So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true
I was made for you.
Bay Area Food Pick
372 Grand Ave. (at Perkins St.)
Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 444-7658
My first place after college was a shared apartment on Perkins St., steps away from an excellent restaurant that I would only try years later. The seafood pancake, bi bim bap, and tofu soup are all delicious. More impressive, though, are the 18 refillable side dishes of various kimchi or marinated vegetables. 4 stars - 520 reviews
Previous San Francisco picks: Radius; Limon Rotisserie; Art's Cafe; Little Star Pizza; Yamo; Breakfast at Tiffany's; Humphry Slocombe; Tu Lan; Foreign Cinema; Zanze's Cheesecake; San Tung; Katana-Ya; A La Turca; Boxing Room; Frances; Saigon Sandwich; Brenda's French Soul Food; Park Tavern; Broken Record; Rosamunde Sausage Grill; Curry Up Now; Yasukochi's Sweet Stop; Lime Tree Southeast Asian Kitchen; Firefly; Red Door Cafe; L'Ardoise Bistro; Pluto's; My Tofu House; Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous; Walzwerk; Good Luck Dim Sum; Amber India; Sotto Mare; Sweet Maple; Shanghai Dumpling King; Super Duper; Kokkari Estiatorio; Olea; Bodega Bistro; The Chairman Truck; Molinari Delicatessen; Wayfare Tavern; Wexler's.
Previous Peninsula/South Bay picks: Curry Up Now (San Mateo); Little Lucca Sandwich Shop & Deli (Burlingame/South SF); Falafel's Drive In (San Jose); Sunny Bowl (Mountain View); Back A Yard Caribbean Grill (Menlo Park); Pluto's (Palo Alto/San Jose); Ramen Dojo/Ramen Parlor (San Mateo); Amber India (Mountain View/San Jose/Palo Alto); Nini's Coffee Shop (San Mateo); Kabab and Curry's (Santa Clara); Fiddler's Green (Millbrae).
Previous East Bay picks: Little Star Pizza (Albany); Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen (Berkeley); Asmara (Oakland); Keanu's Island Kine Food (Vacaville); Tara's Organic Ice Cream (Berkeley/Oakland); Pluto's (Chico/Davis/Sacramento/
Previous North Bay picks: Bouchon Bakery (Yountville); Della Fattoria Bakery (Petaluma); Sol Food (San Rafael); Stumptown Brewery (Guerneville); Moustache Baked Goods (Healdsburg); Super Duper (Mill Valley); The Pelican Inn (Muir Beach); Garden Grill (Guerneville).
Previous Other picks: Shoki Ramen House (Sacramento); Built to Grill (Portland).
Bay Area Bar Pick
547 Haight St. (at Fillmore St.)
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 863-2276
A fixture of the Lower Haight since the late '80s, Toronado remains my favorite spot for purely beer purposes. On any given day, you'll find several dozen options on tap (mostly local or Belgian), plus even more in bottles. Most options are $4-5 per pint, and happy hour gives a buck discount until 6pm daily. Pick up a Rosamunde sausage next door (or a Tamale Lady offering when she appears), snag a stool, and watch the Giants or 49ers! 4 stars - 1231 reviews
Previous San Francisco picks: Blackbird; El Rio; Rickhouse; Southern Pacific Brewing; The Hidden Vine; Vesuvio; The Pig & Whistle; Biergarten; Martuni's; Tosca Cafe.
Previous Peninsula/South Bay picks: Antonio's Nut House (Palo Alto); The Oasis Beer Garden (Menlo Park).
Previous East Bay picks: The Trappist (Oakland); Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon (Oakland); The Turf Club (Hayward); Jupiter (Berkeley); St. George Spirits (Alameda); Drake's Barrel House (San Leandro).
Previous North Bay picks: Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Petaluma); Bear Republic Brewing Co. (Healdsburg).
Previous Other pick: New Deal Distillery (Portland).
Bay Area History
James A. Forbes
(1805-1881)
Born in Scotland and raised in Argentina and Uruguay, he moved to California in 1831 and worked as an accountant, ranch manager, and a Hudson's Bay Company administrator. As British vice-consul, he proposed that the British government take over California; the British declined, and the U.S. annexed the state in 1846. Mr. Forbes' legacy rests in Los Gatos, where he built the area's only flour mill (though its demise forced him into bankruptcy). A town grew around the mill, and its annex remains today as the History Museum of Los Gatos. 2010 population: 29,413
Previous San Francisco history: John Geary; Samuel Brannan; Michael O'Shaughnessy; Jasper O'Farrell; Frank McCoppin; Thomas Hayes; Francisco de Haro; Jose Bernal; David Broderick; Henry Haight; John Townsend; Cyril Magnin; Jose Arguello; Keiko Fukuda; John Le Conte; Eugene Schmitz; Theodore Judah; Herb Caen; James Phelan; Lawrence Ferlinghetti; Angelo Rossi; Charles Brenham; Warren Hellman; John McLaren.
Previous Peninsula/South Bay history: Millbrae; Tanforan Racetrack; T. Jack Foster; Leland Stanford; Milpitas; Donald Tresidder; Josiah Belden; Hiram Morgan Hill; Simon Mezes.
Previous East Bay history: Charles Tilden; William Hayward; John Fremont; Mariano Vallejo; Ygnacio Martinez; Henry Kaiser; Anthony Chabot; Thomas Caldecott; Laurentine Hamilton; Joel Clayton.
Previous North Bay history: Cotati; Charles Fairfax; Luther Burbank; William Richardson; Oscar and James Shafter; George Guerne.
Previous Other history: Francis Pettygrove (Portland).
Bay Area Charity
Based in San Francisco since 2006, this organization provides emotional and psychological support to Iraq/Afghanistan veterans, service members, and their families. Estimates are that one out of six troops returning from the wars will have psychological trauma.
Previous organizations Randy's Guide has spotlighted and donated: Common Ground Relief, LYRIC, Aldea Inc., Glide Memorial, City CarShare, Maitri, Loaves and Fishes, Friends of the Urban Forest, Farm Sanctuary, Bay Area Community Services, Blue Energy, My New Red Shoes, College Track, Foundation for the People of Burma, Vital Life Services, Little Angel Fund, San Francisco Health Services Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Bay Localize, San Francisco Women Against Rape, Sustainable Conservation, Ashoka, Old Skool Cafe, Darfur Sister Schools, Rebuilding Together San Francisco, Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center, Urban Solutions, San Francisco Suicide Prevention, The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, Shanti, Curry Without Worry, SF Neighborhood Theater Foundation, La Cocina, Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Northern California, The Bike Kitchen, First Graduate, Lazarex Cancer Foundation (Amy C), KQED (88.5 FM), FabMo Creativity Center; and now Duboce/Valencia Fire Relief.
Bay Area Weekend Highs
The remnants of the tropical storm created a rare double rainbow last night across San Francisco. Things should settle back into a pattern of warm inland and cool coastline.
Coast: upper-50s
SF: upper-60s
Bay: mid-70s
North Bay: low-80s
South Bay: low-80s
Inland East Bay: mid-80s
Bay Area Free Activities of the Week
1. Downtown
Fashion's Night Out: Thursday, 6-11pm
Yoga @ SFMOMA: Saturday, 8am
Pull out your credit cards for this annual Union Square event featuring discounts at dozens of retailers. Banana Republic is offering free cocktails and a performance by Tristan Prettyman. Kenneth Cole has free hors d'ouevres, cocktails, tote bags, and a $1000 gift card contest. Stores across the nation will be hosting in fact! Then, unwind for the weekend with this free yoga class at SFMOMA. You'll enjoy free admission to the museum and free coconut water; the first 100 entrants will also receive a free yoga mat. RSVP beforehand.
2. Western Addition
Opera in the Park: Sunday, 1:30pm
Sunday Streets: Sunday, 11am-4pm
San Francisco Opera hosts its annual free show in Golden Gate Park's Sharon Meadow, which rests at the eastern edge near the Panhandle. Arrive early, and set up a picnic! Beforehand, you can stop by the latest incarnation of the popular Sunday Streets program traverses the Western Addition. It starts at the Panhandle, heads along Fulton past Alamo Square, and up to Japantown on Fillmore St. Free bike rentals + repairs, kids' activities, REI cilmbing wall, and a farmers' market.
3. The North Side
Ghirardelli Festival: Saturday-Sunday, noon-5pm
Sumo Festival: Saturday, 10am-5pm
Live entertainment, chef demos, and eating contests fill Ghirardelli Square and Beach Street. You'll have to pay $20 for 15 tastings though. In Japantown, you can meet and watch champion sumo wrestlers. One wrestler - from the U.S. - weighs over 400 pounds!
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