FOODSEEKR: Top December Food Events in the SF Bay Area

Fifth Floor Holiday Guest Chef Series | December 5-10 | Fifth Floor Restaurant

Having grown up in a pretty traditional Chinese household, I always wondered what other families ate over the holidays. Since I’m pretty sure they wondered what was going on behind the closed doors of my home as well, I’m glad Fifth Floor has decided to put a fine dining twist on this idea for their Holiday Dinners this week. Each night, a different chef from a renowned San Francisco restaurant hosts a five course holiday meal at David Bazirgan’s Fifth Floor that’s inspired by his/her unique cultural heritage, with part of the proceeds going to charity. Though it’s already Thursday, there are still  two guest chefs left for tonight and Friday night, as well as Chef David Bazirgan’s own Armenian holiday dinner on Saturday. Tonight’s dinner features Hoss Zare from Zare at Fly Trap, while tomorrow’s features Matt Accarino from SPQR. Call the restaurant at 415.348.1555 to make reservations. Holiday dinners are $95 per person.

Lower Haight Holiday Art Walk | December 9, 6pm-9:30pm | 400-700 Blocks of Haight Street

The Lower Haight Holiday Art Walk brings together shopping, drinking, eating and live music in a way that only The Haight could. Of course, I’d be focused on the food more than anything. Some of the vendors that will be there include Sour Flour Breads (they also occasionally host baking classes at La Victoria), Kara’s Cupcakes, Wing Wings and Chili Cha Cha.

Epicuring’s Behind-the-Scenes Holiday Sweets Crawl | December 14, 6pm-9pm | 1198 Illinois Street, San Francisco

Oh, shopping and food! Susie and Laiko of 7×7 Magazine have made it dangerously easy for you to OD on sugar this holiday season. This sweets crawl takes place in the Dogpatch, and features treats from three wonderful vendors (Mr & Mrs. Miscellaneous, Au Coeur des Chocolats and Kika’s Treats). At each vendor, you’ll be treated to a tour from the resident chef in charge, samples of their delicious wares, and a take-home goodie bag full of treats. Buy tickets here.

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Santas Gone Wild [Preview]

There’s no question that everyone celebrates the holiday season differently. Some gather with family as often as possible; others have White Elephant parties with eggnog and mulled wine; some watch Christmas movies from Thanksgiving to New Years. Personally, I started listening to Christmas songs a month ago. But if you’re looking for something less traditional, while still wanting to dress up as Santa, I have some nice – and naughty – suggestions for you.

Santarchy / Santacon PDX 2007. Photo by jesse.millian. CC BY 2.0

Art Top 5: Exhibitions & Events December 2011

Beat by the Bay, San Francisco Visual Artists of the Fifties and Their Galleries, Ever Gold, December 8, 2011 – January 6, 2012

Everybody’s heard of the literary works produced by the great writers of the Beat generation, like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. But that legendary countercultural movement also included visual artists, who without a doubt deserve the same recognition. Recall, for example, the staggering paintings of Jay DeFeo, such as “The Rose” (now in the collection of the Whitney Museum).  By organizing “Beat by the Bay” the Ever Gold gallery aims to reconnect the Bay Area with its own cultural heritage. It will show experimental pieces by artists who lived and worked here in the 1950s, as well as tell the stories of the alternative gallery spaces where those artists presented their output.

Jay Defeo, Courtesy Jerry Burchard Estate, c. 1957

Batwoman Celebration at Isotope with J.H. Williams III & W. Hayden Blackman [Preview]

Batwoman and the New 52 | Saturday, December 3, 2011 | Isotope Comics Lounge | San Francisco

San Francisco is very rich and diverse when it comes to culture and art. Most comic book aficionados residing in this city already know about the Isotope Comic Lounge, and visiting comic lovers likely make it a point to stop at the store. James Sime, the store’s proprietor, has done a heck of a job over the years bringing comic creators into his shop for in-store events–current DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee, Darwyn Cooke, Warren Ellis to just name a few. Sime and company even took The Walking Dead’s co-creator Robert Kirkman, as well as a gaggle of fans, along the streets of San Francisco for a zombie pub-crawl back in April as part of this year’s Wonder-Con festivities.

This Saturday, December 3rd, Sime welcomes J.H. Williams III to the store. Williams, one of the comic book industry’s best illustrators, has been a guest of honor at Isotope before. This time, he returns with W. Haden Blackman, one of his creative partners on their monthly comic book title, Batwoman, published by DC Comics.

ARTSEEKR Events November 22 – December 5, 2011

Left Coast Leaning, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, December 1-3, 8pm This annual performing arts festival supports diverse forms of expression. The centerpiece of this year’s edition is perhaps a multimedia work by Alexandro Segade, which “takes place in a dreamlike, sci-fi L.A. cityscape where gay marriage is state-mandated and those who don’t conform are hunted down.” Also on the bill: slam poetry (Rafael Casal), tap dancing (Jason Samuels Smith), and dance performances that explore “the sexualized black body in the realm of the spectacle” (Anna Martine Whitehead) and “the awkwardness of human beauty and the struggles of intimate negotiation” (tEEth).

Alexandro Segade, Replicant VS Separatist, Pictured: Colin Martin and Justin Streichman. Credit: Scott Groller