Year: 2014

FWD—Fishing with Dynamite

Written by diana on November 18, 2014. Posted in Restaurants.

Hamachi I first learned about this restaurant in Manhattan Beach (Los Angeles) in a January 22, 2014 New York Times review. It is amazing that such a tiny restaurant in a beachy little neighborhood received coverage from the premier East Coast cognoscenti. First and foremost, Fishing with Dynamite is a knockout—East Coast meets West Coast for...

“Olive Kitteridge”—Scenes from a Marriage, or A Bitter Edge

Written by diana on November 7, 2014. Posted in Television reviews. 1 Comment on “Olive Kitteridge”—Scenes from a Marriage, or A Bitter Edge

The HBO mini-series based on Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Olive Kitteridge” delivers big time! With a stellar cast led by the astounding Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins, we see the two main characters Olive and Henry vacillate between love and despair, kindness and absence of human connection. Scenes from a marriage...

La Balena—A whale of a meal

Written by diana on November 3, 2014. Posted in Restaurants. 2 Comments on La Balena—A whale of a meal

For a town like Carmel, it is exciting to find a restaurant that can really rival a good one in San Francisco. I think La Balena nails it! We started off with Polpo Grigliato (grilled octopus with potatoes, anchovy aioli, lemon and parsley). I have to confess that I am obsessed with this cephalopod. If octopus is on the menu, I have to try...

TBD–Totally Beautiful Dinner

Written by diana on October 29, 2014. Posted in Local travel, Restaurants.

The second San Francisco restaurant in SoMa from the entrepreneurs, Matt Semmelhack and chef Mark Liberman, TBD –“To Be Determined”– serves a very different menu from AQ (their first restaurant located next door). The menu focuses on wood-fired small plates, mostly served in cast iron pans, prepared on a custom hearth and...

“Skeleton Twins” — A Second Chance

Written by diana on October 19, 2014. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “Skeleton Twins” — A Second Chance

[Guest blogger Anthony Berteaux is a sophomore at San Diego State University majoring in drama and journalism. He writes a column for The Daily Aztec, (an independent campus newspaper) and his most recent article is “Die-in Protests Fuel the Fire”.] The best kinds of love stories are the ones that aren’t romantic...

“Gone Girl” –Fast and Furious

Written by diana on October 13, 2014. Posted in movie reviews. 3 Comments on “Gone Girl” –Fast and Furious

Gone Girl Probably the blockbuster film of 2014, “Gone Girl” has received both critical praise and Oscar buzz since its debut on October 3. Sometimes, while bringing a book to life in a movie, a lot is lost in translation—-not in this case. Both the book and the film are so damn good, perhaps because the extraordinary author,...