Mission Mission

Eater SF‘s “The Gatekeepers” series this week sits down with Mission Chinese‘s Greg Wong:

What have you been bribed with? Mainly money. Usually if someone brings stuff it’s gifts for the kitchen anyways, and people bringing gifts tend to be very relaxed and willing to wait. It’s almost the opposite of what you’d expect.

What is the most outrageous request you’ve received? One time a lady walked past me and was like, “I’m here for Mission Chinese.” I was trying to tell her, but she said “no” and acted like she knew what she was doing. She stormed through the restaurant saying “I’m here for the other restaurant.” She grabbed her whole family and stormed through all the way to the kitchen. I think she was looking for this fancy other restaurant and she ended up at the bathroom. She must have read there was a restaurant in a restaurant, and we get that question a lot. But I’ve never had anyone dismiss me and then act like she had been here before.

Read on to find out about Greg’s favorite customers, favorite dishes, VIP treatments and more.

[Photo by Aubrie Pick via Eater SF]

Do:  When staying at a nice hotel, using some of that aromatherapy shampoo and conditioner on your mustache so you’ll be smelling sweet things all day.

Don’t:  When making a delicious warm pot of tom kha gai, accidentally spilling a little fish sauce into your mustache so that no matter how much you wash it, it will continue to smell like butts until you shave it off in reluctant desperation.

[Photo by Katie C]

[photo by Doc Pop]

Here in the Bay Area many of us are probably feeling good about last night’s main election result. Obama won. (Spoiler?)

I think it was an exciting night for our country. Especially that it was decided and not dragged out and brought through various legal möbius strips. Personally though, I’m feeling dismayed by the overall results of the state propositions. We really want to keep the death penalty? We don’t think that consumers should be able to have questions about what’s in their food answered? Well, at least 30 passed and it’s not all on George Lucas’s shoulders to save education.

Yet I’m excited overall that our country generally seems energized to head in a direction that I think is best. It was a good night for LGBT rights, people overcame voter suppression and intimidation to get their voice heard, and we re-elected a president who best represents the majority of the people in this country, not just the most privileged. If this sounds like very careful, faint praise, it is. In last night’s acceptance speech, President Obama once again set the standards perhaps impossibly high for what we’d like to expect from his presidency. He mentioned really taking care of our returning veterans, LGBT equality, a lot of feel good things that I really wanted to hear. Does he believe in those ideals? I think he does. But how much will he actually do? How much can he do?

[November 3rd, 2008]

Four years ago our neighborhood exploded with joy and celebration when Barack Obama won the first time. This time around, not as much. While I think most of us are grateful that we didn’t see the chaos that followed the recent World Series win, maybe we were still a little underwhelmed by the relative quiet. The Castro partied. And why not. But the HOPE and CHANGE that we felt four years ago feels a bit more like PERSIST and SUSTAIN at this point.

And keep hoping.

Anyway, the rest of the internet has much better election breakdowns than you should expect to find here. I’m just rambling. Elections are big and broad and complicated and it’s all still sinking in for me. Feel free to ramble on in the comments. If you haven’t yet, check out Mission Local’s great coverage of our neighborhood’s experience of voting day.

For now I’m hanging on to the little things, the things immediately around me. Things like the picture at the top of this post, taken this morning. Doc explains:

It was an extra gloomy walk down Market Street this morning until I reached this Muni stop full of schoolkids cheering along every cyclist that came their way. Perfectly lined up along the bike path, the kids started reaching out their palms for some extreme high five action. Even the most serious bikers popped a smile at the scene. Perhaps in a post election world, this is a sign of pedestrians and bicyclists finally coming together .

Delightful.

Every week, photographer Joshua Cobos shoots a roll of film just for us. He picks the best 13 photos and we post them here, and it’s called “Bad Blood with Joshua Cobos.” Here’s what Joshua has to say about this batch:

I use AGFA black and white film for special occasions, a film they stopped producing right about the time I graduated high school. Back then I was working in an Orange County photo lab that was full of AGFA films, now i’m down to my last 12 rolls. Analogue photography requires time, experimentation, patience, constant self critique and the willingness to refine and question your technique.

Thanks, Joshua! Ten more shots after the jump:

(more…)

Okay, well I was bummed to announce that last weekend’s Haçeteria would be the last Haçeteria at Deco because of Deco’s impending closure or whatever, but now I’m stoked that the owners of one of my perennial favorite places are gonna be doing something new. Here’s what our tipster tells us:

Here’s some news… the four main owners of Benders have just bought a new bar, its called Deco Lounge now in the TL, it changed owners this week and it’s being taken over by Benders.

It’ll have a different name.

The Deco space is great. There’s an entertainment license, three big rooms on the main floor — and I think there’s an upstairs AND a downstairs. I’m sure the Bender’s team will deliver something killer.

[Image by Google Maps]

[via Scene and Not Heard]

The free monthly concert series Wood Shoppe (always at Brick & Mortar) takes a break from live bands this month to focus on the election:

RSVP and invite your friends!

Whenever I see a cool car around the neighborhood, I take pictures and send them to my pal Eric up in Portland who runs Other People’s Things, my favorite car blog. He responds with some knowledge and we post the results here and it’s called “Car Beat.” Here’s what Eric has to say about this sporty little ride:

That is one nice Fiat you found. It’s a late model Panda, but that’ could mean a lot- this bodystyle was made from 1991-2003. It’s also the “4×4 Trekking” model, which puts it in the the hall of fame of amazing 4WD subcompacts alongside the Subaru Justy, Toyota Corolla All Trac, Civic Wagon, and the Panda’s Russian cousin the Lada Niva.

While I am no expert when it comes to import laws, this car poses a bit of a mystery if its legally tagged, as it is newer than 25 years old, which technically makes it illegal to drive in the United States. Nevertheless, it’s an an eccentric’s dream car, slow, (relatively) reliable, durable and Italian. That’s not a combination that you hear too often. Love that grille badge as well, it almost makes up for those ridiculous Italian graphics on the rear quarter.

Thanks, Eric! Gosh, I love sporty Fiats.

What a deal! Here it is:

brown paper bags – 5 cents per – half off retail (SOMA / south beach)

brown paper bags 5 cents each
Lowest prices in the city!

Plus it’s still environmentally friendly because you’re paying for them

[link]

(Thanks, Gary!)

Meligrosa sent along a cool card she made that you can print out and stick your proof of voting sticker onto:

She adds:

hola all;
I made this little card for the United States 2012 presidential election, which is tomorrow Tuesday, November 6th.
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! Laminate it, bike it as a spoke-card, postcard it, read as bookdivider Etc.

// Get the (4x) set per letter-size sheet on Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/112253114
Print › share › use them as you’d like.
xxom

And we all know where to vote, right?