Local Flavor | The Food Party! | Laura Stec | Palo Alto Online |

Local Blogs

The Food Party!

By Laura Stec

E-mail Laura Stec

About this blog: I've been attracted to food for good and bad reasons for many years. From eating disorder to east coast culinary school, food has been my passion, profession & nemesis. I've been a sugar addict, a 17-year vegetarian, a food and en...  (More)

View all posts from Laura Stec

Local Flavor

Uploaded: Aug 27, 2015

Now and again, fellow Food Partiers! send along info on what's happening around town. And I love new adventures. So, honoring all things fun-in-the-hood, we're starting a new Food Party! feature:

Local Flavor
Happenings & Hippenings we can all party to.

Milbrae Art and Wine Festival
September 5 & 6

The "Big Easy" comes to the Bay Area for a sun-splashed, Mardi Gras-style fun Labor Day weekend. I don't even think I have been to downtown Milbrae so here's the perfect reason to explore some new territory.

Artisan specialty food purveyors on-hand sampling incredible edibles. Fudge, olive oil, dips, spices, sauces, garlic mushrooms, stuffed olives, mustards, pickled garlic; it's a big Food Party! There'll also be a "Hops Haven" microbrew tasting tent, plenty of festive eats, live music, 250 artists ?all with that Milbrae flare. Free round trip shuttle service from the Millbrae BART/Caltrain station - 10 am to 5:30 pm.

Blacksmith
Just checked out this newby bar in Redwood City. It opened in May as an upscale dive bar with signature drinks and friendly service. Found all those to be true, and really loved the street-facing community counter with plenty of place to sit and watch Redwood City go by. From that vantage, you can look across the street right into a dance studio and watch everyone practicing their moves. That was fun!



Cute bartender says Blacksmith is packed later in the week, but E and I went on Monday, and had plenty of place for an outdoor summer drink and cozy chat.




What's hot in your hood?

Blacksmith
2048 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063

Democracy.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by Laura Stec, a Palo Alto Online blogger,
on Aug 27, 2015 at 8:20 pm

Laura Stec is a registered user.

Hippening = hip happening


Posted by Stefon, a resident of another community,
on Aug 28, 2015 at 12:36 am

Sunnyvales hottest club is: Booooooooof. (With nine Os.)
Description: Located at an abandoned orphanage on the Lower Lower East Side of Maude, this round-the-clock puke party is creation of narcoleptic club owner Snoozin? Lucci.
This place has everything: Pugs, geezers, doo-wop groups, a wise old turtle that looks like Quincy Jones ? and you?ll have your own When Harry Met Sally moment when you share a special kiss with Gizblow, the coked-up gremlin.


Posted by Stefon, a resident of another community,
on Aug 28, 2015 at 7:26 am

Stefon, well now there's some writing. I like everything but the puke part.


Posted by NW Resident, a resident of North Whisman,
on Aug 28, 2015 at 9:22 am

In Blacksmith's previous incarnation, it was known as The Living Room and some of the owners there were pretty nutty with Booooooooof-style things happening in the alley behind the place. A few years ago the same owners also tried to open a restaurant next door on the corner, but it failed miserably due to mismanagement.

Hopefully the new bar will be successful and the location has a lot to offer.


Posted by Jay, a resident of another community,
on Aug 28, 2015 at 10:29 am

I've been to Blacksmith and absolutely love it. It is such a fun place to hang out and the vibe is great. I definitely recommend this bar. I am so happy it came to RWC.


Posted by Water, a resident of another community,
on Aug 28, 2015 at 2:43 pm

Water is a registered user.

Stefon - my husband and I not only miss you on SNL, we can't stop laughing at your post :-)

Ummmm, "an upscale dive bar"? No no no no no. You can be one or the other, but not both. You can also be an upscale bar with signature drinks, or a dive bar with signature drinks, but that's where it ends. It actually sounds like a high end *faux* dive bar, which makes it an upscale, potentially smug hipster hangout, aka for smugsters. No thanks! I'm grateful that Deadwood City still has some real dive bars.


Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of another community,
on Aug 29, 2015 at 8:13 am

Water - I used to think a dive bar was a scuzy place too - but actually as discussed in Best High Dives to Watch the Game, some define dive bar as the place where "everyone knows your name." Nothing to do with the look, but more the feel.

Web Link


Posted by Poor reporting, a resident of another community,
on Aug 31, 2015 at 6:57 am

"Cute bartender?" What kind of reporting is that?


Posted by Reader, a resident of another community,
on Aug 31, 2015 at 7:32 am

@Poor reporting:

Laura Stec is not a staff journalist for Embarcadero Media. She's a blogger.

Weblogging (a.k.a. blogging) is a more personal form of online communication and often includes personal opinions, conjecture, emotional commentary and other material that is atypical of modern journalism.


Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of Portola Valley,
on Aug 31, 2015 at 7:52 am

Sorry Poor reporting, but at least "cute" is a real word, right?


Posted by Lili, a resident of another community,
on Aug 31, 2015 at 10:00 am

I cannot imagine any person being described as "cute" would be offended. Get over yourself poor reporting.


Posted by Steve, a resident of Shoreline West,
on Aug 31, 2015 at 11:33 am

> "Cute bartender?" What kind of reporting is that?

At least she didn't say Like Horse *****


Posted by kirfly, a resident of another community,
on Aug 31, 2015 at 6:26 pm

Poor reporting?
Women's ages, hair colors, clothing, make up, weight are all commonly reported on in actual news articles, irrespective of the achievement which makes them newsworthy. This is true of Nobel prize winning scientists. Why is mentioning that a bartender is cute, in a BLOG, worth being outraged about? Is it because a girl might be judging a guy based on appearance. Well, welcome to a woman's world, every day...... and I am sorry if I am not more sympathetic for your outrage.


Posted by poor reporting, a resident of another community,
on Aug 31, 2015 at 7:10 pm

If the "blogger" not reporter had said the woman behind the counter was "hot," everyone would be up in arms.


Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of another community,
on Aug 31, 2015 at 8:10 pm

Who said the bartender was a man?


Posted by :Laura Stec, a resident of another community,
on Aug 31, 2015 at 8:42 pm

Poor reporting, I'm glad you came - real discussions make great parties. I thought about you throughout the day and wondered what the problem with "cute" might be?
When I cook privately I can listen to the radio/NPR. For 5 hours today, I paid attention to how reporters describe things. KQED Forum was on marine life. Funny enough, Paul Rodgers, Mercury News reporter, said when media talks marine animals, they "must use the word cute" in order to attract readers. So animals ok - people, no? Later a reporter said a "group of dodgy-looking people." Ok? There are a lot of negative personal descriptions in media - think Clinton and Trump. So negative personal comments are ok / not demeaning,but positive personal comments are not ok because they are demeaning?

Or maybe you think my use of "cute" was too subjective or informal? Then that's a whole other story.

It's all interesting though.

Do tell.


Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of Portola Valley: Westridge,
on Sep 1, 2015 at 4:26 pm

OK, what do you guys think about this? Poor Reporting objected because he/she thinks "cute" means "hot," and "hot" means "sexual", and sexual (or the smallest taste of) doesn't belong in a newspaper (he sees this as such). Well, I think that says something about Poor Reporting... you dirty little stayout. Cute means hot, since when? The comment has opened an interesting conversation off-blog. What men can say in public, what women can say. Also, dis-ing someone in media is fine but don't you compliment them. Interesting, no?

So much here to explore.


Posted by Water, a resident of another community,
on Sep 2, 2015 at 1:38 pm

Water is a registered user.

Oh, Laura, I'm too much of a realist to believe that description of a dive bar :-)


Posted by Poor reporting, a resident of another community,
on Sep 2, 2015 at 1:41 pm

My objection is to the term "cute bartender." This is a blog posting that will be published online and perhaps in two newspapers. When I read a review of a restaurant from a food critic such as Michael Bauer pr Peter Wells, I expect to learn about the food, the ambiance and the service at a restaurant, not a rating of its wait staff.


Posted by Reader, a resident of another community,
on Sep 2, 2015 at 5:49 pm

@Poor reporting:

Clearly, Laura did not post a restaurant review à la Bauer.

You still don't get what a blog is.

Worse, you don't get this specific blog; Laura has been quite consistent in her tone and style over her posting history.

If you don't like her style, don't read her blog, but you are wrong for calling it "bad reporting." She's not a reporter. SHE'S A BLOGGER.


Posted by Reader, a resident of another community,
on Sep 2, 2015 at 5:55 pm

Oh yeah, if you want to read Michael Bauer, go read Michael Bauer. If he doesn't review this bar, well, feel free to ask him why, but don't expect everyone else who writes about this property to provide a full-blown restaurant review like a paid restaurant reviewer will write.

Since you haven't figured this out, people write things for different reasons on the Internet. LAURA IS NOT A TRADITIONAL MAINSTREAM NEWSPAPER JOURNALIST. She is under no obligation to provide a full-blown restaurant review.

Go read the stuff from the people who are paid to review restaurants if you want a full-blown restaurant review.

Anyhow, welcome to the Internet. We hope you like the rest of it.


Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of Portola Valley: Westridge,
on Sep 2, 2015 at 9:06 pm

Wow everyone, it's a Party! Thanks for coming.

Poor Reporting, I am glad you clarified, and actually, your expectation is understandable, if this was a newspaper restaurant review. But it's not. Local Flavor is my idea - not an assignment. And actually, I never asked the bartender their name. I didn't even know I was going to feature Blacksmith when I was there. When I sat down to write, I didn't know how to refer to the person I spoke with. So in playful Food Party! style, I made up a nickname. If I was a news reviewer - I would have gotten their real name before I published.

Do you think the paper might ever consider me for a real restaurant review?

I promise not to use cute.


Posted by Steve, a resident of Shoreline West,
on Sep 3, 2015 at 10:55 am

How can you not mention the San Jose Bacon Festival - Sept 5-6? Bacon deserves its own level in the Food Pyramid.


Follow this blogger.
Sign up to be notified of new posts by this blogger.

Email:

SUBMIT

Post a comment

Sorry, but further commenting on this topic has been closed.

Stay informed.

Get the day's top headlines from Palo Alto Online sent to your inbox in the Express newsletter.

Burning just one "old style" light bulb can cost $150 or more per year
By Sherry Listgarten | 12 comments | 3,030 views

Banning the public from PA City Hall
By Diana Diamond | 26 comments | 2,177 views

Pacifica’s first brewery closes its doors
By The Peninsula Foodist | 0 comments | 1,920 views

Holiday Fun in San Francisco- Take the Walking Tour for An Evening of Sparkle!
By Laura Stec | 11 comments | 1,518 views

Premiere! “I Do I Don’t: How to build a better marriage” – Here, a page/weekday
By Chandrama Anderson | 2 comments | 1,447 views

 

Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund

For the last 30 years, the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund has given away almost $10 million to local nonprofits serving children and families. 100% of the funds go directly to local programs. It’s a great way to ensure your charitable donations are working at home.

DONATE TODAY