For a long time, Lazy Bear was an underground pop-up, delighting diners who were in the know with their communal dinner parties. In the last few weeks, it went from underground to brick and mortar. Reservations were of course a scramble, compounded by the fact that they went with Alinea’s ticketing system (nonrefundable, like concert tickets)….
Alcatraz is just one of those tourist destinations that I’ve never really felt compelled to visit. It’s right there in the middle of the Bay, so close and yet so far. But the thing that finally pushed me to buy a ferry ticket was hearing about a new art installation that just opened on the island: Ai…
For Jesse’s October visit to San Francisco, I got to do two tourists’ staples that I have still not managed to do in the six years that I’ve lived here: ride bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge and take the ferry out to Alcatraz Island. We’ll save Alcatraz for another post, but here’s our bike…
Today, we take a little break from the midst of wedding season to head up to Sonoma Valley for a harvest celebration, California-style. It was actually last week that I made this little day trip with my friends Tiffany and Dan. We spent the day touring and tasting at four different wineries– all part of…
It’s a three-hour drive from the San Francisco up along the California Coast to Sea Ranch. And since I was making the trek to photograph a beautiful wedding up there, I decided to turn it into a little weekend retreat. On the way up, I stopped at this little roadside cafe in Jenner for brunch. …
Back in June of last year, a group of twelve of us had an incredible experience dining at The French Laundry in Napa Valley. Immediately afterwards, we started plotting our next group dining experience and set our sights on Alinea in Chicago. I really liked the idea of dining with a group, but after my inquiry returned a quote of $36,500…
We walked into the former macaroni factory-turned-artists’ lofts, a character-filled space perfectly befitting Jessica and Alex. After we ascended six flights of stairs, we were treated to the most spectacular gem, with all of downtown Chicago ready to serve as the backdrop to the wedding ceremony. It turns out those 80% chance thunderstorm forecasts were all bluster….
Since the beginning of 2014, I have been working on my year-long personal project, Art for Art. Once a month, I find a fellow photographer whose work I admire, and I photograph them; they photograph me. View the full set of previous shoots in the series here: Art for Art. August’s shoot was with my intern Jasmine…
Since the beginning of 2014, I have been working on my year-long personal project, Art for Art. Once a month, I find a fellow photographer whose work I admire, and I photograph them; they photograph me. View the full set of previous shoots in the series here: Art for Art. At the end of July, I got to…
Four Chicago boys and me. I picked up Vince and his brother Kevin who had each flown in to SFO, and we drove southeast from the Bay Area while Alex and Eric drove northeast from Los Angeles. Our destination: Sequoia National Park, one of the nine national parks in California. We would camp for two nights…
In mid-July, I found myself taking a spontaneous trip to Chicago to meet Jesse who was there for work. We then commenced with lots of eating and even a bit of boating. Meal one as soon as I got in from O’Hare: Boka, (located next door to Alinea, but we’ll be back for that next…
July started with a bang as we headed to Atelier Crenn, recently remodeled with brand new interiors and an expanded tasting menu. Chef Dominique Crenn is oft cited as the only female chef in the country who has two Michelin stars, and she very memorably writes her menus as poems, with each line representing one…