Loving Cup - A Rice Pudding Shop

Across NY and LA the hot thing is Pinkberry (or similar frozen yogurt shops). For San Franciscans though, an ice cold frozen yogurt doesn't exactly hit the spot on a cool foggy day. Luckily we now have our own place to stop for a quick, sweet snack: Loving Cup Rice Pudding Shop on Polk Street.

The bright little cafe was started by a friend of mine - Liz Hawrylo - along with her mother and sister from the East Coast. She set up shop several months ago and have been buzzing with business ever since.

Loving Cup serves a variety of all natural rice puddings. Chai is my favorite flavor. Cardamom, cinamon, nutmeg ... I am drooling just thinking about it! Rice pudding is also a unique dish to pick up and bring to a potluck. No one expects a rice pudding dessert but they always love it.

Also on the menu are pastries, sweet snacks, espresso and yep - frozen yogurt. (Even in SF, we can't escape the pinkberry madness)

Check out the shop at 2356 Polk between Union and Green, and say hi to Liz!

Mecca Closed!?

I've heard rumors of this happening for a while, but was hoping I'd get into Mecca before it shuttered it's doors. It's been famous for it's Thursday Ladies Nights :)

Well, I just got an email from OpenTable that my reservation for Mecca on Tuesday cannot be honored because Mecca is closing it's doors! Here it is: 

"Hi OpenTable Diner, I apologize for the late notice and for any inconvenience this may cause, but OpenTable just heard via the media that Mecca may have unexpectedly closed its doors for business.  We have not been able to reach anyone at the restaurant to verify the closure (voicemail still makes it sound like they are open) nor has anyone contact us to inform us of the closure.  A link to the article on SF.eater.com is below.  Therefore, your upcoming reservation will not be able to be accommodated at this restaurant.  However, we hope that you will book at one of the other restaurants in the area that has availability (we have canceled your reservation so you may book another one)."

A disappointment, but maybe a wonderful new restaurant will take it's place. One thing I love about San Francisco is it's evolving restaurant scene. 

South By Southwest

Just got my plans straight for SXSW Interactive in Austin. Can't wait to connect with bloggers and Blogger.com emeritus :)

Resaurant Opening: Heaven's Dog

Charles Phan, owner of the Slanted Door, opened a new restaurant in the SOMA Grand last week. I was lucky to go to the opening party and Friends and Family dinner.

Heaven's Dog serves small plates of Chinese dishes and noodles - but I think the best addition to the menu is it's old fashioned cocktail menu.

In the same vein as Bourbon and Branch and The Alembic, Heaven's Dog cocktail list focuses on quality. With all the great drinks it's hard to decide, so also offered is a "Freedom from Choice" option where you simply tell the bartener either "gin or vodka", and "citrusy or boozey". Boozey wasn't exacty the word they used - but I forget what it was and it basically meant boozey. ;)

If you stay for dinner, definitely try the pork belly and the string beans - my favorites! Also say hi to the friendly staff including Colleen Quinn - the floor manager and a friend of mine.

Heaven's Dog - 1148 Mission St.

Barrack Hussein Obama - President of the United States

I want to be in Washington

(Left:my friend Devin Hampton working for the Obama campaign)

My friend Devin from college has really risen in the politcal ranks. From the looks of this University of Washington news article, he's planning some portion of the Neighborhood Ball during the inauguration. Good for him!

But how annoying is it that my friend - Bart - gets to go as well. Bart just moved to San Francisco from Atlanta (where he went to Emory Law School) just before the election. At the time he was pretty apolitical with McCain leanings. I made many attempts to get him on the Obama bandwagon - he is a San Franciscan after all. All of these attempts he dismissed - though he did attend our election watching get together.

Well he gets to go. I am so jealous.

Dems are Back in the White House!

Yep.... that looks about right!

Long Live the King and Queen!

(photo from nytimes.com)

Great book: "Panic! The Story of Modern Financial Insanity"

Just finished reading this book - which is really a series of news stories and essays leading up to, during, and after 4 modern market crashes.

I was too young to remember what the crash of '87 was about. And as a freshman in college didn't really pay attention to the Asian market crash in '98 (too much studying.... yeah right). It was interesting to see the common threads: lots of leverage, poor rick assessments, swarming investors, and the belief that "this time it's different" and that no bubble exists. It was also really fun to remember the silly dotcom madness - when some companies spent over half their cash on superbowl commercials!

To reminisce, here's a few of them:

OurBeginning.com


Computer.com


EDS

Video of Airplane Crash and Rescue in the Hudson

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/01/17/multimedia/1231545530718/coast-guard-video-of-plane-crash.html

Water Landing!

There's been a lot of high profile crashes lately. Today, 155 lucky people survived a crash into the Hudson thanks to a heroic pilot named "Sully". Crazy. Then of course DJ AM and Travis Barker were in one... and I know there was another recently, I just can't remember.

I think I've become more afraid of flying, and I've been doing a lot of it lately. The odds are not that slim that I'll be in some kind of emergency landing.

A few weeks ago on NPR I heard a discussion about installing emergency exit doors in the airport so that passengers can practice opening the door. That's a great idea and I am not sure why airports don't do it. Maybe they don't want to remind passengers of the possibility of a crash.

Anyways - I'll be reading the emergency exit material more closely now. And thanks to the wonderful pilot that saved all those people today!