chez pim

Upstaged by the shoes!

This is so funny. Here I was all primped and feted, and all everyone wanted to know was where the shoes came from!! Seriously, you have no idea how many emails I got asking about those shoes. I should be offended! Heh.

Well, for the record dear readers, the shoes are Vialis, a brand from Barcelona. Gimme Shoes in San Francisco carries them. I have no idea about London, sorry. This is the link to the Vialis website. (Thanks Jonher for the pointer.)

They are not only cute but super comfortable, which is why I practically ruined them walking around Paris. I just got a new pair from the same brand, a cute red one to replace my other cute red pair of Camper, which, incidentally, was also ruined walking around Paris this last trip.

Also just so you know, the dress is Katayone Adeli, and the bag, Orla Kiely. I should get these people to pay me for ad space. ha ha.

P.S. And in case you're wondering if I was always this frivolous. Um, yes. I guess.

A blog of your own

With all this new traffic from many folks who've never seen a blog before, I thought I would point you to a few tips on how to start one, should you be so inclined.

Food Blogging 101
Adam wrote this fun piece a while back. He gave a good overview of what to do and not to do, in that hilarious style that could only be from that Amateur Gourmet.

Food Blog S'cool
A brainchild of our Sam, Food Blog S'cool is a collective space where food bloggers talk about everything from the technical side of blogging to how to get more people to read your blog. There is also a good calendar of events if you want to keep up on the memes, cook-offs and whatnot. A very good resource for new bloggers.

Blog Tool: Typepad
As for blogging tools, I whole-heartedly recommend Typepad, which I have used since they were in Beta. Typepad, unlike Blogger, is not free, but it's far better in my opinion. It is simple enough to be able to get started very quickly, even if you've never done it before, and yet flexible enough that I can tailor it to my needs as my blog evolves. The lowest tier subscription is just about $10 a month, which is really not that much at all for what they offer.

Eat my blog

When I agreed to show Jay Rayner around town early this summer for a piece in the Observer, I had no idea this was in the plan. (I really didn't, I almost gave it to Heidi because I wasn't sure if I would be in town, even.) A little piece about my San Francisco somehow became this, and I've been blushing since Sunday.

Also, somehow, a little photo that I agreed to do -thinking it would be in the same vein as the one I did for the Chronicle a while back, with the Alice B.Toklas book in front of my face- turned into be this big production that had us setting up a living room right outside of Propeller in Hayes Valley. It's the photographer's (Barry Holmes) metaphor for blogging. I must say I thought it was rather fun.

Fantasy Sushi

Il était une foie.*

Yes, and so it began, once upon a time not too long ago, a prelude to the assault that was to come: a foot-long tube, two-inch in diameter, of pristine liver, Monkfish liver or Ankimo, cut into half an inch thick pieces, sprinkled with chopped spring onions and bathed in a pool of tart Ponzu sauce.

The scene was an unlikely storefront in a run-of-the-mill California strip mall, this particular one in the green Silicon Valley. I had been given a secret password to enter this special place, hidden in plain view, to partake in the sushi meal to end all sushi meals. Or so it was claimed. What ensued was not so much a meal but a fight to the death battle, ending with comatose diners staggering out the door in bewilderment, bloated in gut and ego, and with a void the size a month’s worth of London rent in the pocketbook.

Just got back

..from glorious Baja, where we spent many long days on nearly deserted beaches, interrupted only by quick sojourns back into town for tacos and ceviches, washed down by plenty of Pacifico. Yes, of course I took some pictures, but Im not compelled to attend to them at the moment. I'm just a little too tired from all that relaxing. Come back in a day or two and I promise to tell you what the breakfast of eggs and shaved dried beef tasted like.

In the meantime, join Adam's Gourmet Survivor game to benefit Katrina victims. Have a little fun while helping out a good cause. Cheers.

WBW13: pink chocolate?

As you are reading this, I am sipping Margarita in Los Cabos in Baja California. I'm on vacation. (Yes, evidently one doesn't need a job to have a vacation.) Anyhow, though I'm away, I couldn't possibly miss my friend Clotilde's turn at hosting Wine Blogging Wednesday. Although I must admit, Clotilde, dahling, that I am going to have to cheat a little.

I didn't have time to bake my own cake, you see? (Yes, apparently I find not having a job to be incredibly time consuming.) Instead, I chose a chocolate dessert at my local hangout Incanto. And you know what, it's not even a cake at all, though it certainly was intensely gooey and chocolate-y. It will just have to do.

A little too far?

Um, yes, yes, I know, I am forever on my soap box about odd cuts and innards. After all, a chicken is more than the sum of its nuggets. But then again, perhaps a plate of Pork Esophagus is taking things just a leet-tle to far, you think!?!