Kokkari
Oh, Kokkari, how do I love thee? Last night I was invited to a pre-sale booksellers dinner for a book coming out in April. The book sounded interesting, the dinner was at Kokkari, and, honestly, I didn’t know I was a token member of the press but had thought it was more of a press event and I would see friends and schmooze and whatnot, so I said yes. Glad I did. Along with the excellent food I’ve come to expect at this fancy-pants Greek restaurant in downtown SF*, I also got to chat with independent book sellers. What a commited lot! What verve! What love of books! I also got dragged into a “difference between Los Angeles and San Francisco” discussion as well as a “difference between New York and San Francisco” version, which are not comparisons I ever find very interesting. It all seems as plain as day, doesn’t it? San Francisco is colder than one, smaller than both, and terribly terribly pretty. Telling the New Yorker about the difference between San Francisco and the East Bay, however. That was kind of fun. Ridiculous, but fun.
* The whole broiled fish is just so delicious and moist and flavorful – something about the fire, I’m thinking. The Greeks, I’m telling you, they know how to cook a fish. And lamb, they know how to cook lamb too. And, as I’ve done at professional dinners at Kokkari before, I peer-pressured everyone near me into trying the octopus. It’s fired up in the oven and sprinkled with lemon and some kind of magic that makes it always super tender and yummy. In short, if you’ve never tried octopus try it there because it is as good as it gets. Arg, I want some more right now.
