Hey Jude, good show.

RMJ, Shilpa, and PeeDee and I make the trek to the new gem in the up and coming art side of Chinatown-adjacent neighborhood that is Mason Street between Clay and Pacific. We visited the new Spanish tapas bar and restaurant LaLola's, run by Penny, her brother Kevin, and Kevin's husband Gonzalo. Kevin and Gonzalo were married in Spain, Gonzalo's home country, as well as in San Francisco (making them one of the California marriages in post Prop 8 limbo). And in the small world file: Shilpa recognized Gonzalo from law school.

LaLola's hosted the viewing party for the PBS documentary Interpreting Ancient Fashion, starring our own Jude Gabbard.

The Documentary:
Truly interesting, and fun to have the two designers on hand for commentary. They were slected to visit a series of ancient Chinese villages and explore their extraordinary culture of fabric crafts and traditions. Upon their return to the US, the designers crafted their own collections as influenced by the experience.

Jude Gabbard is a new friend and definitely a keeper. Congratulations Jude!

The Restaurant

LaLola's was certainly a light and airy little charmer. It's small and beautifully designed in the old sweatshop area of West Chinatown, which is being rapidly converted into artists' studios and creative spaces. It's not terribly easy to get to via Muni, but it is worth the slightly out-of-the-way walk for happy hour. Dinner hour gets a bit more pricey, but the plates are delicious if small (it is after all, tapas).

And seriously, plop down the measly five bucks and savor the morsels that are the croquettes and the tortilla (which is not anything like a Mexican tortilla, and so, so delicious).

The beautiful surprise of the night was the not-too-sweet and utterly refreshing white sangria. Tasty, tasty, tasty. And during happy hour (5:30 to 6:30), it's only $2.50 a tall glass. Afterward, it jumps considerably to $20 a carafe.


Not that that stopped us.

And as always with any event with a fashion vocabulary, RMJ certainly added to the experience.


Bravos all around.