This Week's Restaurant Review: Ristorante Venticello in SF

I am half Italian and half Irish, which means I can never be in the Mafia. It also means that I love great Italian food. I don’t want to diss Irish food, but let’s put it this way. Comparing the two cuisines is like comparing the Italian Painter Da Vinci to his Irish counterpart, a guy named Paul Henry. Paul who, you ask? Exactly.

And as I have written in many of my past reviews, I truly believe that Italy has produced the finest cuisine in the history of mankind. People can make arguments for each and every culture’s food -- Asian, Spanish, Mexican, German, British, American, Portuguese, Russian -- every country has some amazing traditional dishes that they have been passed down through the ages and each is arguably superior to the next.

We all have differing opinions based on what we grew up eating. But, when you talk about Italian food, you’re talking about the whole package – the passion, the preparation, the stories behind the cuisine – I have always said that there is only one thing Italians like to do as much as eat. And that’s talking about eating.

With that diatribe complete, I want to tell you about an Italian restaurant in San Francisco that represents everything that makes the food from this little boot-shaped peninsula the King of Cuisine. It’s called Venticello Ristorante (1257 Taylor Street @ Washington, SF, CA 94108; Phone: (415) 922-2545. Web site: http://www.venticello.com/) We were there the other night and I’m still salivating.

Tucked away atop Nob Hill, Venticello Ristorante is a quaint little spot with a wood burning oven and fantastic views of the bay. The look that they’re going for, according to the server we talked to, is Tuscan farmhouse. And since I’ve never been to Tuscany, I’ll have to take their word for it. You’ll get a warm, intimate feeling from the minute you walk through the door. If you’re looking for a romantic place, Venticello fits the bill.

The menu is varied and features primarily Northern Italian cuisine. For our antipasti, we had the Melanzane Ripiene ($9), two grilled eggplant rolls with ricotta and mascarpone in a marinara sauce; and the Portobello Con Polenta ($7), a wood oven roasted whole Italian field mushroom over soft polenta. The eggplant rolls were fresh and rich while the Portobello mushroom was earthy and hearty. Both were highly memorable and kicked off our meal magnificently.

For our main courses we ordered Gnocchi Ai Funghi ($17), potato dumplings in a mushroom sauce with gorgonzola; and the Maiale E Balsamico ($23), grilled pork tenderloin medallions with balsamic rum syrup. The gnocchi was homemade and divine and the sauce that accompanied the pork was like nothing we’d ever had. Unbelievable!

Other items we want to try the next time we visit Venticello include the Fettucine Con Salsiccia ($17), fettucine in a creamy fennel seed and sausage meat sauce; Agnello Ai Ferri Con Salsa Di Funghi ($25), rosemary marinated grilled lamb tenderloins with a sweet mushroom Chianti sauce; and Risotto Alla Zafferano Con Scampi ($19), a saffron risotto with basil and tiger shrimp.

Venticello has an extensive wine list. They know their vino, so ask them what will go well with your meal and they’ll be happy suggest wines from different price ranges. Speaking of prices, the food here is very reasonably priced, when compared to other great restaurants in San Francisco offering comparable faire. And the staff at Venticello is professional and the service is excellent.

I love everything about Italian food and Venticello has some of the best in town. Go there soon and you won’t be disappointed. That I can guarantee.

The Tiger That Stole Christmas

We were going to visit the San Francisco Zoo yesterday. I’m not kidding. We’re members of the zoo and pay an annual membership fee so that we can go there whenever we want. Christmas is normally a perfect day to go there, because the place is usually empty.
San Francisco has a great zoo, not as good as the Central Park Zoo in New York City or the San Diego Zoo, but it’s still a decent zoo that has been improving its appearance and adding new exhibits over the last decade.
Well, I am happy we decided to stay home yesterday. Otherwise, I could have ended up as Christmas dinner for a Tiger. What a way to go.
Here’s the story, compliments of SFgate.com:
The same tiger that attacked and mauled a trainer at the San Francisco Zoo last year, attacked and killed one man and seriously injured two more after escaping its pen on Christmas Day.
“Tatiana,” the 350-pound Siberian tiger, managed to escape its cage shortly after 5:00 p.m. and then attacked a man in his 20s who was standing near the tiger exhibit.
The tiger then attacked at least two other visitors to the San Francisco Zoo before being shot and killed by police.
The zoo is closed today as officials try to figure out what went wrong. They also want to conduct a thorough sweep of the grounds during daylight. They said additional victims aren’t likely. They are still uncertain how long the tiger was loose before she was killed by police.
The zoo had five tigers at the zoo – three Sumatrans and two Siberians. Officials initially worried that four tigers had escaped, but found out quickly that Tatiana was the only tiger on the loose.
The three men who were attacked by Tatiana suffered “pretty aggressive marks” SF Police spokesman Steve Mannina said. The two injured men are in critical but stable condition at San Francisco General Hospital after undergoing surgery to have their wounds cleaned and closed, authorities said. They suffered deep bites and claw cuts on their heads, necks, arms and legs.
The zoo’s director of animal care and conservation, Robert Jenkins, could not explain how Tatiana escaped. The tiger’s enclosure is surrounded by a 15-foor-wide and 20-foot-high-walls, and the big cat did not exit through an open door, he said.
“There is no way out through the door,” Jenkins said. “The animal appears to have climbed or otherwise leaped out of the enclosure.”
This incident opens up a whole controversial can of worms. Many people are mourning more for the tiger than for the man who was killed. The whole moral dilemma surrounding the entire concept of keeping animals captive in zoos is up for discussion.
My take on it is this – we risk incidents like these when we take animals out of the wild and put them in a zoo. I feel equally bad for both Tatiana and for the man who was killed. It is a horrific incident, especially on Christmas.
But, I don’t think zoos are to blame here. The San Francisco Zoo, for instance, does an enormous amount of conservation work and raises tons of money for the protection of endangered species and for helping to save their environments. When people see these animals in zoos, they’re more likely to become involved in efforts to save and protect them. Where else can they go to see these exotic animals? Last time I was in the Castro, I didn’t see any tigers. (I did spot a couple of bears, but that’s a whole different story.)
So, don’t blame the zoo. And you surely can’t blame the tiger. It’s just a very unfortunate incident that ruined Christmas for a lot of people.

Wow! Wetpaint is Wiki Wonderful!

There is a new cutting edge web site that I recently discovered that allows users to create and contribute to a wiki. It’s called www.wetpaint.com, and it is gaining huge attention from the media and online users alike. Created in 2005, this Seattle-based company is backed by big names – Trinity Ventures and Frazier Technology Ventures – so you know that there must be some viable reason for all the big-time buzz. In three easy steps, anyone with even limited tech knowledge can create a wiki in no time. The service has a lot of the identical features that you’ll find on message boards, social networks and blogs. The idea is that blogs are good (and extremely popular right now), but they’re limiting, primarily because they’re too hard to search. And wikis are proven to be great, but the problem with them is that even though the reader can become the editor, writer and fact-checker, the cold hard truth is that they’re too technical and involved for the non-high-tech people of the world. Let’s say you want to find out everything you can about Koi. You know, the beautiful gold fish-looking carp who reside in beautiful Japanese ponds? Sure, there are a ton of different blogs with information about Koi, but unless you can effectively do a search of blogs (which is tough), you are not going to be able to access the information you need. If you have a lot of very specific questions, like what is the best food to feed Koi during the Winter, or where can the very finest Koi be found, you’re going to have a hard time navigating through the world wide web and accessing the appropriate information that you are in need of in order to answer your very targeted and specific questions. But, with a wiki, you can get those specific answers and with Wetpaint you can find those wikis that will take you where you need to be. There’s nothing like Wetpaint! Wetpaint allows anyone with a hobby or interest – whether it be the arts, entertainment, education, gaming, hobbyist, games, lifestyles, music – you name it and you can do a wiki for it, and Wetpaint will help take you exactly where you want to be. You can build a brand new web site and tap into the Wikipedia universe with Wetpaint. Adding to a Wetpaint site is as easy as clicking and typing. It makes it simpler than ever to share ideas, solve problems and find individuals out three who share your passions and interests in a wide variety of different subjects.

The Amazing New World of Condos

You would not believe all of the offers that are out there right now for condos for sale. There is a web site that I found called http://www.prodigynetwork.com/. They feature condo hotels, regular condos, resales and purchases of some of the finest condos in places like New York, Panama, Mexico and Florida. These are great investments because they will always be coveted. They're also ideal for people who don't want to have large yards and big houses to take care of. With spectacular views, all of the finest luxuries and amenities in the world, condos are HOTTER than ever!

It's His Birthday, for Christ's Sake!

Santa Claus has stolen the limelight from Jesus on his birthday and it's just not cool!
Christmas is all about gift giving, Santa Claus and caroling; overeating and sleeping in; egg nog and mistletoe; wild office parties and designated drivers.

It’s about getting together with relatives you can’t stand and sitting in airports for hours on end; driving around mall parking lots and dealing with screaming brats and teetering seniors.

It’s about putting lights on the house without falling off the roof; killing a perfectly nice evergreen tree and keeping it alive in your living room with sugar water until December 26th, when you dump it on the corner like an unwanted stepchild.

It’s your Aunt Irene’s terrible Jello fruit mold and Grandma Victoria's “Armageddon survivor’s” fruitcake.

My question is -- before we get totally lost in all the hoopla -- what the heck happened to Jesus? I mean, isn’t Christmas supposed to His birthday? How and why did Santa Claus and his entourage push Our Savior to the back pages of the newspaper, across from the Suduko, Word Jumble and obituaries? How on earth did the Big Guy from Heaven fall so fast? And how can He make a comeback? I mean, if John Travolta and Mariah Carey did it, surely Jesus can figure out how to get back on the front page, without killing someone or entering rehab.

There’s no doubt about it -- Jesus needs a complete makeover. My advice to Our Lord is to hire a new, hip publicist and start appealing to the teenagers and 20-somethings of the world. Change water into Red Bull. Get a newer robe with a higher thread count. Put pictures in the Bible. Better yet, make it a pop-up book. Did you know that they have Grecian Formula for beards now? Do some 8-minute abs. Get on myspace or facebook. Write for BrooWaha. Go on Springer or Ellen. Get your own video game.

And Jeez, change your back story. The whole part about the crucifixion needs to be spun a little differently. No one likes to hear about a guy getting strung up on a cross and being left to die. It’s not warm and fuzzy. It’s dark and bloody. It scares kids and grosses people out. Tell folks you got hit by a chariot or abducted by aliens or snatched up by some cult, I don’t know.

I do like the swaddling clothes in the manger part of the story, however. Stick with that and maybe expand on it a little. Everyone’s encountered an overbooked hotel and people will always gravitate toward the “local kid makes good” /”rags to riches” type of thing.

And spruce up the three wise men bearing gifts concept. Alter the story to where they’re the three “baby daddy’s” -- it’s more contemporary. Maybe change their presents to an iPhone, a Nintendo Wii and some Viagra. I mean, who evens knows what frankincense and myrrh are anyway? No one from this century, that’s for sure.

I’m not trying to be sacrilegious here. I believe in God and I’m a big fan of Jesus. I was raised Catholic. I saw “Hair” twice and actually sat through "The Passion” even though I knew the ending. People will be upset over this article, because religion is a very sensitive subject. I know enough to avoid the topic at parties, believe me.

Many of my friends are Jews, Scientologists, Atheists, Buddhists, Amway Sales People, Members of the Raider Nation -- even Ignostics (that’s the religion where you think there’s a higher power but are too ignorant or apathetic to bother figuring out what you believe).

I respect your religion, whatever it is. I have no problem with your God, whoever he or she may be. Just don’t try to convert me or ask me to go to bake sales or buy raffle tickets.

I just feel like The Most Holy One deserves more press than He’s getting, especially on His birthday. If it weren’t for Jesus, we’d be spending the holiday season waiting for "Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve Special" and watching over-hyped college bowl games.

Without Jesus, there would be no Santa. There would be no Christmas tree. There would be no Uncle Jack to fall asleep after dinner and drool all over your parent’s loveseat. There would be no teeth shattering fruit cake. And there would surely be no reason to run up your credit card bill buying useless stuff that will all eventually end up as ancient landfill long after mankind is a painful afterthought.

So, let’s put Christ back in Christmas and put a big “X” over Xmas. Let’s throw Him the 34th birthday bash he never resurrected Himself in time to enjoy. For Christ’s sake – it’s the right thing to do. After all, He did die for our sins. (Question: Does that include the ones we haven’t committed yet?)

Mr. & Mrs. Joker

This photo of the new Joker was revealed recently. The Joker is my favorite villain. Jack Nicholsen was the best Joker, with Cesar Romero finishing a close second. The newest Joker is being played by Heath Ledger. He looks really strange -- and mean.

Too bad Leona Helmsley isn't around anymore, because she would have made a great Mrs. Joker.

I Dream About Plumbing Fixtures

Lately, plumbing fixtures have been showing up in my dreams, especially faucets and sinks. Maybe I was a plumber in another life, I don't know. Faucets, sinks, shower heads, toilets, bathtubs -- they circle around in my mind while I'm fast asleep. Maybe the spirits are trying to tell me that I need to remodel our bathroom -- I'm not certain. It's the weirdest thing. Yesterday I even started looking at web sites that sell plumbing fixtures, and I found a great site named www.faucet.com. What a great web site. They have a wide selection, a low price gaurantee and they'll ship to you for free if you order more than $99 worth of stuff from them.

Cover It When You're Done Playing With It!

If you have an expensive car like this one here (a Maybach Exelero, worth $8 million and change), you should really think about putting a car cover over it. It's a fact that car covers will help your vehicle last longer. They protect the paint and the finish and will ass years to the life of the car. I found a great site called http://www.bigskycarcovers.com/ and these people are the Boston Red Sox of car covers. Which means (to all you non-baseball fans) that they're the very best in the business. They're the World Champs of car covers!

Vacuum Cleaners Make a Practical Gift

Some people give you frivolous things for Christmas -- like stocking stuffers, funny gag gifts and things you will never really need. Then, there are those other folks (who you are probably related to) who give you presents that you can use. This is where vacuum cleaners come into the picture. Vacuum cleaners are something you will always find a good use for. We have three, actually. A really high-quality vacuum cleaner is great to have. So, think about it as a gift if you know somebody who needs one.

10 Rules for Fledgling Santas

Every holiday season, I volunteer to be Santa Claus at local charity fundraisers, friends’ parties and a host of other events. I love being Santa, for a variety of reasons. I love the look of amazement in a young child’s eyes (usually between 2-8) when you know he or she still believes. I even like the skeptical “whatever” stare I get from teenagers when I can plainly see that the magic of the big guy is no longer in their lives. And I even enjoy the lustful look that 40-something thrice-divorced women who are into fat guys give me as they insist on sitting on my lap.

Over the years, I have developed a 10-point plan for being a believable Santa Claus. If you ever have to don the costume and play the role, you should really read these.

1. Play the part 100%
As my acting coach used to say -- “Go all out or don’t go.” If you believe you’re really Santa then everyone else will buy into it. Wearing the costume is a privilege, so don’t do anything that might spoil the big man’s image – like smoke, swear, spit, hit on women or break loud wind.

2. Learn your ho’s
A weak “ho, ho, ho!” greeting is the quickest way to be labeled a weak, panty-waist Santa Claus and nobody wants a wimpy St. Nick in their presence. Practice your delivery before the gig, and make sure you use a loud, deep, bass-heavy voice with just the correct amount of pacing. Think jolly, yet confident. Assured and comforting, with a twinkle on the side. Project your voice and shake the rafters!

3. Control your beard
The most important part of the outfit is the hair and beard. Too many times a cheap or poorly attached beard will ruin the illusion. First off, purchase or rent a high-quality beard. Use safety pins or small two-sided adhesive strips to make sure the beard doesn’t shift. One time a 10-year-old girl said to me, “Santa, your beard is falling off. I know there is no such thing as Santa, but I don’t want to ruin it for the little kids who still believe in you.” She then re-adjusted my beard.

4. Don’t skimp on the costume
Get the high-end suit, not the Walgreen’s one. It may cost a little more money, but it’s worth it. Kids aren’t stupid and they’ll know you’re not Kris Kringle right away if you skimp on the costume.

5. Don’t get hammered
This can be embarrassing. On one particular holiday evening I over-imbibed on some cheap red wine. One little kid who was sitting on my lap looked as his mother and said, “Hey mom – Santa smells just like daddy – like Gallo.” I corrected the child and told him that it was actually Kenwood. That was bad. Lay off the sauce when you’re Santa. There will be plenty of time to hit the egg nog later at the after-party.

6. No lap dances
Keep adults off your lap. It’s unnatural and unhealthy and can lead to sexual harassment charges if and when a party gets out of hand.

7. Do your research
Children will invariably ask a lot of specific questions. “What’s your definition of ‘bad’?”; “Why do you go down chimneys instead of through the front door?” and “Why are there Santa Clauses on every street corner downtown?” They’re interrogating you to see if you’re the genuine article. My advice is, if you’re going to be Santa Claus, do a little research beforehand. Check out Wikipedia. Work on your background story. Learn a few interesting facts that you can impress tots and tykes with. (For instance, did you know that Santa started appearing in red and white in the mid-to-late 19th century when he appeared in Coca Cola advertisements? Until then, Santa wore all-white, green or other assorted colors.)

8. Bring a towel
I have had many a two-year-old (those who aren’t scared to death of Santa) deposit all kinds of things in my lap. Need I elaborate? There’s nothing worse than a stinky Santa!

9. Have a Mrs. Claus to help you
Make your job a lot easier and bring an assistant. I used to hire a little person to help me, but he kept grabbing soccer moms and I had to let him go. Now my fiancée plays Mrs. Claus and it works out well. She can get the kids’ names and find out what they want before they hit your lap or warn you about a brat before you get kicked in the shin or smacked in the juevos.

10. Go tough love when necessary
A lot of teenagers will try to insult you to make themselves look cool in front of their friends. Maybe some of you did stuff like this when you were that age. I remember kicking Mickey Mouse in the butt at Disneyland one time when I was 11. That’s why they call it adolescent behavior. In these instances, I will lean over and whisper a word of useful advice into the offending party’s ear, something like, “Don’t make Santa go medieval on your ass.” or “I snapped an elf’s neck last week and he was just about your size.” You know, something to get their attention.