Amy Winehouse at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

After recently seeing the new documentary about Amy Winehouse, "Amy," I've been trying to learn more about Winehouse and her short life (suicide at age 27 in 2011) and her extraordinary career.

The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco is currently featuring (through November 1, 2015) "Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait," a very personal exhibit of her belongings and about her family.  Winehouse's family donated the items to the Jewish Museum London. Although the exhibit occupies just one large gallery, Barbara and I left it feeling like we'd stepped into Amy Winehouse's family and life.

Barbara and I talked more about Amy Winehouse over lunch at Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen, probably the best Jewish deli in San Francisco and maybe the Bay Area.  The museum's Wise Sons is a branch of the main deli in San Francisco's Mission District. The menu is less extensive than at the main deli, but very much worth a visit for their made-in-house corned beef, pastrami, rye bread, bialy, rugulah, and more.

A Note of the Contemporary Jewish Museum:  It is located downtown San Francisco on Mission Street, between Third and Fourth. It's entrance facade is a restored facade of the 1907 Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Power Substation (designed by architect Willis Polk) that previously occupied this site. The interior of the museum, and the rest of its exterior,...note the "box" structure to the left of the facade...is ultra-modern, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.

The Museum features an ever-changing variety of exhibits.  With Hardly Strictly Bluegrass just over, I enjoyed the ongoing "Hardly Strictly Warren Hellman" exhibit  which celebrates Warren Hellman, one of San Francisco's greatest benefactors and founder of this annual Bluegrass festival which is held in Golden Gate Park. 

Back at the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center

When my friend Diane came to visit me for a few days this week,our big outing was to the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Park in Richmond, CA.  It is one of my favorite and most special places to go.

Because it was Diane's first visit, we spent all of our time in the Visitor Education Center where there are educational and interactive exhibits.

Every Friday at least 4 or 5 Rosies who live in the Bay Area are there to tell their stories and to chat with visitor.

Since we went on a Thursday, I emailed my Rosie friend, Marian Wynn, to ask if some of the Rosies might be there for some special event.

Immediately, Marian offered to come over to spend time with us.  Marian is typical of the Rosies in that she has retained her energy and enthusiasm and "I can do it" spirit for her entire life.  She was a welder at the Richmond shipyards during World War II a year after she graduated from high school.

What a special treat it was to have her meet Diane who now has an up close and personal insight into what awesome ladies the Rosies are and were.

There are always National Park Rangers at the Visitor Center and we lucked out this visit to have Betty Reid Soskin there telling her stories. Betty, at age 94,  is the oldest active full-time National Park Service Ranger. She grew up in Richmond and did office work in the all-black auxiliary of a segregated boilermakers union.  During her wartime working career she was not working with the Rosies at the Kaiser Shipyard and admits that she really didn't know what was going on right at the shipyards. As she puts it, the story of the Rosies is "really a white woman's story."

Later in life, Betty was part of the planning group for the Rosie the Riveter Park. In this period she became a Park Ranger. Now she is stationed at the Visitor Center and gets to tell her story as well as to talk about what the city of Richmond was like during the booming World War II period and to talk about the Rosies.

The Visitor Center is staffed by National Park Rangers, all of whom are passionate about this park. They are eager to share their knowledge with visitors.

Of course, we had lunch at Assemble, the wonderful restaurant in the building that was the Ford plant where the Jeeps and tanks for the war were built.  It's just a few steps from the Visitor Center.

All told, a wonderful day...and thank you Marian for making a special trip to be with us.

Rosie The Riveter Visitor Center in Richmond, CA

Last week, to celebrate Dixie's birthday, Dixie, Mary Ann, Kathy, and I headed off to Richmond to the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center. The Center is part of the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park.

Dixie, who grew up in California, remembers the Rosies when they were building ships at this location during World War II. While she wasn't a Riveter herself, she still has many memories of that time.

Earlier this year, several of the Riveters traveled to Washington D.C. to be honored for their service to the United States. Their visit was the subject of the radio and TV news and the newspapers.  One of the Riveters, Kay Morrison, even gave President Obama quite a kiss!

We planned our visit several months ago.  As it happened, our timing was perfect timing for us to get a preview of the new exhibits in the Visitor Center that are opening this coming weekend (Memorial Day weekend).

 

Our first stop was at the Visitor Center where we were greeted by four of the Riveters. They are here every Friday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. In the picture above, they are, from left to right, Priscilla Elder, Kay Morrison, Agnes Moore, and Marian Wynn. Kay, proudly, is the one who kissed President Obama and, as she said to me, "He's my president. I can kiss him!"

What delightful and enthusiastic women they are!  They introduced themselves to us and told us what their jobs were during the War and in which building they worked. We got to chat with them several times during our visit, each time learning more about what it was like for them to work building war ships.

The Kaiser shipbuilding plant, which was here, completed a ship nearly every day. The Riveters worked 'round the clock. The record time to construct a ship from start to finish was that for the SS Robert E. Peary which was constructed in less than 5 days; the average time was less than a month.

Dixie recalled that their salaries were very good. At that time, she was earning 50 cents an hour in an office job, while the Riveters earned $1 an hour for their first 40 hours of work during the week. If they worked on Saturdays, they earned time and a half, and, on Sundays, they earned double time. One of the films we watched in the Center's theatre said that the average work week for them was about 60 hours long.

During our visit, there was a press preview of the new exhibit and we got to see it too. There is a riveting station set up where they display their riveting technique. Several videos about life during the war play continuously.

The Visitor Center is open daily. While the Riveters are usually here only on Fridays, volunteers and National Park Rangers are here every day.  Everyone we met was well informed and eager to talk about the World War II years and about Richmond as a Bay Area boom town.

RIVETING

VIDEOS/DISPLAYS

OTHER PARTS OF THE EXHIBIT

We took a break from the Visitor Center for lunch at Assemble, the restaurant in the former Ford Motors Assembly Plant next door to the Visitor Center. During World War II, President Roosevelt banned civilian automobile production. During the war, this Ford Assembly Plant assembled 49,000 jeeps and put the finishing touches on 91,000 tanks, half-tracks, armored cars and other military vehicles destined for the war.

Lunch, too, was a delightful adventure.  The "decor" of the restaurant is that of an automobile assembly plant. Ironically, as if in tribute to the restaurant's delicious and creative menu, there are video screens in the dining room playing reruns of Julia Child television shows. Three noted Bay Area chefs, Richard Massera (César, Chez Panisse), Terumi Shibata-Mazzera (Downtown, Corso) and Maggie Pond (César) have created a menu of "re-tooled American classics."

Assemble is popular at lunchtime. I suggest making a reservation. They serve lunch weekdays, brunch on weekends, and dinner Wednesday through Saturday.

Some of Assemble's food is grown in their on-sight Victory Garden. Many items on the menu are throwback dishes to the war time, but are prepared with fresh, local ingredients.

We started our meal by sharing an order of Spiced Boiled Peanuts, described as a "Dixieland Delight" and prepared in a broth with chilies, coriander, and fennel. They were fun to eat and so tasty that Kathy even drank the broth that remained after all the peanuts were gone.

Dixie's lunch choice was the  Grilled Cheese Sandwich, made with swiss, cheddar, and pepper jack cheeses, and a cup of Tomato Soup.

Mary Ann had the Chicken Pot Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust.

Kathy had the Triple Club Sandwich (chicken breast, roast turkey, pepper bacon, a fried egg, tomato, and avocado aioli, all on Acme bread.

My choice was the Blackened Catfish Sandwich.

Servings are very generous. And, despite our saying that it was way too much to eat, we ate every last bite.  And, we even shared a slice of Key Lime Pie, Dixie's birthday dessert.

We spent most a day just at the Visitor Center and having lunch at Assemble.

But, there is more to see/visit within the Park.  Of particular interest is the Rosie the Riveter Memorial (open year 'round, dawn to dusk) and the SS Red Oak Victory ship.  The Red Oak is in the process of being renovated by volunteers and can be boarded for visits on Weekends, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.).  To get to either or both of these attractions, you will need to drive from the Visitor Center.  There are maps, information, and a printed Self-Guided Auto Tour in the Visitor Center.

Hockney at the DeYoung closes Monday, January 20!

DAVID HOCKNEY: A BIGGER EXHIBITION has been in San Francisco at the DeYoung since October 26.

I was busy with holidays and travel before Christmas and stayed away from the museum before New Years, thinking that, with kids out of school and lots of visitors to the Bay Area, the exhibit would be packed with viewers.

This exhibit is the first comprehensive survey of British artist David Hockney's 21st-century work. Just about all the works belong to the artist. Hockney has been amazingly prolific throughout his career and worked for about 25 years from Southern California. (His swimming pool paintings are what usually come to my mind.) Currently, at 76 years old, he is doing incredible works on his iPhone and iPad and using a variety of digital media to display his work…his "Cubist" videos are a bit hard to focus on, but certainly impressive. He is now back working in his native Britain and this past year went back to his beginnings, so to speak, with a series charcoal drawings…of course, he didn't just leave them as drawn; he then enlarged them on his inkjet printer!! The charcoal drawings are being shown at the DeYoung for the first time.

Today was my day to go!

At least at noon, the exhibit was not sold out, but the museum certainly was packed.  I had about a 45 minute wait until my entrance time to the exhibit (they let groups in every 15 minutes), which was perfect for me to have time to dash through a few other DeYoung galleries and the gift shop. When I left the museum a few hours later, there we still long lines for the exhibit.

Most of the people waiting in line with me were seeing it for the first time, but, I expect, as the week goes on, many will come back for a last viewing.

It's crowded, but, if you haven't seen this unique David Hockney exhibit, it's worth the visit.

Also, the DeYoung has extended it's hours through January 20, when the exhibit closes. January 17 -19 (Friday, Saturday, & Sunday) it will be open 9:30 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. (last exhibit entry at 6 p.m.). On Monday, January 20, when the museum is usually closed, it will be open 9:30 a.m. until 5:15 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased in advance online, for a given time slot. If you don't reserve in advance, I suggest arriving at the museum early in the day.

A Perfect San Francisco Day of Culture, Entertainment, & Food

Saturday, I continued celebrating my birthday, this time with Mary Ann, who took me to see Billy Elliot and for dinner afterwards in San Francisco.

Our day was, in my estimation, a perfect day in downtown San Francisco.

Two San Francisco museums have been paying tribute to Gertrude Stein this summer. Both museum's exhibits close on September 6, 2011. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) exhibit, "The Steins Collect," is an extensive exhibit of the art that Gertrude Stein and her family acquired while living in Paris. It's such a huge exhibit, that, when I saw it earlier this summer, I came out exhausted from the sheer volume of works by Matisse, Picasso, and other Parisian Avant-Garde. At the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the exhibit, "Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories," is about the life of Gertrude Stein, starting with her early days in the United States and continuing in Paris. These two exhibits complement one another.

Before I went to the SFMOMA exhibit, I had tried to take in the Jewish Museum exhibit but did not have enough time to get through the complete exhibit. I wanted to view the rest of it and Mary Ann was interested in seeing it for the first time, so we started our day at the Contemporary Jewish Museum which, itself. is an architectural attraction with waterfalls and a large plaza in front.



It is on the site of a former Pacific Gas & Electric Power Substation, designed by Willis Polk and built in 1907.
The facade of the substation, facing Mission Street, has been preserved and is the main entrance to the museum.



However, the interior of the museum and the remainder of the exterior is extremely modern and somewhat abstract, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. One corner of the Jewish is a huge, off-kilter blue metallic steel "box" that houses the gift shop and the Yud gallery. To the west, the "Jukebox" Marriott hotel looms over the museum.



Getting to the Jewish at about 11:30, we were just in time to join the 11:30 docent tour of the Gertrude Stein exhibit. I got new insights into the portion of the exhibit that I'd already viewed and we both learned a great deal about Stein's life and work.

We next stopped for a quick lunch at 'wichcraft. 'Wichcraft is chef Tom Colicchio's sandwich restaurant, the casual member of his Craft family of restaurants in New York. There are other 'wichcrafts in Las Vegas and New York City. I often stop here for lunch or an early dinner when I am downtown shopping or museum-going.

Mary Ann had the Frittata sandwich



and I had the warm pressed Zucchini and tomato sandwich.



All sandwiches are served with a bag of potato chips and are reasonably priced at between $6 and $10. 'Wichcraft also offers creative meal-sized salads and freshly-made soups. Because it is on Mission Street on the back side of the Westfield San Francisco Centre shopping center, only those "in the know" know where to find it. It's a great alternative to the San Francisco Centre's hectic food courts.

From there, we walked to the Orpheum Theatre which is a few long blocks away on Market Street. If we had gone directly to the theatre without making our downtown stops, we would have taken BART to the Civic Center stop which is right in front of the theatre.

Billy Elliot's run in San Francisco was cut short by a few weeks because of lagging ticket sales. We were among those whose tickets had to be changed to an earlier date. Although Billy Elliot's run in San Francisco is now over, we, and everyone else we know who saw the show, cannot understand why it was not a smash hit. In fact, it is currently running in Toronto where it has been extended because it is such a success. At any rate, we loved this creative and touching musical...outstanding choreography, dancing, singing, acting...

After the show, we had dinner at Passion Café on 6th Street, in a not very pleasant part of downtown. This is a part of San Francisco which is said to be "evolving" but it is going to take some time before that will happen. I did notice a few other new restaurants on Market Street between 5th and 8th...Show Dogs and Original Joe's... but change happens slowly in this part of town.

Passion Café is a few blocks from the Orpheum Theatre and just a few doors down 6th Street across Market Street from the Golden Gate Theatre.



While I would not walk in this area by myself after dark, I'd say that before or after theatre there is enough foot traffic to feel secure. Also, the restaurant partially validates parking at the Priority Parking lot across Sixth Street. The café is open every day except Monday, from 9 a.m., serving breakfast pastries, lunch, dinner, weekday happy hour, and weekend brunch.

At any rate, Passion Café offered a free glass of wine to Billy Elliot attendees and Mary Ann thought the restaurant sounded interesting enough to try. I was game.

Our dinner turned out to be the most authentic French meal I've had in San Francisco, or anywhere in the Bay Area, in years. I felt like I was sitting in a Parisian Bistro. Passion Café serves the classic French bistro food that I most enjoy of all French cuisine.

Waiters were running up and down the stairs from the basement, where we guess the kitchen is, carrying trays of food. Our waiter spoke French to us. And the food was reasonably-priced and superb.

Mary Ann ordered the three-course $28.50 fixed-price dinner which includes choices for each course. I ordered à la carte and shared her first course and dessert.

We started with the Country-style Pâté.



The presentation was as beautiful as the pâté was delicious...on the plate was a radish salad, cornichons, pickled onions, and toasted bread croutons dabbed with a bit of olive spread.

Mary Ann's main course was Salmon with a cream sauce and pesto, served with a cucumber and apple salad and herbed rice.



My main course was the Bouchée à la Reine aux Fruits de Mer, a seafood Vol au Vent (Puff pastry shell filled with sauteed seafood and a white wine herb sauce). It was served with herbed rice and sauteed mushrooms.



I'm fairly certain I've never had this dish in the United States, but know I've enjoyed it in France.

Our dessert was a slice of Tarte Tatin, a classic French caramelized apple tarte. I was so excited about eating the Tarte Tatin that I forget to photograph it...my apologies.

After our dinner in the front dining room, we further explored Passion Café's rooftop outdoor dining area. This would be a lovely place to sit for lunch or happy hour on a warm San Francisco day. Inside, on the bar, where we were admiring the whole Tarte Tatin, I spotted the colorful French Macarons, meringue sandwich cookies that have become popular in the Bay Area. I bought one in each flavor to take home...strawberry (pink), pistachio (green), and chocolate (brownish). When I asked who supplied their macarons, I was told that their in-house baker makes them.

Thus, ended our lovely San Francisco day.

Out and About in the Boston Area

As many of you already know, I lived most of the first half of my life in and around Boston..

These days, I try to get back for a visit once and year, but it often turns out to be closer to every two years. Fortunately, many friends and family come to visit me so we do stay in touch.

The first part of my visit was with Amy, who lives south of Boston. The evening that I arrived, Amy and George got freshly cooked lobsters from a place in Hull. This was the best lobster I've ever eaten...and much bigger than any I get in my local seafood restaurants. What a treat and the perfect start to a week in New England.

On my first day of my trip, I spoke about "Tea Culture" at UMass Boston's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.




After my talk, some family, Phyllis, Manny, Caroline, as well as Joe and Amy, went to lunch on the waterfront in Quincy at Siro's.




One of their specials this day was Fried Clams. I could not pass them up and, just like the evening before's lobster, they were unbelievably fresh and delicious. Guess making those lobsters and clams fly to California is a bit much to demand of them. They don't get off the plane tasting the same way they do when they are prepared fresh closer to their origin!

After the wonderful lunch at Siro's, we headed back to Amy's house where George was preparing our dinner: Portuguese Cod Stew which was so delicious, I devoured it, despite my rather large lunch a few hours earlier.



Most of my second full day was spent with Amy and another longtime friend, Cheryl, at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA).




The MFA dates back to 1876 when it opened in Boston's Copley Square. In 1909, the MFA moved to a new Beaux Arts building on Huntington Avenue, where it has remained. I get regular emails from the MFA and was anxious to see their new Art of the Americas Wing which opened in November.



This new wing is a major expansion for this already-large museum. It enables the MFA to double the number of objects in their Art of the Americas collection that can be on view at any time. The new wing was designed by Foster + Partners (London). In my estimation, the new wing, while dramatically different from the older MFA, works well with the old architecture.

In addition to having lunch in the New American Café in the new wing we spent most of our viewing time seeing Art of the America's exhibit which occupy the three floors of the new wing.

For my lunch, I continued to enjoy local seafood and ordered the Fried Clam Po' Boy sandwich...well worth the splurge!





One of the most memorable pieces on exhibit is the John Singer Sargent "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit (1882) which Sargent exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1883.



The vases on either side of the painting are the actual Chinese vases depicted in the art work.

We saved time to view the special Chihuly "Through the Looking Glass" exhibit (through August 7, 2011), which, while much less extensive than the big Chihuly show that was recently in San Francisco's De Young Museum, was enjoyable to view to Chihuly fans like myself...it features selective pieces from the larger traveling exhibit.




Amy and I started our final day together with a very long walk on Nantasket Beach in Hull.





Nantasket is the beach where I went most often, as a child. The beach is still beautiful, but the Paragon Park amusement park, with its wooden roller coaster, carousel and game arcade, is gone...completely closed in 1984. I have wonderful memories of riding the carousel and playing skeeball in the penny arcade, in hopes of winning a stuffed animal or some other coveted prize.


It was a very warm the morning that we walked the beach and it was just being cleaned up of winter debris, in anticipation of the Memorial Day weekend that was just a few days off.






Halfway through our walk, we left the beach to walk a few blocks into town for pastries and coffee at Weinberg's Bakery.


It was well worth the detour, not only to rest a bit but to enjoy the freshly-baked Cinnamon Chip Muffin that I chose from the bakery selection. Weinberg's has been at Nantasket Beach since 1942 and is a favorite with the locals; it's the kind of place a tourist might pass by, but the kind of place I always enjoy discovering because it is at places like this that I get a feel for the local community.

And, we got tipped off to Weinberg's newest restaurant venture a block away, Lynda's, which has table service and serves full breakfasts (all kinds of egg dishes, Pancakes, Waffles, French Toast, etc.) all day long, along a more expansive menu for lunch. Amy and I stopped at Lynda's to take a look and talked with the owner who proudly showed us around. The main dining room is cozy and inviting. All lunch items are priced at under $7. If I were to have lunch here, I'd have one of their enormous Submarine Sandwiches, probably the Meatball Sub (Sub sandwiches are big sandwiches made on a long French or Italian roll and packed with meats and cheeses. They are often featured in restaurants and delis where there are large Italian American communities. While called Submarine Sandwiches in New England, a similar sandwich is called a Hero, Hoagie, Grinder, Poor Boy, and several other names, depending of what part of the United States.)

One final Nantasket Beach foodie item is pictured here.



It's called Linda Bean's Perfect Maine Lobster Roll and specializes in freshly-made Lobster Rolls, served to go at a walk-up window, from Memorial Day through Labor Day. A Lobster Roll is another New England food specialty: Cold Lobster Salad in a top-loading hot dog bun. Linda Bean's Lobster Rolls are packed with a quarter pound of lobster meat, the equivalent of the meat from a one-pound lobster. Yes, you can get a Lobster Roll in the Bay Area at a few restaurants that prepare them and sell them for about $24 a sandwich (!!!!!), but, there is nothing like the real thing in New England. An added interest item related to Linda Bean's is that she is the grand daughter of L.L. Bean of Maine, the well-known purveyor of outdoor gear and clothing. This Nantasket location is a branch of her Maine lobster restaurants, most of which are in Maine.

From Amy's, I headed to Brookline to spend the rest of my visit with cousins, Jonathan and JR. More about that in my next post.