How the Bay Area Got Hooked on Fish Tacos

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By Nancy Friedman

September 20, 2022

Fish have been swimming onto San Francisco Bay Area menus ever since there were people around to catch and cook them. And Mexican cuisine has been represented in the region ever since Alta California was part of Mexico. But until 1992, although dozens of Bay Area restaurants served a steady tide of petrale sole, halibut, salmon, and sand dabs—not to mention McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, invented in 1962—and although there were plenty of places to enjoy burritos, enchiladas, and quesadillas, one Mexican fish dish was still just a wish: the fish taco. Continue reading →

Gratitude Revealed : Repurposed—With Purpose

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By C.J. Hirschfield

September 16, 2022

Gratitude and mindfulness are the subject of countless books right now, with credible medical studies showing that cultivating these practices can actually improve both physical and mental health.

So it’s understandable that award-winning director, cinematographer and producer Louie Schwartzberg has chosen the title “Gratitude Revealed” for his visually stunning and thought provoking new documentary. It could also have been titled “Joy,” or “Celebrating Life,” or even “Sharing my Forty Years of Capturing Beautiful and Meaningful Images.”

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SPICE UP YOUR FOOD: A Recipe for Strawberry and Tomato Season and more

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Curated and adapted by Gary Meyer

Spices from the Oaktown Spice Shop can take a very good dish to new levels.

C.J. Hirschfield wrote about Oaktown as they have adapted during the pandemic to provide their goods to home chefs around the world. EatDrinkFilms has chosen some recipes and comments from their website (plus one of our own) to get you started.

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There is a full meal starting with Bloody Mary cocktails, a zucchini salad, strawberry spaghetti, and chewy molasses cookies for dessert; plus great popcorn idea to eat while watching an after-dinner movie.

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Bernstein’s Wall: An Extraordinary Extrovert’s Life

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By C.J. Hirschfield

July 19, 2022

In the upcoming (2023) Netflix biographical film Maestro, based on the life of renowned conductor/composer/pianist Leonard Bernstein, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper with Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg producing, there is a scene already circulating on social media of Bernstein passionately kissing his male lover.You will not find this sort of scene depicted in the new documentary film Bernstein’s Wall, which has its San Francisco premiere at the 42nd San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, July 21-August 7. What you will see, however, is a richly textured biography of a man whose remarkable story includes a deep commitment to his Jewish heritage, to political activism, to his art, to teaching, and to his family. His bisexuality, not so much. Continue reading →