'wichcraft san francisco

The Triumph of Design Over Cuisine

'wichcraft is Chef Tom Colicchio's foray into expanding his brand.  He is famously the chef of Craft and lately, the Head Judge of Top Chef, one of my favorite shows!  I believe the name is a play on the "wich" in sandwich and his Craft brand. Clever.

'wichcraft is a casual-dining-fast-food restaurant and I believe the philosophy is to focus on letting the ingredients "sing" without much fuss.  The San Francisco location is in the new Westfield mall (where the Bloomingdale's is).  Yet, it is not located in the food court.  By the way, the Westfield food court is populated by fast food gold standards such as Out The Door (brought to you by The Slanted Door) and Beard Papa's (japanese style cream puffs!)  To reach 'wichcraft, you'd have to go through the back of the mall, to Mission Street.  It's really almost at the loading dock.

The interior has a mid-century cafeteria look with a mezzanine for additional seating.  You order at the counter and they bring your food to your table.  It's a great space and surprisingly not crowded and very pleasant when we went there at noon.

5 I grabbed these cards thinking they were business cards but they are actually frequency cards.  Very cute design and logo.

The menu is very simple with a breakfast sandwich and staples available all day.  There are cold and warm sandwiches, soups and salads.  It's a bit pricey considering all the great places there are to eat  in SF, but I think it's a good variety and a great place to bring large groups of people.

5  I ordered the pulled pork sandwich. It was OK and slightly bland I found it necessary to douse it with some Tapatio hot sauce.  If the restaurant's focus is the ingredients, then I suggest they get better purveyors of meat and produce 'cause this sandwich wasn't singing.  The tomato soup was a bit better. Oh, they do throw in a bag of chips.  

5  The desserts look delicious but I was dead set on getting some cream puffs at Beard Papa's so I skipped.

Overall, this is a great model for the fast food restaurants of the future.  I expect something more special for the price and the Colicchio provenance.  Wolfgang Puck still has my buck when it comes to celebrity chef fast food.

Yesterday

Yesterday, September 29, 2008, the stock market fropped (yes - you read that right - FROPPED!) an unprecedented 777.68. Such pretty numbers!

This was taken in San Francisco's financial district (Montgomery Street) on my way to the airport.

The Wayfarers Chapel

Going to the chapel and getting married.

I recently attended a small wedding at the Wayfarer's Chapel in Palos Verdes, California. And no, it wasn't my wedding!

The chapel is small and very romantic and set against a backdrop of trees and a view of the Pacific Ocean. It reminds me a lot of San Francisco.
The chapel was envisioned by Elizabeth Schellenberg of the Swedenborgian church as a respite for wayfarers traveling through the Palos Verdes peninsula. Can you say Schellenberg's Swedenborgian Smorgasbörd three times fast?

Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright) was commissioned to design the chapel. He was inspired by the redwood trees he saw on a trip to Northern California.

5 The chapel itself is surrounded by redwood trees designed to grow around the chapel with the glass defining the sacred space within.

5  Lloyd Wright's signature linear motifs dominate the interior construction.

5 The chapel was built in 1951 and the tower 

and reflecting pool were added later in 1954.

5  Entrance to the chapel.

5 The altar.

5  A silhouette view of the altar

5  The grounds provide a perfect backdrop for wedding photos.

5 A breathtaking evening view of the ocean.

If this got you in the mood to get married, you can find out more about the Wayfarer's chapel and it's history at their website.

OPM by Sascha

Filipino songs sung by a German banker.

Sascha is a German banker who learned how to speak tagalog from Rosetta Stone.

He travels a lot to the Philippines and Thailand (he sings Thai songs as well). I think he's absolutely cute. 

This is his best effort, APO's "Panalangin";



This is my favorite APO song, "Nakapagtataka". The eyebrows need a little trimming here:



Where did this come from? Boy Sullivan! This must have been an earlier attempt because the pronunciation is still funny (ini-in-GAT-in-GATAN!) I lurv that hoodie he's wearing.


Somebody write this guy some Filipino songs! I need to hear more!

Claire De La Fuente & Richard Carpenter

Together at last.

I've first heard of a collaboration between Richard Carpenter (half of The Carpenters, brother of Karen) & Claire De La Fuente (Karen Carpenter of the Philippine Islands) about 20 years ago. Claire sounds uncannily like Karen Carpenter and shot to fame in the Philippines with a song called "Sayang" (English translation - What A Waste). It was like hearing Karen Carpenter sing in another language, not Spanish.

And finally, this year, the song was released and here is the video:



I haven't seen Claire or Richard in a while and the first thing that comes to my mind is - what was Richard wearing? What's up with Claire singing from barung-barong to nightclub and back again? The "moulin-rouge-esque" cinematography is dizzying. 

This song originally appeared in Richard's solo album and was sung by the late Dusty Springfield.  Actually, if you sing "I Just Fall In Love Again" during the chorus, it will harmonize quite well.  Mmmaybe it's the same song? Dunno. Just saying.

Claire looks very matronic and sounds like one. I think her voice lost some of the lower registers and I don't think she sounds like Karen anymore, which could be a good thing.  But still I am proud and can't wait to hear the rest of the album. It's not available on iTunes yet - natch!

Speaking of Karen Carpenter sound-alikes, here's Japan's contribution:

Pinoy Tunes

Filipino music on iTunes.

What a nice surprise to find Original Philippine Music (OPM) right on my iTunes!

Of course, there's Charice who'll probably sell a lot after her Oprah appearance:


Then there's the classics like Pilita:


Then, there's the heartthrobs:


And then there's Gretchen Barretto. Really? Greta? Her voice wasn't bad:


But, I'm definitely buying this one:
I hope it comes with some Argentine corned beef!

Buon Appetito!

Dining in San Diego's Little Italy.

San Diego's Little Italy is located on India Street, go figure.

We had a late lunch at Buon Appetito. A well reviewed restaurant with a very pleasant late afternoon ambience.

.

They feature local artists on the walls and you can buy the paintings. It also has a bar and outdoor seating.

5  Interior

5  Bar Area

5  We start off with some bread and marinara. 

The marinara is more mexican salsa than marinara.

5 Neil had the halibut. It was a little on the dry side.

5  I had the salmon. It was perfectly cooked and slightly underseasoned 

(all that time watching Top Chef is paying off!)  The risotto was a little chunky.

The food was generally OK but nothing outstanding. The service and the ambience was great.

Buon Appetito!