sanfrancicso

Every week, we'll be featuring a guest post from the travel writers behind Worth the Drive, a blog featuring nearby getaways, festivals, and sweet travel deals on NBC Bay Area.

Yosemite's family-friendly ski resort Badger Pass has finally opened as of last week. Ten slopes, five lifts, and 24 new inches, courtesy of the recently wallop of storms, have made the area ready for skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. DNC Parks & Resorts are offering a myriad of packages, including the new "Two for Tuesdays" deal -- don't look too deeply there, it is two lift tickets for one price -- as well as a more out-sized "Stay and Play Package" which has a lot of adds, including a Valley Floor Tour (highly recommended).

Read more... 

On Friday's Day Around the Bay, we bring you news about yet another brazen daytime sexual assault in Oakland, Tim Lincecum's party pad, a new beer brewery opening in the Mission, San Jose State terror, and... [ more › ]

While doing research for his new book in Somalia, LA-based writer and former SF Weekly theater critic Michael Scott Moore was kidnapped by pirates. His captors have threatened to kill him if a specified ransom isn't paid. Former SF Weekly editor John Mecklin had this to say about his friend and colleague's plight: [ more › ]

US Olympic trampoline team hopeful Elena Williams, up high, demonstrates the Polk ultra fit sports headphone at the Macworld iWorld Expo happening now through Saturday at Moscone Center West in San Francisco. [ more › ]

On Wednesday night, I made my way to State Bird Provisions, the quirky restaurant opened by married-couple Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinsky. The sliver of a space is located on the part of Fillmore Street right across from Yoshi's—the one the city is trying so hard to spruce up. Hapa Ramen is set to come in along here too. Still, gentrification alarmists can celebrate the fact that this stretch of town still offers plenty of funk. The first time I dined here, on the way out, some drunk guy tossed a beer bottle at me—gently, I might add—and missed.

State Bird is clearly a meeting of two minds that think very much alike. I guess that's what happens when you've been together since you were in college, plus spent five years in the kitchen of Rubicon racking up accolades before the Financial District restaurant closed.

Brioza does the savory. Krasinsky does the pastry. And their sensibility leans towards an oddball, global use of ingredients that often come together to be delicious is a way you couldn't have imagined.

Barring a few shared plates on the menu, the service is done by cart and tray, kind of like dim sum but nothing like dim sum too. It's a really whimsical and fun idea, but I'm not sure it does the good food any favors. You barely get to relish what's in front of you before something else comes along. But I also know that Brioza and Krasinsky are still feeling this whole service concept out.

I don't want to be the spoiler for the article that will be running in the 7x7 March issue, but let me tell you a few things not to miss here: Potato chips with orange pearls of salmon roe sitting atop creme fraiche and horseradish. (I'm going to transfer this simple yet genius idea to my next dinner party and drink lots of Champagne with it.) The beef-tongue pastrami sandwich with warm bone marrow vinaigrette is another must. There are only six desserts, and they're all small in size. If you have enough people to try them all, I recommend it. The buckwheat bao with lime cloud cream and huckleberry is addictive. Thanks to Krasinsky (and not just that guy at KK Cafe on Divisadero Street), peanut milk is going to be the next new thing. Inquire within.

On the home cooking front, yesterday while in Oakland, I rediscovered my love for Arizmendi's wolvarine rolls, studded with dried cherries, apricots, golden raisins and walnuts. I used to get them years ago, and I'm going to be headed to the Valencia Street location to rekindle that relationship. I also got a loaf of their corn-oat molasses bread (which in SF is only available on Fridays at their Irving Street location). It's kind of what I consider a hippy bread. It's not Frenchy or chewy or sour. It's just homey and gets crisp in just the right way. For breakfast this morning, I sliced it thick, toasted it, spread on plenty of butter and then topped with chestnut honey from Boulettes Larder. With a little bowl of sliced orange and a cup of Ritual Roasters coffee, my morning was pretty sweet.

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on SFist.

• The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Relentless from the start, Team in Training participants are focused on raising money for cancer patients and their families. Sign up and get involved.
• Asian Art Museum. Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts - now through April 2012.
• Recology. We are what we save.
• American Apparel, with 3 stores in San Francisco, you can look your best any time.
• How About We, for people who understand that you don't date online.

If you're interested in advertising on SFist or any other site in our network, check out our online mediakit. [ more › ]

When former Castro Supervisor Bevan Dufty announced he'd be working a public transit gig down in the peninsula, we guessed it wouldn't be too long before the unsuccessful candidate for mayor bounced back in to a proper city job. Just five weeks after that announcement, Mayor Lee has stepped up with a new gig for Dufty: overseer of the city's homeless policy efforts and housing issues. [ more › ]

Click through to see the entire gallery!

This town knows music. On any given night, you can find whatever genre you're jonesing to hear, sing, or dance along with. Here's a taste of what happened in the San Francisco music scene the past seven days...

This week Willie Brown imports his tailgate meats from Tennessee, dispels Mirkarimi conspiracy theories and memorializes SFMOMA's leading lady. [ more › ]

Over the next few days, Facebook could file an IPO. Raising as much as $10 billion at a valuation anywhere between $75 billion to $100 billion, it stands to be "one of the biggest-ever U.S. public debuts." What does this mean for investors of the social media mammoth? It means they will make disgusting amounts of money. Lots of it. More than you could possibly imagine. Citing anonymous sources, the Wall Street Journal reports: [ more › ]

Welcome to our weekly 'Ask a Vet from the SF SPCA' feature on 7x7.com. Dr. Jeannine Berger, DVM, DACVB is a board certified veterinary behaviorist who counsels guardians whose pets’ issues are beyond the scope of training. Think of her as a pet shrink…at your service.

I moved to a new house and now my cat sprays urine on my front door, walls and windows. I love my cat, but she is ruining my new home. What can I do?

If your cat backs into the wall with her tail up and squirts small amounts of urine on vertical surfaces such as the wall, front door or windows, she is marking, most often triggered by territoriality or stress. The triggers can seem benign to us, such as a new home, new furniture, or the smell or view of a strange cat strolling through the yard or passing by your front door. 

This is a normal feline behavior; some cats use urine as a form of communication. In order to get the marking behavior under control, you need to do a number of things all at once.

1. Because the odor of urine draws cats back to previously marked areas, you will have to clean all soiled areas with an enzymatic cleanser. You should take a black light to help you locate all the spots in your house - you may have one left over from college dorm days; urine will glow yellow-green in the dark. As the amounts are often small, you might be missing areas where your cat sprays. Additionally, be really conscientious about littler box hygiene. See our last Ask A Vet post for the checklist.

2. Try to identify any new stresses in your cat’s life. Then, figure out how to limit them. It can also help to initially confine your cat to a separate part of the house where she is more comfortable.

3. Enrich your cat’s environment by providing more resting and hiding places, multiple feeding locations, scratching boxes and posts and interactive toys.  Meal times can be made more interesting by hiding small quantities of food around the house or using feed dispensing toys to keep an indoor cat busy and less worried about things going on outside the home.

4. A feline facial pheromone, Feliway®, is another option that may help decrease the urine marking. 

Troubleshooting Litter Box Problems

1. Always begin by consulting your veterinarian to rule out medical causes.
2. Refer to the checklist
3. VERY IMPORTANT: Do not punish your cat for marking, this can make your cat even more anxious.
4. In some cases the triggers can not be found or avoided and medication is needed to control the cats anxiety. Talk to your veterinarian or consult with a board certified veterinary behaviorist. 

Kelly Carlin pays tribute to her legendary dad, Mary Lincoln gets some long-overdue recognition, and S.F. State students honor sticker art. [ more › ]

A man was hit by a driver while riding his bike across Fell Street at Lyon Thursday night at approximately 9:45 pm. The victim, 25, appeared to have just entered the crosswalk from a pathway on the Panhandle when the driver, a 30-year-old woman, hit him from the side.

Police said the victim was lucid and his condition was not serious, though he was transported to San Francisco General Hospital for minor injuries. Park Station Captain John Feeney said a citation would not be issued because the victim’s condition was not life-threatening and the driver stayed on the scene and called the police.

According to officers at the scene, the driver said she was driving in the left lane in search of a parking space when the bicyclist appeared in front of her car unexpectedly. The driver and bicyclist gave conflicting stories about who had the red light, and other witnesses were not available to testify. Feeney said the bicyclist would not be faulted and that it would be treated as an “accident.”

Fell, a one-way street that acts as a four-lane, one-way residential freeway alongside a major bike route on the Panhandle, is known for its dangerous conditions and high volumes of car traffic. Possible factors in the crash include poor visibility hindered by cars parked next to the crosswalk as well as the driver’s speed. An officer questioning her was overheard saying the size of the victim’s impact on the windshield indicated that she “must have been going pretty fast.”

See more photos after the break.

A concerned citizen with absolutely no sense of the value of good marijuana spotted an attended bag on the sidewalk near a Richmond District bus stop early Wednesday. Upon inspection, he saw a tear in the bag, and identified the contents as pot. What did he do? High-five the nearest stranger and high-tail it back to his man cave? No, he immediately called police. [ more › ]

Flamenco, Modern, Gyrokinesis—learn all the smooth moves this Saturday when Alonzo King LINES Dance Center opens its doors for a full day of classes. The cost to you? $5. All day long. Test your stamina by seeing just how many classes you can handle. Amateurs don't be shy—the dance school welcomes all levels, giving extra credit to the brave newbies. Take a cue from the old Aerosmith song and "Shut Up and Dance." 1-5 p.m., Sat. 1/28; Alonzo King LINES Dance Center, 26th Seventh St., 5th Floor, 415-863-3040, ext. 221, linesballet.org

Your drugs are about to get more expensive! Federal authorities announced the conclusion of a four-year investigation into a large, high-level, West Coast drug-trafficking ring, indicting and arresting 20 people in the Bay Area and another 20 in Seattle in connection with the ring. Eight of the defendants were arraigned in federal court in S.F. Wednesday. [ more › ]

We're getting word that President Barack Obama and his inarguably divine wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, will be in San Francisco on February 16th for a fundraising dinner and reception. It's all part of a west coast three-day swing that will include stops in LA and Seattle. Ticket prices to see President Obama at a reception prior to the dinner will start at $100. Dinner ticket prices to the dinner? A hell of a lot more. Though not confirmed, the Obama fundraiser dinner will be at local writer and society stud Robert Mailer Anderson's abode. [ more › ]

Clear  18°C

Wind: NE 4 m/s Pressure: 30 mbar Visibility: N/A Humidity: 73% Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:10