Food Stains of Authenticity

[ Above: Soir Bleu, Edward Hopper. Title: Food Stains of Authenticity™, C.M.Wilson, 1984—really.]

Coming Soon!

Appetizer  The art and food musings of a life-long public doodler. From the same folks who brought you Tea With McNair comes Food Stains of Authenticity (trombone fanfare.) Herein, my observations, drawings, and words of the wide world of food and wine. I see restaurants as grand theatre—from truck stops and diners, to sidewalk cafes, and boudoir Bordeaux. Add red wine with big tannins, semi-sweet chocolate, great conversation, and stir.   

    Return soon, for our quiet little grand opening: Autumn 2009.

    Return often, for a glass of something old and red that you can't see through.

Hot&Cold As the days are getting shorter, my beverage choices are getting hotter. As the name of my other blog site—TeaWithMcNair—suggests, I am a hot tea fellow. I can enjoy a cup of strong hot tea on any day of the year, in any climate, and under any weather conditions. I have had a good cup of Twining's Irish Breakfast in my hotel's tea room on a sunny day in London, smoky Lap-song at Imperial Tea on a rainy day in San Francisco, and whatever they were pouring at an outdoor cafe in the Medina (old city) in Marrakesh, Morocco—with humus and warm, fresh pita. (They offered me Bedouin coffee. I ordered hot tea because I had already tried Arab coffee. I asked for tea.)
    With the shortening days, and cooler nights come mulled wine. (Do not wait for a week before Christmas to mull your Zins and Cabs, the spices are available year 'round—as is cider, clove, cinnamon, and other great spices.)

    But, by far, one of my favorite treats of the season in egg nog. There are, of course many versions of this alliance of cows and chickens:
- Straight = egg nog
- Presbyterian = egg nog with a shot of hmmmm
- Catholic = hmmmm with a shot of egg nog
or, as we Episcopalians serve it,
- Here's your Chistmas Joy. We also have egg nog in the far corner.
    Something that amazes me every "Holiday season" is how egg nog suddenly appears everwhere—usually late October, just before All Hollows Eve. But then, on Christmas Day, at about 7:15 PM, it vanishes like the beverage version of Brigadoon. (Listen to the music HERE)

    It makes me crazy. Try as I amy, I never grab that last carton in the refridgerator at my market. But when I do, I try to savor it as long as I can. My hope is to always raise a small flagon of nog on my birthday‚the fourth day of the year. (Write it down.)

 

Discovering  Old Friends in the pages of my old sketchbooks is always inspiring. I am thumbing through several recent sketchbooks looking for ideas for new book projects. Along the way I am finding scores of sketches from numerous cafes and ohter eateries along the trail. I Post-It each one as they may end up in my Food Stains book. 

Almost every drawing has an actual food, tea, or wine stain on it and thus a host of memories that trigger all the senses. Maybe this is why I so enjoy meeting friends—for work or play—over a meal. These days, I spend several hours each day in my home-studio (loft) working on a range of projects. By late afternoon (on the good days) I am recamped in one of a handful of local (within a couple miles) cafes, java joints, and tea salons.

While there I will mostly be writing on my MacBook. [I'm NOT a PC.] I also spend a part of my time sketching, "thinking out loud" in my sketchbook and actually writing, longhand, in my sketchbook, with a fountain pen.

A few favorites: Crosstown Coffee, Java Rama, and Numi Tea Salon (in the midst of the Numi Tea Co. corporate offices.)

Here are a few quick snapshots of recent Discoveries. (click photo to enlarge):



And one of my favorites, below, while dining in the elegant Union Pacific, NYC. The kitchen is behind large panes of hand-made (rippled) glass.

Writing Came into "The City" (San Francisco) today to see my friend Susan on NPR's delightful West Coast Live, hosted by Sedge Thomson. Alas, the show was not live today as AT&T had taken the weekend off so the connection from the ferry building to the radio station was out of order, or something. (It will air 27 Sept.) 

After there was lunch with a handful of friends, and now I am camped out for the rest of the afternoon and evening in one of my favorite writing spots, North Beach's Cafe Zoetrope.  

I am reminded of playwright David Mamet's little book, Writing In Restaurants. A delicious pairing of Mamet's musings with Mr. Copola's Claret.

A perfect afternoon. (I'll do laundry tomorrow, after church.)

Now where is she? Who is she?

[Below, Photo Right, Xavier, my favorite waiter and Peter, mixologist, wine wizard, and North Beach legend.]

[ Above, Photo Left, Francis Ford Coppola's Sentinel Building with the red-awninged Cafe Zoetrope on the ground floor. Try the Pizza Sofia and a glass of Claret or red Zinfandel! ]