Today's Look: Brook, 16th Street and Lapidge

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When I was fourteen, Snorkel Mom and I went to Japan to visit my Japanese “grandma” Kiyo. She lived in Tokyo and I remember one morning walking with her to a tiny, closet-sized building that had housed the neighborhood tofu shop in the very same spot for several hundred years. We took home a block of the freshest, most exquisite tofu I had ever eaten -- nothing like the hard blocks of flavorless tofu found at most stores here in the States. So when I heard that there was a small company making fresh, traditional tofu in Oakland, I knew it would be worth hopping over the Bay to see what they had to offer. Read more »

Today's Look: Sandra (with Leon), 18th Street and San Carlos

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Today's Look: Coco, 23rd St. and Valencia

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Today's Look: Sarah, 24th St. and Poplar

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Up on the second floor of an industrial warehouse in SOMA, you can find a small, stylishly decorated loft filled with secret spirits. I'm not talking about a haunted house. I'm talking about the Secret Wine Shop. It's also the home of owner Christy Bergman -- and homebase for her endeavor to bring unique and delicious wines to an eager audience, in a nontraditional and extremely intimate environment.

On July 25, I went to Bergman's Portuguese food and wine event, which was a collaboration with lenga|lenga, a new catering biz specializing in traditional Portuguese flavors.  Needless to say, it was one secret that deserves to be shared.

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Like "okra" or "golf," the word "ballet" can elicit a very strong reaction. Either its two syllables make you giddy, the same way a perfectly sauteed pan of okra can make you salivate, or make you instantly nod off, like the thought of 18 holes of golf. (No offense to golf lovers … I personally just don't really get it). Fortunately for everyone on both sides of the ballet divide, there's Post:Ballet, a relatively young dance company that is breathing new life into the dance form -- and which brings something that almost anyone will find quite likable indeed.

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I'm sure all the travel stories in this week's issue are making you jealous, especially when it's raining fog outside and acting rather un-summery. But I have a secret to tell you. One of the best things about traveling is the food, and if you can find a restaurant here in San Francisco with authentic enough dishes in their kitchen, eating out can be almost as good as getting a new stamp in your passport. Here is one of them.

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