More Good Victuals

Long lunch with Arnie today at Chez Papa, an excellent new French restaurant on Portrero Hill. I had the potato, artichoke, asparagus salad w/bacon and whole-seed mustard vinaigrette, the halibut with fennel, onion and olive oil, and for dessert we shared the tart tatin and the chocolate souffle. Completely delicious, and excellent service. All of the waiters are crazy about the food, and their enthusiasm makes the experience even more enjoyable. Arnie chose the wine, which was great, but by the time I thought of looking at the bottle, I couldn’t really focus that well, so who knows what it was. I’m supposed to go see a Handel opera tonight, but I don’t know if I can stay awake. I was up really late last night with Stanley and Giuliano, dear old friends of Bob, and another great meal (bruschetta with liver pate, flavored with sage and anchovies [!], asparagus again, wild mushroom risotto, and blackberries for dessert). Stanley is a playwright. He wrote a wonderful play called The Chinese Art of Placement, that was produced here a few years ago, a hilarious and wacky play involving a single actor and a single chair. The central character, well, the only character, Sparky Litman, ruminates on the events leading to his current delusions of normalcy as he telephones past and present acquaintances to invite them to help him celebrate, all the while trying to find the perfect placement for the chair and the meaning behind it, and everything else. Giuliano owns a place in Guerneville up the hill from my house there, a cool old mobile home from the 50’s that he’s been trying to replace for as long as I’ve know him. Tomorrow I photograph Chris for the next few pieces in my Thundercrack! series. I’m itching to get to work…