Side Dish

Must Have Been a Dirty Ice Cube
Here's hoping that you are fully recovered after seeing Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam at Shoreline this Halloween. For those not yet recovered, Halloween was last night. Remember the last time Pearl Jam was supposed to headline in Golden Gate Park and the Grandfather of Grunge, Neil Young, had to take over? The show had to be cancelled due to Eddie's sudden "illness." What strange concoction did Eddie order up from room service at his luxury hotel near the Embarcadero the night before the concert? A bottle of Jack Daniel's and a tuna sandwich. Harry's spies tell him that the bottle was emptied. On the other hand, it couldhave been a dirty ice cube.

Local Boy Makes Good
Harry is happy to report that former bartender Bryan McWaters, who has worked in many classy San Francisco establishments (Harry's Starlight Room, Scala's Bistro), has found a way to reinvent himself at age 30 as a purveyor of restaurant accessories. What is a purveyor of restaurant accessories, you ask? It's not someone who can find you a paid dining companion to give you a "massage" after dinner, if that's what you're thinking. (That's called a procurer, you perverts.) The restaurant accessories that Bryan makes are garnish caddies for bar service, champagne buckets, menu holders, candleholders, and coat racks. His company, called Steel Xtreme, will also produce anything else that needs to be a little jazzier and more aesthetically pleasing than the standard-issue chrome and plastic we have been forced to endure for all of these years. His creations can be seen at Jardinière, Butterfly, Grand Café, PF Chang's, and Paragon, to name just a few, as well as online at www.restaurantaccessories.com.

Rendezvous in Paris
Last Saturday night the California Culinary Academy held its fifth annual Gala Dinner and Auction to benefit the Educational Foundation, which provides scholarships to talented aspiring chefs. This year's inductee to the Chef's Walk of Fame was Roland Passot, who took the evening off from La Folie and his recent opening of Left Bank in Pleasant Hill (that's in Contra Costa County, you city-bound people) to accept his award. This event is always lively, and this year was no exception. Many generous auction items were donated from places as far away as Chicago and Paris. Seagram Americas sponsored the wines, but the best part was the Skyy Vodka martini bar, which started the bidding off on the right track. After his second Skyy martini, Harry began to bid on practically everything he saw. Well, at least the money will go to a worthy cause (and Harry hopes it will cut down on Christmas shopping).