InBerkeley

I hesitate to suggest you go to hear Michael Pollan speak tonight in Berkeley, not because he isn’t smart and entertaining, but because last time I went up to the campus to hear him hold forth, the place was so packed many of us were relegated to an ante-room and had to settle for watching him on small screens.

Still, that was a free shindig and tonight’s event requires one to buy a ticket, so Pollan’s enormous fan-base may not come out in such full force — even if he is on home turf.

“The Omnivore’s Dilemma” author and J-School prof will be talking about his philosophy—“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” — in Cal Performances’ Strickly Speaking Series, tonight at 8pm at Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. Tickets cost $16–$30, (510) 642-9988, www.calperformances.org.

[Photo: Ken Light.]

Celebrity, Events, Food, Journalism, People, UC Berkeley Michael Pollan

Berkeley, as we know, has more than its share of well-regarded authors. A cluster of them have had the call from Hollywood recently and the resulting movies will hopefully be appearing at a theater near you soon.

This month’s Diablo Magazine rounds up the movies that have emanated from four noted Berkeley writers.

The screenplay for “Where the Wild Things Are”, directed by Spike Jones and adapted from the much-loved children’s book by Maurice Sendak, was written by Berkeleyite  Dave Eggers.

Berkeley resident Ayelet Waldman recently attended the premiere of “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” based on her novel of the same name.

Her husband Michael Chabon is seeing two of his books translated to the silver screen: “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay”, directed by Stephen Daldry, and “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union”, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.

And Michael Lewis, who also lives in Berkeley, is hoping to see Brad Pitt play the role of Oakland A’s manager Billy Beane in an adaptation of his bestselling book “Moneyball”.

[Photos, left to right: Waldman, Chabon, Eggers and Lewis.]

Arts, Books, Celebrity, Movies Ayelet Waldman, Dave Eggers, Michael Chabon, Michael Lewi

Kermit Lynch is a Berkeley institution and a national treasure, as anyone who has visited his wine store, or read his wine-related newsletters or book knows. He’s been around town for a long time, seen it all and amassed an impressive knowledge of the hallowed grape along the way. (One consequence is that he now spends half the year enjoying la belle vie in Provence.)

The thing is, just when you think you’ve got him pegged, along comes the revelation that he’s not a wine buff at all — or at least that isn’t his first love. Lynch started out as a musician, back in the drug-hazed Berkeley of the late 1960s, when he sang in a band and dreamed of one day getting a record contract.

Well that day has arrived, as some 40 years later Lynch is celebrating the release of his first album – a blend of soft rock, folk and blues — called Man’s Temptation. As he told Jancis Robinson recently in the Financial Times: “It was quite a thrill to get a record contract at 67. When I read it I thought, ‘Wow, I’m really something.”

Celebrity, Music, People, Wine

When she’s not eating at her mom’s place, Fanny Singer, daughter of Alice Waters, likes Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley and Bakesale Betty’s in Oakland, among others (well, who doesn’t?)

In a contribution to Gourmet, Singer says she gravitates towards low-key restaurants that serve ethnic dishes and lists her 10 favorite food spots in the Bay Area.

Waters named Cafe Fanny after her daughter whose father is Stephen Singer, a former wine buyer for Chez Panisse.

[Source and photo: Eater SF.]

Celebrity, Food, restaurants Alice Waters, Chez Panisse, Fanny Singer

Billie Jo Armstrong, lead vocalist for Green Day — the band that put in years of hard graft  playing Berkeley venues such as Gilman before hitting the big time — is putting his custom-designed home up for sale at the end of the month. The price? A cool $4.85 million.

The 5-bedroom, 7,000 sq ft home in upper Rockridge is a vision of good taste and restrained elegance (above) — although there are some tell-tale signs it was inhabited by a rock star with a sense of mischief.

Read my story, on SFGate, here.

[Photo: www.homesbyheidi.com]

Architecture, Celebrity Billie Jo Armstrong, Green Day

If you live in Berkeley you’ll likely know about publishing heiress Patty Hearst and the fact she was kidnapped from her apartment in the city in 1974. But do you know which house she and her then boyfriend lived in?

There’s a certain frisson to be had from being able to pinpoint the precise location from where she was whisked away by members of the the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974 — only to then become a gun-toting, card-carrying member of the Symbionese Liberation Army herself just a short time later.

On a recent neighborhood walk with a friend, we gave ourselves the challenge of identifying the house from which Hearst was taken. Armed with an I-Phone, it wasn’t long before we figured out she lived in the brown-shingle, four-unit building at 2603 Benvenue Avenue (above).

[Photo credit: Hank Donat/www.mistersf.com.]

Celebrity, Property, The Elmwood Celebrity, Property