My Favorite Neighborhood Bar: The Bus Stop in SF

The Bus Stop
My favorite bar in San Francisco has to be the Bus Stop at the corner of Union and Laguna Streets. It’s a really fun spot that attracts two very different types of crowds, one during the day and another at night. When the sun is shining, The Bus Stop crowd is comprised primarily of locals and working stiffs like firemen, teachers, nurses, cops and plumbers. There is also a group of retired old-timers that come in there during the day. These folks are great to talk to and love to engage other patrons in conversations about everything from sports to movies to politics, even religion. As long as you don’t cuss or get too loud, nothing is taboo at The Bus Stop when it comes to verbal communication. I have walked in on many public debates there, about topics like “Why do the 49ers stink?” to “Did Barry Bonds use steroids?” or “Why the hell can’t we catch Bin Laden?” The week day bartender there is Paulie (pictured above), a San Francisco legend in his own right. He’s originally from Boston, which means The Bus Stop is more of a Boston Red Sox bar than a SF Giants bar. But, Paulie will talk intelligently about pretty much anything that’s on your mind. One of the great things about the man is that he’s also a great listener, something that’s so important with bartenders. I am so tired of bartenders who hog the conversation or don’t care what you have to say. Paulie is the antithesis of this – he’s almost like a very good psychiatrist. He really seems to care about his patrons and I know he does. At night, The Bus Stop transforms into yuppie paradise. The hot chicks come into the place in droves, which of course attracts all of the 20-something male wannabe players from all over the Bay Area. The babes with fake boobs show up in their finest fashion show outfits wearing enough high-priced perfume to make us forget about Chernobyl. They do their very best to ignore all of the guys in the room, until of course they meet the one they want to go home with, at which point they get catty competing with the other hoochies in attendance. It’s very similar to the way moose or lions hook up, except for the credit cards and the Jaegermeister. Watching this mating ritual every single evening gets tiresome, so I go in there after dark only when I have friends in town or if there’s a particularly good baseball or football game I want to watch in a fun atmosphere. The bartenders at night are Ron, Jason and Rick, who are seasoned professionals and really interesting guys. The Bus Stop doesn’t serve food, but they don’t mind if you bring your own in there, either. There are a ton of good restaurants nearby that will deliver grub to you right there. They have two pool tables in the back and approximately a dozen flat screen, high definition TV’s throughout the place. They are also really good at accommodating people who make requests to watch certain games. The Bus Stop has a great Happy Hour every week day after 4 pm, with some very generous drink specials and they have about 10 beers on tap. This bar is one of the oldest and most popular drinking establishments in the city and many people have been coming there for more than 40 years. Their motto is, “A place where friendships are formed to last a lifetime.” And I would add to that, “And where hangovers are created every day.”

Yuletide Yuckfest 2006 Lineup Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ed Attanasio
(415) 595-4555

“Yuletide Yuckfest 2006, a Comedy Benefit, to be held on December 3rd at Rooster T. Feathers to Raise Funds for local Toys for Tots

On Sunday, December 3rd from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Rooster T. Feathers in Sunnyvale is hosting “Yuletide Yuckfest 2006,” a comedy show benefiting Toys for Tots and celebrating its ninth straight year. Comics Clinton Jackson, Jacob Sirof, Gretchen Rootes, Carla Clayy, Dan St. Paul, Nick Leonard, Hymie Laredo and many special guests will converge on the stage at Rooster T’s to make people laugh for a worthy cause. Also featured will be music by the band “Chubby’s All-Stars,” with special guest Viv Savage, former keyboard player for the famous band, “Spinal Tap.” Admission is $10.00 and an unwrapped toy, or $15.00 without one. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Hymie Laredo, whose real name is Ed Attanasio, will host the big event. He sees the show as a chance for comedians to give back to the community, by providing new toys for those less fortunate.
“There is just something about giving kids toys that makes me happy,” Attanasio/Laredo said. “My niece needs a storage locker just to keep all the toys I’ve given her over the years. It’s the little kid in me. It probably makes me feel better than it does the children. I guess Santa Claus must be somewhere down the line on my family tree.”
The comedians featured have been on Comedy Central, VH1, the Comedy Channel, Nickelodeon, the Tonight Show, and more.
Rooster T. Feathers is located at 157 West El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, next to Goodyear Tires. Ample free parking is available. Rooster T. Feathers’ phone number is (408) 736-0921.

Restaurant Review: Sicilia in Bocca: Great Italian Food in Morgan Hill

Is Sicilia in Bocca in Morgan Hill one of the best Italian restaurants in the South Bay? Fuggetaboutit! It’s the whole package when it comes to great dining – a fun, relaxed atmosphere, wonderful food and an owner who is passionate about every little detail.

I have been to Sicilia in Bocca (which literally means “Sicily in Your Mouth”) a dozen times, and every visit is just as memorable and pleasant as the last. Just off Monterey Road and directly behind the Morgan Hill Police Department, Sicilia in Bocca is located in a Victorian-style home that has been converted into a quaint, intimate restaurant that seats about 35. Approximately15 tables fill the dining room, and when weather permits, you can eat outside on the patio as well.

Tony is the owner, and no – his last name is not Soprano. It’s Graziano, like the famous prizefighter, which is fitting because this Tony used to actually fight in the ring. And although he's not a large man by any means, he looks like he’d be able to hold his own in a tussle. He also has a soft and very endearing side, and just talking to him, you can feel the love and conviction that he has for his establishment and his food.

Tony came to the United States in 1972 from Palermo, Sicily, working primarily in the restaurant business. His mentors along the way taught him well, including top-notch culinary maestros like Frank Sinatra’s personal chef. In October 2000, Graziano fulfilled his lifelong dream of opening his own restaurant. Sicilia in Bocca was born.

At Sicilia in Bocca, the food is without a doubt the main attraction, but Tony is a marvelous sideshow to be sure. Just listening to him describe his daily specials will have you drooling like one of Pavlov’s dogs. He also enjoys introducing diners to each other, creating a fun and comfortable atmosphere where everyone is interacting. Some patrons enjoy touring the kitchen, which Graziano encourages. If something isn’t on the menu, you can ask for it, and if the ingredients are on hand, Tony is always more than happy to oblige.

But, I must warn you. If you’re looking for your standard Italian faire – like lasagna and pizza, for example – Sicilia in Bocca may not be for you. This is real Italian cuisine, created and served by a man who grew up there and learned at age 15 how to cook from his mother. Everything Tony creates is made with the freshest produce, meat, poultry and seafood. He shops every morning for organic vegetables for his soups and salads, and only buys fish that has just recently stopped swimming. All of his pastas are made from scratch, and he even makes his own lemon liqueur.

The other night, my family and I started off the evening with a classic caesar salad ($6.00). It was in a word, bellisimo. The romaine lettuce was crunchy and the salad was not over-dressed, a common snafu when it comes to some caesars. We also had an incredible minestrone soup ($4.00/cup or $7.00/bowl) that in itself could have been an entire meal.

The main courses we ordered consisted of a fresh fish special of sautéed sea bass topped with capers, olives and tomatoes, accompanied by a pair of polenta squares (market price/just ask); a pasta dish called Pappardelle alla Modicana, ($12.00) a sausage and ricotta cheese creation with a fresh tomato sauce, and a scene-stealing meat entrée, called Medaglioni ai Funghi Porcini, ($19.00) beef medallions sautéed with dried porcini mushrooms, rosemary and a red wine demiglaze sauce. Each dish was exciting and different with a distinct blending of tantalizing flavors and textures.

Sicilia in Bocca is open for lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and for dinner Tuesday through Sunday, starting at 6:00 p.m. Reservations are required for parties of more than four people, and although he says he closes at 10:00 p.m., if there are still hungry people at the door, Tony will stay open.

Sicilia in Bocca has a great wine list, featuring a wide variety of whites and reds from Northern California and the Old Country. And the desserts, like the gelatos served in fruit bowls, are a complete delight. The address is 25 West Main Street in Morgan Hill. For reservations, call (408) 778-0399.

The fact is that Sicilia in Bocca is Tony Graziano. And that’s probably what makes this place so unique and special. The man puts his heart and soul into every aspect of the restaurant and stands behind it with extreme pride and unbridled enthusiasm. You can see it in his smile and in his twinkling eyes. You can feel it through the atmosphere and ambience that he’s created. And you can surely taste it in his outstanding food.

I can’t recommend Sicilia in Bocca enough. How much do I like this place? Let’s put it this way -- I dream about this food when I sleep at night. I always look forward to eating there again and to seeing Tony Graziano once more.

I Smell Playoffs!

I went to the LA vs. SF game last night at AT&T Park and saw the Dodgers pull out a rare ninth inning victory over their hated rivals. The Dodgers have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs now. If they can beat the Giants today or if the Philadelphia Phillies lose this morning, they are assured a spot in the postseason as a wild card entry at the very least. The also have a chance to win the NL West, because they are now tied with the San Diego Padres. Last night, the Giants' fans were out in droves, cheering wildly at a sold out game. The orange and black squad was eliminated from the playoff picture last week, so all they're really rooting for at this point is the opportunity to knock the Dodgers out of the playoffs. In a way, I think that's kind of pathetic. It has to be an empty feeling for Giants' fans. It's like, "We've failed, so now we're going to find joy in spoiling it for you." The bottom line is that the Giants and their fans are going to be watching the playoffs on TV, while the Dodgers have a very good chance of continuing their season. I'm not too confident that the Blue Crew will do very well in the postseason -- Nomar Garciaparra looked like he was really hurting last night and one of their best starting pitchers, Brad Penny, is injured -- but at least they'll be there. There was this one Giants' fan sitting right in front of us last night, and every time we cheered for the Dodgers he turned around and gave us the nastiest look. It was like we had farted or something! He kept doing it and it was so annoying. In the old days I probably would have gotten it into him, but the new Ed just stared right back at the clown. Some people! Anyway, I got to meet Keifer Sutherland and Orlando Cepeda at the game last night, which made the whole evening that much more fun!
Go Dodgers! Win it today!

Fifty Years By the Bay to be Released Next Month

(Chuck Nan is a good friend of mine and an awesome sportswriter. I met him a few years back at a Society for Baseball Research meeting at McCovey's Sports Bar in Walnut Creek. He is releasing a book called, "Fifty Years By the Bay" in mid-November. I helped him edit it and I can tell you it's the most complete and definitive history of the SF Giants that I have ever seen. To find out more about the book, visit www.fiftyyearsbythebay.com. I smell a best seller!)

Here is a bio on sports journalist and author Chuck Nan:

Chuck Nan is a sports journalist and broadcaster in the Bay Area. Nan received his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. For many years, he worked in the financial services industry, holding positions in operations, customer service and project management.After a successful business career, Nan started his own firm, SportsQuest Tours that specialized in fan travel to sporting events worldwide. He also served as Media Relations Director, and co-hosted several popular shows, for a local all-sports format radio station, covering all of the local professional and college teams and many high profile sports events.Chuck has recently turned to the written form of sports journalism. He is the Sports Editor for his hometown paper the Martinez News-Gazette. His first formally published piece was entitled “San Francisco Giants Spring Tour of Japan, March 1970” in Elysian Fields Quarterly-The Baseball Review in summer, 2004. Chuck has also had smaller articles published by SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) in their annual releases, The Baseball Research Journal and The National Pastime.Nan is also involved with youth baseball as a coach, instructor and administrator. In the past years, Chuck has worked with the San Francisco Giants Youth Baseball Summer Camp and EJ Sports, run by former Giants’ players, Rob Andrews and Erik Johnson, respectively and BayArea Baseball of Hayward. He has also worked with the baseball program at Alhambra High School in Martinez.A true native of San Francisco, Chuck grew up just 10 minutes from Candlestick Park. The Giants were his first sports love at age six, and still are. He has been a season ticket holder for many years and seen several hundred games in his life. Chuck has spent many a frigid summer night at the ’Stick watching his beloved team.Nan resides with his family in Martinez, California.

What a Dream Gig!

(This is an article I found on www.msn.com called, "The Secret Lives of a Baseball Card Writer -- I Worked for Topps and Lived to Tell About It" by David Roth. My first reaction upon reading it was, wow -- what a great job that must be. I am an absolute baseball nut and have a baseball site called www.thisgreatgame.com. I interview retired baseball players throughout Northern California for SABR (www.sabr.org). When I was a kid, I had a collection of approximately 20,000 baseball cards that took up half the space in my closet. I spent countless hours looking at them and reading the text and statistics on the back of each card. When I was in college at San Jose State, I sold them all for a pittance to some guy who must have been secretly drooling. This was around 1980, right before the big baseball card craze hit. I hate to think what those cards would be worth today. I hope whoever has them is enjoying them as much as I did in 1969!)

Here's the article:

As a child, when I had what might be called a serious baseball card habit, I looked forward to a new year of Topps baseball cards in a way I looked forward to nothing else. In the way things happen when you're a kid, baseball, basketball, and football cards took on an outsized importance in my life. And then, in the way things happen when you're a slightly older kid, cards just stopped mattering to me. I forgot about them for 15 years.
Topps became real to me again thanks to some basketball cards my roommate left around the apartment. Deep in the doldrums of underemployment, I started flipping through them while enjoying an afternoon beer. Inspired by the text on Vitaly Potapenko's 2001 Topps card (his teammates had nicknamed him "Eddie Munster") and with a courage assist from Miller High Life, I sent Topps my résumé. I figured that would be the end of it, but I got an e-mail in response. They asked how I would describe my interest in and knowledge of sports; I answered "freakish/obsessive." I got an interview, and then I got the job.
Starting a job at Topps was stressful. I was about to enter, as an adult, a place I'd always imagined as a gum-scented, Willy Wonkafied dream palace. Before my first day of work, I pictured packs piled in leaning towers, slides from long-ago Darryl Strawberry photo shoots, game-worn Mickey Tettleton jerseys. When I showed up, I found a standard corporate office: cubicles, recycled air, bad carpeting, worse lighting. There was plenty of candy—Topps makes Ring Pops, Push Pops, and Bazooka bubble gum—but few cards in sight. There was little indication that this place churned out baseball cards and not, say, bath mats.
My job was to edit the text and statistics for the card backs. These came from a Virginia-based head writer named Bruce Herman (author of the Potapenko card that led me to Topps) and a Quebecois statistician named Nicolas Chabot, respectively. I did ordinary editor things—assigned text, edited it for accuracy and aesthetics, drew elaborate geometric doodles at meetings—but was buoyed by the fact that I was doing these in a not-so-ordinary environment.
While the text was inescapably repetitive, the stuff I edited was certainly better than the "Hector's hobbies are eating and sleeping" non sequiturs that made up the Topps backs of my youth. Today's cards top out at 400 characters (including spaces), or about 70 words, and usually take the shape of punchy feature articles. My favorite was a card for the St. Louis Rams' Harvard-educated backup quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick. The back text dealt with a question posed to him by his offensive line. Figuring that perhaps he'd covered this in Cambridge, they asked Fitzpatrick what would hurt more: getting kicked by a donkey or whipped in the face by an elephant's trunk. Fitzpatrick went with the elephant slap. Bruce provided a source, and I checked it. All true. At times like that, the job was something very close to fun.
Tight deadlines created tension, but it's hard to stay stressed when your bosses are pestering you for 50 words about some punt returner's hobbies. Sadly, though, the same things that bothered me about previous corporate gigs were easy to find at Topps. Upper management was a distant, nepotistic network descending from a mysterious, largely invisible septuagenarian CEO. Below that, departments feuded with other departments. Middle managers skirmished in snarky, caps-locked e-mails CC'd to higher-ups. "Good mornings" seethed with passive aggression.
My co-workers and I shared a sense that our contributions were undervalued. My job's irrelevance—I worked on the less glamorous back half of the card, you see—was confirmed through my absence from the card-distribution rolls. At Topps, the haves receive free boxes of each new product. The have-nots, like me, do not. When I asked for boxes of the products I'd worked on, I got brushed off. Eventually, I gave in and queued up at the company store along with copy editors from the quality-assurance department.
I was frustrated not only because this wasn't what I'd expected—who even has company stores anymore?—but because a myth from my childhood got sullied. Baseball cards, it turned out, are not made in a card-cluttered candy land. Rather, they are created by ordinary men and women who are generally unawed by their proximity to a central part of American boyhood.
Neither trading cards nor "novelty candies" have been breaking any sales records recently. Consequently, Topps has banked increasingly on ultra-high-end trading cards. The company's most expensive "pack," the beautiful, autograph-laden Topps Sterling, comes in a cherry-wood box and costs $250 for five cards. While those cards make money—as, it should be said, do the basic $1.50 packs—the trading-card business has been more or less moribund for a decade. So, it wasn't a total surprise when I was laid off in July, effective mid-September.
I'm glad I got the chance to work at Topps, if only because it was fun to tell people at parties that "I'm in the baseball card business." My Topps experience also helped me remember why collectors collect. It's the hunt for what the brand managers call "white whale" cards. I know it's awfully literal, but mine is the Herman Melville card I wrote for Topps' Allen and Ginter set. That's a new product—scarce around the office, not sold in the company store, $5 a pack in card shops—in which Gilded Age cultural figures mingle with the A-Rods and Nick Puntos. Odd, I know, but I love the set.
Before I left for good, I found what I'd been searching for. It was behind a locked door, which was itself behind an ordinary-looking backroom. I flipped the switch, and lights flickered on overhead, revealing a back-backroom awash in cards. Binders lined the walls, filled with every card in every Topps baseball and football set from the 1950s through the 1990s, all pasted—why?—to white three-hole-punch paper. To get to those shelves, I had to step on and over boxes brimming with loose cards and cards in bricklike 500-count vending boxes. And that was just the cards. A box fell off a shelf and baseballs autographed by Frank Robinson rolled out. Jerseys that were to have been cut up and inserted into "relic" cards gave one dusty corner the look of a chaotic locker room. A box of bats inscribed with the names of journeymen such as Geronimo Berroa and Ron Coomer sat in another.
This back-backroom would not have looked like much to most people. I was relieved, though, to discover that the baseball card wonderland I'd dreamed of was somewhere in that office after all.

My Top 5 Continues: Gangster Movies

1.) The Godfather (1972): Any conversation about gangster films has to start with a discussion about this movie. Based on the novel by the late Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather is so much more than a film about an aging patriarch (Marlon Brando as Don Corleone) transferring control of his crime family to his youngest and least-likely son (Al Pacino as Michael Corleone). The richness of the cinematography, the poetic dialogue, the perfectly crafted script and the almost rhythmic pacing of this film all work together to make it by far the finest mobster movie ever made. With great performances by James Caan as Sonny Corleone, the hot-headed philandering son; Robert Duvall as the family consigliore, and John Cazale as Fredo Corleone, the weak-willed brother, all contribute to a wonderful tail of trust, respect, treachery and revenge. The most memorable scenes: The horse head in the bed and Clemenza teaching Michael how to make spaghetti.

2.) Goodfellas (1990): Based on the book by Nicholas Pileggi and directed by Martin Scorsese, this film is a classic for many reasons, including the sets, the music and memorable performances by Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Ray Liotta (Henry Hill) and Joe Pesci (Tommy De Vito). It’s based on the true story of Hill, who got busted and ratted out his entire family. There’s a lot of blood, cocaine and larceny in this epic, but Scorsese knows how to do it right, primarily because he grew up with a lot of the guys this movie is based on. From the opening shot all the way to the final scene, Goodfellas weaves a story together that is compelling, disturbing, but most of all – damn entertaining. The most memorable scenes: When family boss Paul Cicero (played by Paul Sorvino) has to turn his back on Henry Hill, and the scene where Pesci shoots Spider (played by Michael Imperioli, who later became a star in the HBO show, the Sopranos) for mouthing off at him while serving drinks at a poker game.

3.) Casino (1995): Another Martin Scorsese film based on a book by Nicholas Pileggi, Casino is the story of Sam “Ace” Rothstein, played by Robert De Niro. It’s actually loosely based on the story of Left Rosenthal, a big-time real-life Las Vegas gangster/gambler who ran into trouble when he got a little too big for his britches. Joe Pesci is with De Niro once again in this one, playing the out-of-control Nicky Santoro. One of the best things about this film is that Scorsese cast a bunch of comics in bit roles, including Alan King, Kevin Pollock, Dick Smothers and Don Rickles. The only thing I don’t like about this movie is the over-acting of Sharon Stone, who plays the whining, drug addled Mrs. Rothstein. I have never cared for Sharon Stone, and when I think about the fact that she got an academy award nomination for this one, I have to believe the voters were high that year. The most memorable scenes: The horrific scene where Nicky and his brother are killed with baseball bats and buried in a corn field semi-alive, and the one where Nicky loses control playing blackjack and insults and threatens the dealers. I’ve always wanted to do that!

4.) Donnie Brasco (1997): This movie was written by Paul Attanasio, based on the book by Joseph Pistone, so I guess I’m just a little biased. Al Pacino plays Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero, a sweetheart of a mobster who is loyal to a fault but not all that bright. Johnny Depp plays Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, an undercover FBI agent who gets into a big New York mob family and almost becomes the first federal agent ever to become a made man. Great performances by Michael Madsen as Sonny Black and the late Bruno Kirby as Nicky really make this one special. Some of the dialog in this film is priceless, like the conversation these goombas have about which is a better car – a Lincoln or a Cadillac. One thing I don’t care for in this one is the storyline where they show the family problems Pistone is having due to the fact that he’s working undercover and never home. Anne Heche plays his wife, who is upset all the time and a real pain in the rear. No wonder Pistone’s on the road all the time. I’d risk my life to get out of that house and away from her too! The most memorable scenes: When the boys give Lefty a pet lion and feed it hamburgers, and the scene where Pistone/Brasco almost gets his cover blown by another agent at the airport.

5.) Scarface (1983): More of a cartoon than a movie, Scarface qualifies for my top five even though Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino, isn’t Italian. He’s a Cuban exile who works his way up the crime ladder by dealing blow, killing everyone in his path and dropping more f-bombs than Andrew Dice Clay. Directed by Brain De Palma with a screenplay written by Oliver Stone, this movie is about a man who rises to the pinnacle of gangster-dom rapidly and then falls just as fast. Awesome performances by Mary Elizabeth Mastriantonio as Tony’s sister and Michelle Pfeiffer as his coked-out wife make this film a dizzying spectacle from beginning to end. The most memorable scenes: Tony Montana with the bazooka gun, yelling to his killers “Say hello to my little friend” as they descend on him in his mansion, and the scene in the restaurant when Michelle Pfeiffer tells him, “Nothing exceeds like excess Tony. You should know that.”

Runners-up: A Bronx Tale, Carlito’s Way, King of New York and Godfather II.

Forgiving Old Friends

Last night I got a very emotional phone call from an old friend who felt he had done me wrong. (Sounds like a country song, doesn't it?) Well, it was really a relief and a wonderful moment to be allowed to forgive him. What happened between us wasn't his fault, and I let him know it. I think it was a real relief for him to hear it. I meant it, too. Life is too short to hold grudges. I have a lot of friends that have people who were in their lives but are no longer, due to something that caused one or both of them to break it off. I don't want any situations like that in my life. Friends, especially long-term ones, are precious and should be treated as such. Of course, my friend also offered some A's playoff tickets as a peace offering, which was very cool. I'm a real sucker for playoff tickets! Do something real and get on the phone, jump on the computer or hop in your car and forgive someone in your life you've been estranged from. It'll make you feel a little more human and a whole lot better.

This Week's Restaurant Review: Zagora in SF

Zagora

They say variety is the spice of life. And when it comes to eating out, I couldn’t agree more. There are so many restaurants out there that serve the same exact stuff that it gets really old. Certain entrees become popular, and all of a sudden every joint in town jumps on the bandwagon. If I see one more Chicken Caesar Salad, Panini Sandwich or Veggie Lasagna on a menu, I will scream. I go out to eat because I want to try new and exciting flavors, not for things I can make at home or get to go from my local Pasta Pomidoro or Applebee’s. That’s why the idea of Moroccan food made by real Moroccans intrigued me when I visited Zagora in the SF Mission last week. I’ve had Moroccan food in the past that was not authentic faire. They had belly dancers and hummus, but the fixed price meal they served was basically barbecued chicken and pork jerky. Zagora, I am pleased to say, is the genuine article. And they don’t have belly dancers either. I love a good belly dance as much as the next person, don’t get me wrong. But, there’s just something about an undulating belly that makes me lose my appetite. It’s the same thing as ordering a meal at a strip club. Food and half-naked bodies just don’t go together. When we arrived at Zagora, the place was empty, primarily because we got there around 6 pm. My fiancée Angelina has a strong aversion to loud restaurants, and in a way I agree with her. One way to avoid this dilemma is to eat out earlier. Some places have early bird specials and getting there earlier means the restaurant isn’t as crowded -- so you get served more quickly, in most cases – so it just makes sense if it fits in with your schedule to make it an early meal if you can. The minute we walked in, our waitress was right there. I like that. Nothing upsets me more than an establishment where you have to wait for 10-15 minutes before your server comes over to your table. We were served two different types of bread with a wonderful spread that tasted like turmeric and garlic. Our waitress was very knowledgeable about the food, even though we could tell she wasn’t Moroccan. At one point, the owner came by and introduced himself. He was very helpful and described the particular dishes we inquired about with an enthusiasm that one can only get from an owner. We kicked off the festivities with a Momona Salad ($6), which consists of honey-glazed roasted carrots, Atlas Mountain cured black olives, grapefruit and nice, light vinaigrette that wasn’t overpowering. Sometimes I regret ordering vinaigrette, because they can be so tangy and complex that your taste buds get badly confused. For appetizers, we also sampled the Merguez Sausage ($8), which featured the aromatic signature Moroccan sausage, accompanied by hummus, a celery root puree and horse radish yogurt. Now, this is what I came for! The Merguez sausage has the flavor of linguicia and chorizo, with a little Italian sausage thrown in. The texture is gritty, which I love. The hummus was some of the best I’ve ever tasted. For entrees, we had the Lamb Tajine ($16.50), which came in a clay tajine pot, and consisted of roasted lamb shank, apricots, dried prunes, goma seeds and steamed couscous. Oh my! The flavors hit the palate with a vengeance and were so interesting that each one overlapped the next. We also had the Saweera Prawns Tajine ($15.75) which came with orange blossoms and organic roma tomatoes. For the price, I didn’t think there were enough prawns and the flavors were too basic for my liking. The Kobe Beef Kefta ($15) was a winner, my only criticism being that the meatballs of Kobe beef were a bit dry. Other than that, the sauce of garlic and tomatoes was outstanding. Overall, I would recommend Zagora, if for nothing else than the fact that it offers flavors that can’t be found anywhere else but in Morocco. With a plethora of restaurants to choose in SF, I don’t know if I’ll go back any time soon, simply because they’re so many other exciting places to eat in this town. But if you crave Moroccan, it’s a solid spot with reasonable prices and a passionate owner, sans bare bellies and loud clapping. Zagora is at 1007 Guerrero Street and their phone number is: (415) 282-6444. Their web site is: http://www.zagorarestaurant.com/.

Only Your True Friends Will Tell You

(We have all had that one friend whose breath is so bad you can hear it. And it always seems to be the same person who has to consistently violate your personal space and get about six inches away from your face before talking to you. I had bad breath for about 2 decades, until my good friend Roger Henson turned me on to dental floss while we were on vacation in Puerta Vallarta. I guess he felt it had become a crisis situation one day when I breathed on a burro and it died.)
www.msn.com had this list called the "Top Five Causes of Bad Breath"

1. A dirty mouth. “Ninety percent of mouth odors come from mouth itself—either from the food you eat or bacteria that’s already there,” says Dr. Richard H. Price spokesman for American Dental Association. “Mouth odor is like any other body odor—the result of microbes living in the body giving off byproducts.” In the mouth, this means bacteria that normally live in the mouth interact with food particles, blood, tissue, etc., to create volatile (i.e., stinky) sulfur compounds. If you don’t clean properly, the bacteria build up, and next thing you know—that’s not toothpaste on your tongue.

2. A mouth out of balance. Certain mouth conditions can exacerbate bacterial growth and odor, such as gum disease and dry mouth. Gum disease causes bloody gums, creating more elements for those pesky bacteria to putrefy. But it is a dry mouth that is the more common cause of bad breath. Saliva helps flush out the mouth, keeping bacteria moving so they don’t settle down and multiply, while drier mouth is a breeding ground for bacteria. In spring and summer, allergy medications can dry you out; in winter, dry heat tends to be the culprit.

3. Stinky foods. If it stinks going in, chances are it’s going to stink coming out. The obvious offenders are onions, garlic, alcohol and tobacco. And foods don’t only create a stench in the mouth. “Plant oils are absorbed and the byproducts enter your bloodstream so you are actually breathing the odors out via your lungs three to four hours later,” says Jeannie Moloo, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. [Full disclosure: Moloo is the author’s cousin.]

4. Not enough carbs. You look great after four weeks on Atkins, so how come you still can’t get a date? High-protein, low-carb diets cause your body to burn stored fats for fuel instead of carbs and can lead to a condition called ketosis. “As fat burns, ketones build up in the body, and some are released through breath,”explains Moloo. “Unfortunately ketones don’t smell particularly good.” And bad breath trumps six-pack abs.

5. Illness. Occasionally, bad breath can be a sign of a more serious illness. The most common systemic causes of bad breath are diabetes or GERD (or gastro esophageal reflux disease). Diabetes can also cause ketosis, and the resulting bad breath is sometimes one of first symptoms that lead to diagnosis. GERD is a backflow of acid from the stomach to the esophagus. Less common but possible are liver or kidney disease—when toxins from these organs are excreted through the lungs, causing bad breath.