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Arts & Crafts
The weeks before the holidays are fraught with good intentions. I make extensive lists of all the personalized gifts I’m going to make. I stock up on yarn, fabric, paper. I dust off my sewing machine and break out the knitting needles. Then, sometime between another late night at the office and the billionth holiday party, reality sets it. There is no way everyone on my gift-giving list will receive handcrafted goods. At least, not handcrafted by me. Which is why I thank my lucky shopping stars, I live in a city where amazing artists abound and the do-it-yourself revolution is alive and kicking (or shall I say sewing?). More
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Restaurants
Good, but not Suppa Duppa
In June of 2005, the team behind Globe opened Zuppa in a warehousey space in Soma, just across the alley from Fringale. Zuppa’s broad Southern-Italian menu features six categories of food, including pizza and affettati (cold sliced meats). Despite a decent atmosphere and some excellent dishes, Zuppa lacks charm or broad appeal. More
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Restaurants
New Life at the Little Fishbowl on Grove Street
Climbing up the worn Astroturfed stairs of the little cylindrical building attached to the Days Inn on Grove, it's easy to wonder whether Zoya’s cuisine -- which the owners dub as "Modern American with world accents" -- can live up to its sophisticated description. Formerly the home of Midori Mushi sushi restaurant, a well-regarded labor of love by local restaurateur Gerard Dumuk, Zoya came as a welcome surprise in 2006 when it opened across from the new-ish location of Oxenrose hair salon. More
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Theater
A Hero for Our Troubled Times
When Chicano performance trio Culture Clash were approached by Berkeley Repertory Theatre artistic director Tony Taccone to collaborate on a play that would lampoon California's original masked marauder, they were hesitant at first. Zorro, a dreamy Spanish hero conceived in 1919 by Irish-American writer Johnston McCulley, may have fought for the rights of disenfranchised Mexicans in California, but the pulpy melodrama of Douglas Fairbanks-era films is now, in retrospect, gauche and offensive. All the same, Culture Clash, who are known for their biting, irreverent humor and willingness to take contemporary issues to the hilt, couldn't refuse. More
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Home & Garden
Design To Put You in the Zone
I was watching Hustle & Flow the other night and found myself distracted for a second as Terrance Howard’s character Djay passed through a colorful plastic curtain as he was about to throw his girlfriend and her stuff out the front door. Maybe the set designer didn’t want me to pay too much attention to that curtain, but it was put there to tell me something. I was meant to feel that this man, who was struggling to keep on top of his life, was still trying to put a little flash into his space. That’s probably what we all want in our own space, a little color, a little personality, and a little character to brighten our daily lives. More
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Movies
Blood and Breasts, Served Early and Often
Zombie Strippers has been billed as the mainstream debut of Jenna Jameson, whose past credits include I Love Lesbians 10 and Dirty Bob’s Xcellent, but the difference between her latest work and the hardcore pornography that made her famous is not nearly as pronounced as one might expect. While Strippers is rated R -- a compelling testament to the notion that sex in films is far more offensive to America’s Motion Pictures Association than even the most explicit violence -- it is, in almost every other respect, as narratively unsophisticated as the bulk of Jameson’s past productions. More
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Literary Arts
Bringing Literature to Life
The official blurb for Zoetrope: All-Story, the literary quarterly published by Francis Ford Coppola, says the magazine is "inspired by the Coppola heritage of independence and creativity." Toss in Coppola's enthusiasm for the pleasures of the palate and you've set the scene for a typical literary evening at Café Niebaum-Coppola, the director's three-year-old wine bar and Italian café in North Beach. More
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Clothing & Accessories
More Choices than Just Itsy-Bitsy, Teeny-Weeny and Yellow Polka-Dots
While riding my bike a couple months ago down 18th Street, I spotted a bikini store on the left hand side of the street. I really couldn’t believe there was a bikini store in the Mission. Natives and visitors alike are well aware what kind of weather San Francisco is known for, and it’s not beach weather. More
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Movies
There’s More Than One Way To Lose Your Life To A Killer
In the summer of 1969, San Francisco was gripped by fear and panic with the emergence of the serial killer known only as "The Zodiac Killer". The Zodiac Killer deftly manipulated the media and law enforcement officials with letters to the San Francisco Chronicle and cryptic ciphers. While the Zodiac claimed more than his fair share of lives through his grisly murders, there were a few lives that while not ended at his hands, were certainly consumed by him. More
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Restaurants
Opened in 1999 by two sons of farmers, ZIN is a Healdsburg favorite. Since opening, chef Jeff Mall and partner Scott Silva serve meals made from the freshest local, organic ingredients, including produce picked from their Zingarden. Paying homage to it's name, the extensive wine list showcases roughly100 labels, half of which are zinfandels. This eatery, a block off of the square, features notable dishes, including the beer-battered green beans, applewood-smoked pork chop, and hamburger served with homemade catsup, mayonnaise, and pickles. More
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