SFS StaffSF Station Writer |
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 | Authentic Cuban Cuisine The meals are straight up Cuban cooking, and vary by degrees between simple and soulful to exotic and elegant. The range is creative and exhaustive, covering the gamut of Cuban meals, including grilled and fried seafood, steak, pork, chicken, rabbit, some earthy stews, and a wicked paella. The sauces, or salsas to be precise, are exquisite, with subtle hints of saffron, citrus, and seafood au jus that make the grilled fish melt in your mouth. More » |  |  | Smashes the Marina Stereotype Despite popular opinion, the Marina isn't simply a J.Crew catalog come to life. Sure, there are people in capri slacks having too much fun buying bread or some such thing. And yes, there are a lot of manicure salons and designer underpants shops. But beneath the Marina's seemingly Bushwood* exterior is one of the city's most laid back and fresh neighborhood bars. And they serve food until 1 am. This oasis in khaki land is Liverpool Lil's. And it's pretty fantastic. More » | |  | The warm promise of Persia Amidst the North Beach bustle of expected Italian eats is an unusual anchor resident. Maykadeh has quietly welcomed local diners and visitors for the past nineteen years, and Mahmoud, its venerable grandpa-figure owner, likes it this way. Despite other businesses running under his watch, as varied as Mo's Burgers a few blocks away and a flower distribution operation, Maykadeh is Mahmoud's prize child. "It's my baby." More » | |  | Orbit Room Still in Full Rotation It's hard to get a good Caipirinha in this town. But the best I have had so far has been at Orbit Room, mixed by Alberta, one of the city's best bartenders. Her Caipirinha is a slightly salty, sour mix of Brazilian cachaca and lime juice- it's the real thing! And it will leave your saliva glands wishing it were Friday. The cocktail is listed among many other hard-hitters on the colorful menu, which also features the Side Car, the Sazerac and the Mint Julep among many others. But these are only a small portion of the bar's repertoire, which includes rare beasts such as the Champs Elysées, the Negroni, and the San Francisco. More » | |  | A place to see and be seen Clift Hotel has been adopted into the same family as New York's Morgan, Royalton, Paramount, Hudson; Miami's Delano; Los Angeles' Mondrian; and London's St. Martins Lane and Sanderson. You cannot comprehend what it is to be a "jet setter" without having been in at least two of these highly stylized hotels crafted from gutting and renovating existing buildings. Of course that would be two on different coasts. More » | |  | Soju with Style Lovers of the lounge lifestyle need no longer brave the hipster crowds to enjoy an elegantly understated bar experience. Witness RoHan Lounge, an Inner Richmond haunt which proves that upscale digs and a pretentious attitude can be mutually exclusive things. RoHan opened its doors in May 2001 and remains San Francisco's only bar to specialize in cocktails made with soju, a traditional Korean liquor. More » | |  | Roxanne's of Larkspur Had I not known that Roxanne's serves only raw, 100% organic, vegan cuisine, I would never have guessed after lingering over dinner. From the outside, Roxanne's looks like a tiny Marin dining destination. From the floor to ceiling windows, diners can watch the latest imported cars drive past on Magnolia Avenue. Inside the intimate dining room, the darkly stained vaulted ceilings engulf the noise that might otherwise interrupt a pleasant evening. More » | |  | If you're likely to eschew the throngs of Pac Bell Park, you might not have checked out the roomy, Art Deco cavern that is Twenty Four. On game day, the restaurant can be a zoo, but do a touch of research at www.sfgiants.com and swing by during an off day. More » | |  | nothing special Sooner or later, all the great novels had to dry up, leaving Hollywood producers scraping the dregs of the literary establishment in order to come up with something fresh and exciting. Unfortunately, what they turned up was Dave Barry. Dave Barry? Yes the same Dave Barry — heir apparent to Andy Rooney who decided he couldn't wait for the old geezer to retire so he wrote a novel instead — that Barry Sonnenfeld decided to make into a movie. Don't get me wrong, Barry is a great columnist, but as a novelist he is no Henry James or Elmore Leonard, masters of their respective genres whose work are understandably sought after for adaptation. But mak More » | |  | Gifting, the age-old practice of giving stuff to others, is a year-round sport as the calendar is littered with various holidays and special occasions that require you to get out and spend. The specialty shops and boutiques along 24th Street in Noe Valley can help with this task. Shopping addicts from all over the Bay Area come here to take care of their gifting needs, no matter what the season, occasion or recipient requires. More » | |
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