Date Night (with Gather + True Grit)

Tuesday I turned the big 3-2...which seems not too notable or exciting. Since we had such a downer of a day on my birthday (travel + jet lag), we decided that this would be birthday week! Last night my mom babysat and we had a date night- I can't remember the last date we've had. It was the perfect birthday treat.

We started the night off at Gather. It's this amazing new restaurant near the UC Berkeley campus. The food's local, sustainable, and all that good stuff. The chef  is young (he looks like a grad student that wandered off the school's grounds across the street), and hailed as a best new chef by various foodies and media outlets. With Gather's righteous attitude towards food and all the fanfare we thought the place would be pretentious, but it was quite the opposite. After leaving the restaurant Mark and I were talking about how several Bay Area restaurants serve upscale, to-die-for food, while remaining completely down-to-earth and approachable. Gather has instantly become a new favorite for me: most everything in the decor is salvaged material (including bench upholstery made from old leather belts sewn together), every bite of the food was flavorful and completely enjoyable, the waiter was warm, knowledgeable, and not too into himself/explaining the food (a plus at this type of place).

Food and Wine Magazine voted Gather's Vegan Charcuterie (pictured below) a top ten restaurant dish of the year. Umm- it was amazing! I can't describe the flavors- but I wanted to savor every delicious bite.

Here's what we had:

*out of 4 starts each

Vodka Smash (Cocktail) **

Bitter Rose (Cocktail) **

Vegan “charcuterie” ****

Sausage

– pork belly, chile, Fontinella ****

Barbecued young chicken

– farotto, turnips and tops, punterelle, cheese rind oil ***

(farotto= farro risotto and was freaking awesome!)

Scoop of cream cheese cranberry ice cream **

(The choc mousse looked tasty- but we were pretty full by then)

Bottom line: Go here. It's awesome.

After dinner we walked two blocks over to see True Grit at the California Theater.

I'm not one for westerns- but this is a must see. It was funny and touching. Jeff Bridges and 14-year-old  Hailee Steinfeld stole the show. I won't ruin it, but young Mattie is out to avenge her father's murder.

 Matt Damon is also in the movie, and provides a lot of laughs. I usually bristle at the Cohen Brothers violent movies, but this was entertaining and not too violent at all.

All in all, a great date night.

Babies!

Tonight I went with my friend Anne to the movie Babies. We both have babies about the same age, and enjoyed watching the subtle changes of the 4 babies in this movie over their first year. The Mongolian baby is my favorite! I think this would be a great movie to bring your 3-4 year old to, granted that they have the attention span of an adult.

On "Precious"

Excerpt from today's NYTimes op-ed...

Op-Ed Contributor
Fade to White
By ISHMAEL REED
Published:
February 4, 2010
Oakland, Calif.

JUDGING from the mail I’ve received, the conversations I’ve had and all
that I’ve read, the responses to “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by
Sapphire” fall largely along racial lines.
Among black men and women, there is widespread revulsion and anger over the Oscar-nominated film about an illiterate, obese black teenager who has two children by her father. The author Jill Nelson wrote: “I don’t eat at the table of self-hatred, inferiority or victimization. I haven’t bought into notions of rampant black pathology or embraced the overwrought, dishonest and black-people-hating pseudo-analysis too often passing as post-racial cold hard truths.” One black radio broadcaster said
that he felt under psychological assault for two hours. So did I.

The blacks who are enraged by “Precious” have probably figured out that
this film wasn’t meant for them. It was the enthusiastic response from white
audiences and critics that culminated in the film being nominated for six
Oscars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an outfit
whose 43 governors are all white and whose membership in terms of
diversity is about 40 years behind Mississippi. In fact, the director,
Lee Daniels, said that the honor would bring even more “middle-class white Americans” to his film.

...

It’s no surprise either that white critics — eight out of the nine comments
used on the publicity Web site for “Precious” were from white men and women —
maintain that the movie is worthwhile because, through the efforts of a teacher,
this girl begins her first awkward efforts at writing.

Redemption through learning the ways of white culture is an old Hollywood theme. D. W. Griffith produced a series of movies in which Chinese,
Indians and blacks were lifted from savagery through assimilation. A more recent
example of climbing out of the ghetto through assimilation is “Dangerous Minds,” where black and Latino students are rescued by a curriculum that doesn’t include a single black or Latino writer.

By the movie’s end, Precious may be pushing toward literacy. But she is
jobless, saddled with two children, one of whom has Down syndrome, and
she’s learned that she has AIDS.
Some redemption.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/opinion/05reed.html
I haven't seen the movie, but I was interested by Reed's commentary. I hadn't realized that the African American community were angered by this movie. Makes sense. It reminds me of my friend--- She was in the Ethnic Studies program at UC Berkeley. A liberal school, I'm sure we can all agree to that? And a very respected program. You would think they would read from a diversity of sources...let all voices take part in the conversation. Umm, no. She was frustrated that they only studied white male's theories on ethnicity, etc... At Berkeley! I was shocked. Why must the white way be THE way?
Has anyone seen the movie? Care to share your thoughts?
Just food for thought to start out your weekend.