Saturday, November 24, 2012

Another Night Out in San Francisco...On Black Friday - Rollins Style


I finally went to Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco last night, which if you don't of it, it is a very expensive vegan restaurant.
We didn't have a reservation, which was a bad idea for a friday night and it was Black Friday no less. But we lucked out and found seating at the bar. Our waiter/bartender was very awesome by the way and not very helpful with recommending what was best from the menu, because it was all the best. There were only two items on the menu that were not gluten-free. And of course we ended up ordering them anyways. We each got an appetizer and then split a main dish. For drinks, I got a Raw-Volution, which consisted of kombucha, apple, and ginger. Maybe something that I am missing. The hubby got a Love Potion #9 which is pomegranate lemonade.
For appetizers, I ordered the Crusted King Trumpet Mushrooms, which was crushed jasmine rice, fenugreek & coriander seed dredge, cabbage & red onion salad, and pineapple-chile jam. (Yes, I'm stealing this description from their menu because there is no way I would remember all that!) He ordered the Winter Squash Pankora, which was quince & cranberry chutney with ginger & shallot, cardamom & methi, toasted coconut-cucumber raita, and cilantro. For our main dish, we ordered Winter Squash Kamut Risotto, which was grilled Maitake mushrooms, cashew cream, fresh shelling beans,roasted blue banana squash,braised fennel & leek, Fall greens,fried capers, lemon zest, and Porcini oil & squash tempura. I took photos, but then my iphone died and apparently didn't save the photos.
Omg, it was all so excellent!!! I couldn't even pick which was my favorite dish because it was all great! I don't think I've eaten that well or that much since becoming vegan. We had Apple Baklava - roasted apples, pistachio baklava, ginger syrup, and pistachio-nutmeg ice cream. Delish! Best vegan ice cream i have had.
So, after a very nice dinner, it was a short cab ride over to Yoshi's Jazz Club to see Henry Rollins perform spoken word! I somehow missed the fact that he was performing three shows here over Thanksgiving. I've been re-reading The First Five and thought it would be awesome and inspirational to see him live again. I found him on twitter and started following him. He  tweeted about his weekly radio notes, so I headed to his website to read them and that's when I found out he was performing here. Perfect.
The venue was the smallest place I have seen him perform in and we had good seats on the floor, instead of the balcony. It was a very intimate show because the venue was so small. It was awesome. I've seen him before in college gyms which tend to be big. So, it was awesome to have him right there in front of me.
He never disappoints, he is always so entertaining, and so intelligent and well read. He referenced at a lot of his old punk days and other punk bands, which I absolutely love when he does this! He talked for over two hours, but I could easily listen to him for hours and hours on end. He is incredible and I will always support anything he does. Which, by the way, I really loved the NatGeoWild show he hosted, Animal Underworld. He is the ONLY reason I watched it.
After the show, we chilled outside,and met him!!!! I had always hoped to meet him at other shows, but the venues were too big and heavily guarded. At Yoshi's, no security. He just walked out of the front door like everyone else, walking to his hotel down the street.
Holy crap! I just met one of the most influential people of the early punk scene; Henry Rollins of Black Flag!!! He signed my book and took a photo with me. We also got to meet Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) who was there to see Henry perform. It was cool. If Ian MacKaye had been there, I totally would have flipped out!!! He's doing another performance Sunday at Yoshi's, so I can hope that maybe Ian will be there - good luck on that though. I will go to any show, if I know there is a possibility of Ian MacKaye being there. I am determined to meet him. I'm freaking out that I met Henry Rollins, and I will totally flip if I meet Ian MacKaye. I was really, really young when Black Flag/Minor Threat toured. I would have loved to seen them live in a tiny venue with them in your face.
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Yes, that is me and Henry Rollins! Omfg!!!! I had my arm around him, it was awesome! And he totally smelled of punk rock sweat and I would not have wanted it any other way. So, wish I could have seen Black Flag back in the day! This will forever inspire to me to write and create!!! Thank you, Mr. Rollins!

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