Central Coast Crawl
Cutting For Stone, Eastside Eateries, Joan Baez, Patrick Kane, Bereft Bike
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week’s issue includes favorite female folksingers of the 60s, the first novel by Abraham Verghese, Saturday’s six Santa Barbara stops on a food crawl, an activist with a beautiful voice, a returning hockey hero, and a zero-wheeler. I hope you like the picks and pics.
Our grandson Noah turned two on Monday. We are blessed to be able to see him and his brother Julian every day for over three months while we winter in California.
Noah loves to eat, and when he asks for a cracker or a cookie, he wants two—one for each hand. When he is a bit older, he will be a worthy participant in a local food crawl, as described in this issue.
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Fave Five 74: Central Coast Crawl
Africa and America (Cutting For Stone), Eastside Eateries (Judge For Yourself Café, Bossie’s Kitchen, The Shop Brunch, La Super-Rica Taqueria, Deux Bakery, Buena Onda Empanadas), Fearless Folksinger (Joan Baez), Red-Hot Red Wing (Patrick Kane), and a Bereft Bike.
Fave Five List: Favorite Female Folksingers of the 60s
Joan Baez (featured in this issue)
Honorable Mention: Sylvia Tyson
Book Best Bet
Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese
I previously wrote about Abraham Verghese’s first novel, The Covenant of Water. When Barb heard that Verghese was coming to Santa Barbara, we bought tickets to see him. The event was so popular that it was moved to a larger venue, the Arlington Theatre, and sold out. We enjoyed the interview, so I thought I would feature his previous book in this issue. Barb and I both loved it.
From Amazon: Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.
Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles—and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.
Author Gets Surprise Guest at Arlington Appearance in Santa Barbara by Leslie Dinaberg
We were surprised when this local celebrity came out to introduce Pico Iyer‘s lively conversation with Abraham Verghese.
Restaurant Recommendations
Eastside Eateries
On Saturday I led a team of Santa Barbara locals on a food crawl on the Eastside, with most restaurants being on or near Milpas Street. This is the area where Apeel had its original offices prior to relocating to larger facilities in nearby Goleta. Apeel was founded to provide a better alternative to traditional post-harvest solutions available in the fresh produce industry, with the ultimate goal of reducing food waste and increasing access to fresh produce for all. Apeel only uses nature-based and food-grade ingredients.
The three people joining me all work for Apeel. Matt Kahlscheuer, my son-in-law, is Senior Director of Apeel Labs. Lou Perez is Senior Vice President of Technology and General Manager of New Product Introduction. James Rogers is CEO. Lou and James are two of the three co-founders of Apeel.
We visited six places over 5 hours. Here are the highlights of our culinary crawl in California’s Central Coast.
Judge For Yourself Café 1218 Santa Barbara St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
This place is named for the nearby Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. All of the burgers and a dessert item are named using a judicial theme.
Short stack of pancakes
Bossie’s Kitchen 901 N Milpas St, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Pork belly sandwich with cabbage, fish sauce, mint, and cilantro
Korean fried chicken sandwich with sesame slaw and gochujang sauce
The Shop Brunch 730 N Milpas St, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
The General sandwich: Fried chicken, apple slaw, sweet & sour carrots, and spicy mayo on a soft bun
3 chorizo scramble street tacos with shop potatoes, onion, queso fresco, and cilantro, served with shop salsa
La Super-Rica Taqueria 622 N Milpas St, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Chorizo Especial: Melted cheese with chorizo served with 3 homemade tortillas
Alambre de Pechuga: Grilled chicken breast with bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms plus 3 tortillas
Deux Bakery 824 Reddick St, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Cinnamon roll (Only one quarter remained when I took this photo because Matt, Lou, and I had already wolfed down the other three quarters.)
Buena Onda Empanadas 724 E Haley St, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Serrano: Prosciutto ham, mozzarella, garlic, wild arugula (bottom left)
Carne: Sunfed Ranch grass-fed ground beef, onions, bell peppers, green olives and free-range hard-boiled egg (right)
Daily Special: Brisket (top left)
Marvelous Musician
Barb and I watched the excellent documentary I Am A Noise last week. It brought back so many memories of the beautiful singer with the beautiful voice that is Joan Baez.
I grew up listening to her early records that belonged to my parents and my sisters. I especially loved her first two albums, with songs such as "Silver Dagger," "Donna Donna," "The Lily of the West," and "Banks of the Ohio." On June 9, 2017, I saw Joan as part of Four Voices with Mary Chapin Carpenter and The Indigo Girls at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre in Rochester Hills, Michigan.
From Wikipedia: From Wikipedia: Joan Chandos Baez (born January 9, 1941 on Staten Island, New York) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest or social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing over 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish and English, she has also recorded songs in at least six other languages.
Baez is generally regarded as a folk singer, but her music has diversified since the counterculture era of the 1960s and encompasses genres such as folk rock, pop, country, and gospel music. She began her recording career in 1960 and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, Joan Baez, Joan Baez, Vol. 2, and Joan Baez in Concert, all achieved gold record status. Although a songwriter herself, Baez generally interprets other composers' work, having recorded songs by the Allman Brothers Band, the Beatles, Jackson Browne, Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Violeta Parra, the Rolling Stones, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, and many others. She was one of the first major artists to record the songs of Bob Dylan in the early 1960s; Baez was already an internationally celebrated artist and did much to popularize his early songwriting efforts. On her later albums she has found success interpreting the work of more recent songwriters, including Ryan Adams, Josh Ritter, Steve Earle, Natalie Merchant, and Joe Henry.
Baez's acclaimed songs include "Diamonds & Rust" and covers of Phil Ochs's "There but for Fortune" and The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". She is also known for "Farewell, Angelina", "Love Is Just a Four-Letter Word", "Forever Young", "Here's to You", "Joe Hill", "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "We Shall Overcome". Baez performed fourteen songs at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights, and the environment. Baez was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 7, 2017. The late Mimi Fariña was Joan's sister.
n 1956, Baez first heard Martin Luther King Jr. speak about nonviolence, civil rights and social change in a speech that brought tears to her eyes. Several years later, the two became friends, with Baez participating in many of the Civil Rights Movement demonstrations that King helped organize.
The early years of Baez's career saw the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. become a prominent issue. Her performance of "We Shall Overcome", the civil rights anthem written by Pete Seeger and Guy Carawan, at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom permanently linked her to the song.
I Am A Noise Movie Trailer
We Shall Overcome - March on Washington - 1963
Silver Dagger
Diamonds and Rust
Donna Donna
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Banks Of The Ohio
Lily of The West
My Playlist
Sports Star
Detroit is known as Hockeytown but has not had much to be happy about in recent years. The Detroit Red Wings last made the NHL Playoffs in 2016, last advanced past the first round in 2013, last won the Conference Finals in 2009, and last won the Stanley Cup in 2008. But this year, they look like they might return to the playoffs, and one big reason is that their General Manager Steve Yzerman signed Patrick Kane to a free-agent deal.
Kane had two assists, one on the power play, in Tuesday's 8-3 win over the Washington Capitals. Kane has had points in nine straight games since the All-Star break, scoring five goals and recording 14 points over that stretch, including three straight multi-point efforts. His return to Chicago on Sunday, where he helped win three Stanley Cups for the Blackhawks, was magical.
Patrick Kane's Return to Chicago Couldn't Have Ended Any Better by Hunter Crowther
From Wikipedia: Patrick Timothy Kane II (born November 19, 1988 in Buffalo, New York) is an American professional ice hockey right winger for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks with the first overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and played for the Blackhawks until February 2023 when he was traded to the New York Rangers. Kane has represented the United States at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
Kane established himself as one of the most productive and decorated players of his era. He won the 2008 Calder Memorial Trophy for NHL's rookie of the year and played a crucial role in the Blackhawks' three championships in 2010, 2013 and 2015. Kane's notable achievements include winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs in 2013, and later becoming the first American-born player to secure the Hart Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player and the Art Ross Trophy as the scoring champion in the 2015–16 NHL season.
Kane led all NHL players in scoring during the 2010s and was later named as one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players. He is considered as one of the best American players of all time. Kane became the youngest American player to reach 1,000 career regular season points in 2020 and ranks second behind Mike Modano in most career points by an American-born player.
Welcome Back, Patrick Kane! 👏8️⃣8️⃣
Patrick Kane Salutes Chicago Crowd After Sniping OT Winner vs. Blackhawks
Picture Pun
I’m thinking of buying a new set of new wheels.
