Month: August 2013

  • Sanraku

    friend of mine took me to his favorite sushi joint in sf.  sanraku. sushi was amazing.  incredibly fresh fish.  we did the omakase (chef’s choice), and was very happy with everything.

    started off with some cold silken tofu with cold dashi.  a couple of strips of fried fish.  fresh raw octopus. and grilled soba.  this was the “appetizer” portion.

    2013-08-21 18.15.47

    then 17 types of seafood came out.  fresh prawn, uni, goeduck, salmon belly, chu toro, anago (fresh water eel) and a bunch of other stuff i can’t remember.

    2013-08-21 18.37.15

    with 1 large beer, bill came out to 160.  200 with tip.  definitely will be back.

    now my all time favorite place was and still is zushi puzzle on lombard, however, going to zushi puzzle takes weeks to get a seat at the chef’s counter.  sanraku, same day reservation.  i can make a reservation the day of at sanraku, and spend less.  doesn’t have the selection as zushi puzzle, but very happy overall.  this will probably be my go to sushi spot.

     

  • fred

    i must have been 15 or 16 when i first met fred.  he was the father of my friend from hs.  he was arab.  he was christian, go figure. his ex-wife took their daughter and married another man.  he raised his two boys on his own. he worked 13 hours a day, 7 days a week.  i don’t think he ever took a vacation.  he was blatant and never without an opinion. if you didn’t know any better, you’d think he hated everybody.  he could tell you something wrong with every race, including his own. he’ll tell you all jew’s were the devil.  his best friend was a jew. he didn’t cook, but when ever anyone was over, he always ordered food, because he said, guests should always have food available to them. old school. 
     
    when i got to the house yesterday, i saw some people from hs.  i ran into a guy that used to pick on me because i was a scrawny 100 lb kid.  he didn’t even recognize me, but of course, i recognized my aggressor. he said i looked familiar.  i said “motherfucker, you used to pick on me all the damn time.”  i’m a lot bigger and stronger now, and could have easily punked him the way he used to punk me. he apologized for being a bully. we man-hugged it out.  i think my ability to speak openly, is something i picked up from fred.
     
    fred was 68.  i’ve been told that in the recent years, he made peace with his ex-wife, and were on good terms. his grand daughter is a beautiful teenager now.  as i stood there with old friends and acquaintances, i said, “man, i hate that every time i see you guys, its because of something like this.”  i hate the fact that i’m only a few blocks away, but haven’t seen fred in over 10 years.  i hate that i never got to say goodbye. 
     
    r.i.p. fred.