Saturday, August 24, 2013

Stock Photos of Babies

So I have a new job! At a parenting website! Which is both really great and means that I spend a lot of time looking at stock photos of babies. (I've also learned a number of things about pregnancy that I think most people would rather never know, but let's not get into that.)

It turns out that people take really crazy photos of their families. I'd like to take a moment and present to you some of the more disturbing trends in lifestyle photography that I've become aware of. Let's go by order of life event, shall we?

Wreck the Dress

After you get married, you have yet another photo session that shows you destroying your expensive wedding gown. I don't get it. I think it's either a ploy by wedding photographers to keep the cash flow moving in the off season, or a compulsion by new brides who are suddenly faced with the fact that they're no longer the center of attention.


Birth Announcements

I don't know what about pregnancy inspires people to hold up signs and take photos of themselves. It's a boy! It's a girl! Look, my husband's holding the sign! Look, my toddler's holding the sign! Look, we spelled out the gender of the baby in face paint on my belly! There's the occasional giggle, but for the most part, please hold the cheese.


Naked Bumps

Maybe I just wasn't raised in that kind of family. When I was 10 years old and my mom was pregnant, she didn't waltz around topless with her other children draped on her. (She did teach me how to carry two full grocery bags up a set of stairs. For a third-grader, that's pretty good!)


Cake Smash

Did you know that people dress their 1-year-old babies up in precious outfits and then prod them to shove cake in their faces? It's true. And it's alive and well on Pinterest.


Toddler Outfits

I hope you're all familiar with Quinoa's work on Pinterest. If you're not, prepare yourself to waste half an hour and then click here. I love. But the best part about it is that there are people who are sincerely dressing up their 2- to 4-year-old girls like Vogue pixies and encouraging them to stand on stumps while they find the right Instagram filter. If you have the time and can afford the inevitable therapy bills, I say go for it. I'm actually kind of enjoying this one.



Have you seen any photos lately that made you stop and think--wait, what?!!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Challenge: Rich Table

You know what's really good? Like really, surprisingly good? 

Sardine chips.

What is a sardine chip? 

I'm so glad you asked. 

Last week, I asked my friend Mary Z if she wanted to go check out Rich Table. I was dimly aware that Rich Table was this new restaurant in Hayes that was getting stellar reviews. It came to my attention that they hit number one on the 7x7 list, for something called . . . sardine chips. 

Mary and I emailed back and forth about whether we should sit at the bar or wait a month to get a reservation for dinner. The more people we talked to, the more raves we heard, and then literally within the space of a day Rich Table got nominated for Bon Appetit's best new restaurants in the country. At that point, I think it's safe to say we were excited. We decided to go, STAT. 

We waited an hour and a half to sit at the bar. They're not messing around, guys. The good news is, you can eat at the bar. Which we did. We feasted in the way that only twenty-something credit-card-happy foodies can feast. It was magnificent.

I had some hypotheses going in about what a sardine chip might be. Perhaps it was an entire sardine, deep-fried like a French fry. Perhaps it was a potato chip, seasoned with minced or pulverized sardine (thinking anchovy, or dried shrimp?). But no, it was none of these things. It was so much more.
 

A sardine chip is a large slice of potato, slit twice in the center, with a sardine fillet (side of sardine?) jimmied through, and fried in entirety like a potato chip. If you're still not sure, let me say, I get it. Sardines are at the fishy end of the pool. But the Pacific Northwesterner in me loved the chewiness and that pronounced, briny flavor. It wasn't gross. Not even a little bit. It was awesome.

We also had some stellar "donuts" with porcini powder, octopus bolognese, pappardelle with dry aged beef, and buttermilk poached chicken. Oh, and cocktails. Seriously--book now. The waits are going to get worse before they get better.


Saturday, August 10, 2013

The Challenge: Petit Pretzels for Garlic Lovers

















Number 36 on 7x7's Big Eat hits a longtime San Francisco favorite: Absinthe in Hayes Valley. I hear dinner is delicious, but I've only experienced the bar. Which is lovely, with polished wood, tiled floors, and in general, everything you would hope and expect from a pre-ballet, symphony, or opera libation. It's unapologetically yuppie, but undeniably charming.

If you need a nibble with your Savoy cocktail or pink bubbly, our friends at 7x7 would like to call your attention to the garlic pretzels. Not knotted, but just chic little bites.

They were delicious. So chewy, but with a crisp foot, a crunch of coarse salt, and a heady dose of garlic butter. My friend and I agreed, we could have happily skipped our dinner reservation, and munched down on a whole basket of these. Almost. 

Monday, August 5, 2013

The Challenge: Meaty

Number 73 on the 7x7's Big Eat: the Boca from Deli Board.

I went with a coworker during our lunch hour in SoMa. As you might expect, the walk to Folsom and 7th is a bit savory. But let me assure you, so is the MEAT.

Specifically: Brisket, corned beef, and pastrami. All on the same sandwich. With a big pickle alongside. 

















To quote the corgi who was dining one table over: woof!