restaurants object to photography in their dining rooms. Restaurants turn camera shy.  And why not, when patrons use annoying flashes, set up flexible tripods (called gorillapods) on their tables and even stand on their chairs to get  shots from above. Fortunately for me, no one objected to my photographing my surroundings on that birthday afternoon, but I will be even more discreet in the future.


Featured Books:

The Greens Cookbook, published in 1987, was written by  founding chef Deborah Madison, with Edward Espe Brown, Zen priest and author of The Tassajara Bread Book, who acted alternately as the restaurant's manager, host, waiter and sommelier for four years. The book came out eight years after the restaurant opened, and has served as inspiration for home cooks who want to duplicate the beautiful, healthful and tasty dishes served in the restaurant.

Annie Somerville, who has been executive chef at Greens Restaurant since Ms. Madison left in 1985, wrote Fields of Greens (published in 1993,) and then  Everyday Greens  (2003.)  In both of her books, you will find more great vegetarian recipes from the restaurant, including a  summer dish with polenta triangles (like I had on my recent visit) baked with corn, tomatoes, and basil. Even though the recipe is time consuming, it is so delicious I make it every summer.

R. A. Dickey

Sometimes this is a baseball blog. I'm a Bay Area fan and root for the SF Giants, but being months into the offseason I'm longing for some baseball. So my baseball-crazy children's editor sister, Lucia Monfried, suggested we honor the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner, who pitches on that "other" coast.

R. A. Dickey celebrating a victory

Lucia, recently featured in The New Yorker as R. A. Dickey's editor, Dickey Pitches a Book, wrote this guest post which starts below. It is brought to you from New York City, where there is much celebration at the announcement of this year's winner, R. A. Dickey.

      Dickey is heading to Toronto for the coming season, but he won the award as  a New York Met. George Veesey, a New York Times sportswriter, called him "the coolest athlete I know." And I agree—R.A. you rock! Or should I say, you wobble.

     The pitch that Dickey throws is the maddening knuckleball, a notoriously difficult pitch to hit, and just as hard for a pitcher to master. He is the only major leaguer today whose primary pitch is the knuckleball. And unlike any other knuckleball pitcher, he has two different pitches. There is his mid-70 mph knuckleball that he pitches most of the time, and then there is his power knuckler that creeps into the 80's. This is the first time that the Cy Young has bean bestowed upon a knuckleballer.

     Even though he had the most outstanding numbers at mid season (12-1 with just 32 earned runs allowed), Dickey was not NL manager Tony LaRussa's starter in the All Star game. As hard as this pitch is to hit, it's just as hard to catch. Maybe LaRussa wanted to spare his catcher the embarrassment of trying to corral the elusive floater.

Dickey demonstrates his knuckleball grip

     So this is what you need to know about the knuckleball: it's not the fastball; it's not the high heat, the gas, the hummer, the speed, the heater that whizzes in at 100 mph; it's not Roger Clemens' splitter that breaks at the knees and ends up in the dirt, not the big curve of Barry Zito, not Mariano Rivera's cutter. A knuckleball has no spin—it flutters, wobbles and ties hitters in knots. It makes them look ridiculous. And many hitters looked ridiculous this year when Dickey pitched.

     Despite the overwhelming numbers, I still had my doubts that R.A. could win. America loves the fire-thrower, not the dinker, the soft-thrower. But besides the stats, Dickey also has a great story. A true original, he reinvented himself as a knuckleball pitcher. And it wasn't easy. At age 38, he is old for a ball player, old to be at the top of his game. But I love him because in addition to being a true original, he is literate and thoughtful. He uses words like "acumen," "metamorphosis," and "cogitate." He keeps a journal; he had a library on the top shelf of his locker and distributed books around the Mets' clubhouse. He names his bats after swords in fantasy books and is an admitted Star Wars nerd.

Dickey pointing at Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance

     He climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in an effort to raise awareness of sex trafficking in India. His climb raised over $100,000 for the Bombay Team Challenge.

     He rides his bike to the spring training field in Florida. He believes in reading to children and works to promote literacy.

R.A. reading to one of his four children in his Nashville home

 
  Dickey is humble—in his comments after the announcement, he said he shared the award with knuckleballers who had gone before him. Speaking of the voters, he said: "They didn't see the knuckleball as a trick pitch. They didn't see it as some kind of illegitimate weapon that you can use that isn't worthy. They saw it as a legitimate weapon. It has one purpose, and that's to get big-league hitters out consistently....it brings a real degree of legitimacy to the knuckleball fraternity. I'm glad to represent them, and I'm certainly grateful for all of those guys."

R.A. generously signing autographs for kids after a game

   To learn more about the knuckleball, I recommend a new documentary, just out, called Knuckleball. It features R.A., recently retired Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, and Hall of Famer Phil Niekro. Also, check out his recently published memoir titled Wherever I Wind Up: My quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball. He also has a deal with Dial Press, a division of Penguin Books, to write three children's books including an adaptation of his memoir for young-adults.

   To honor him for receiving the prestigious Cy Young award on January 19th, let's raise a glass of bubbly to R.A. Dickey and his wobbly, bobbly pitch!
   

My agnes b.

An iconic agnes b. label

Rummaging through my closet last week, searching for a favorite gray ribbed turtleneck, I spotted the unmistakable "agnes b." label and was immediately transported to a chilly April day in Paris, with its winding streets and elegant storefronts. It was here in 1981, on the Rue du Jour in the first arrondissement, that I stumbled upon a tiny boutique called agnes b. Entering the shop, I discovered  casual French styles ranging from whimsical to eccentric. It was love at first sight— I walked out with fawn-colored leather ankle-wrap sandals and a simple white tee shirt. I wore both items until they were in tatters, and always wished I had bought more.

Original Paris store, established in 1975

Back home in the States I found out agnes b. was born Agnes Troublée in 1941 in Versaille and spent carefree summers at her grandfather's estate in Antibes. She attended the École des Beaux-Arts and was active in the violent Paris riots of 1968 where she developed a political conscience. She married and had twins at 19 and separated at 20. Because she had little money she shopped regularly at Paris flea markets and developed a personal style so unique that she was spotted by a staffer from Elle Magazine  and offered a job as editor. But she preferred designing to editing and soon created her own collecion of simple yet chic women's clothing and opened a store in a former butcher shop in Les Halles. Word of mouth spread and Parisians visited her shop to buy her signature pieces like cardigans with button snaps, striped shirts made from the same sturdy cotton used by rugby teams and leather jackets inspired by a Manet portrait. Many of these pieces are still in her collections.

Agnes as a young woman developing her own personal style

Gradually success allowed her to open her first international store in New York in 1983. She developed "Homme", her men's line and then opened stores in London and Tokyo ( Japanese women adore her clothes).

San Francisco store at 33 Grant Ave---closed in 2009

At some point I discovered the San Francisco store on Grant Ave, near my hairdresser at the time.
I passed it going back to Bart and made a habit of stopping in every time I got my hair cut. Often I would find pieces that struck my fancy, and every time that I stepped into the dressing room with the marvelous Jean Luc Godard poster-collage plastering the wall,  I was  transported again to my nostalgic world of Paris in the early sixties, inhabited by characters like Brigitte Bardot, Jean Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg. I thought the poster was one-of-a-kind but I recently  found out from my sister that you can buy it on agnes b's  website.  agnes b. website featuring the Godard poster.

Through the years, I managed to accumulate many beloved articles of clothing at this store, and in the arty spirit of the Sixties, I photographed my favorites in the bathroom mirror (images are reversed).

Collage of Jean Luc Godard films—my favorite dressing room decor

self portrait with white slacks, pink cardigan, blue pullover (very French)

                 Chartreuse corduroy pants, gray ribbed turtleneck, black cardigan, black leather jacket

striped dress, green blouse, shopping bag with lizard logo

black boat-neck "Fin" shirt with pink turtleneck below

Agnes is a champion of the arts; she collaborates with film makers and rock bands, has her own film production company and an art gallery in Paris and Brooklyn,  Galerie du Jour agnes b.,  and she shows up at international events like the Cannes Film Festival. She has recently opened the flagship store in Hong Kong, modeled after her childhood vacation home in Antibes, and she has  many other Asian ventures.

Agnes at 58th Cannes Film Festival wearing her signature lizard pin

Poster in her Galerie du Jour in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Even though Agnes caters to  rock stars and celebrities like Yoko Ono and Peter Gabriel, I feel tremendous admiration for her because of her free-spirited '60's idealism. Her company demonstrates so many rare and wonderful qualities. For example:  the company does not advertise, because she considers advertising to be immoral. Her clothes are all made in France to avoid using exploited labor, and each shop from New York to London to Tokyo and Hong Kong has a basket of free condoms on the counter. She's sensitive to the fate of the planet as well, and helps subsidize an organization called the Tara Expedition which has been organizing missions aboard the research schooner Tara for the past nine years and whose goal is to learn more about the impact of climate change on ecosystems.The Tara Expedition

Since she closed her store in San Francisco, I'm looking forward someday to revisiting the shop in Paris on the Rue Du Jour, where it  all began. Bon Voyage!

Kitty Ornaments Fom My Collection

I have collected these kitty treasures over many years. Actually, most of them were given to me by my sister Lucia who lives in New York City and seems to come up with a precious cat ornament every year, which she sends with her incomparable plum pudding. I am still waiting for this year's installment...