This is really awesome! Fantastic idea. I'm a listener on 7 cups of tea and would have loved to share a meal and a beer with you. I'll be listening on 7 cups for another hour or so if anyone is struggling and needs a bit of extra support.
That is an amazing concept! I just shared it with a charity organisation that works with people who are battling depression (@TWLOHA). I wish you the best!
That's a pretty cool thing to do. I'm not alone but wouldn't mind joining a group of people that I've never met before. If I didn't have anything to do, I'd probably take up the offer. Have a happy holiday!
I missed this! I totally would have gone. I was one of the potential interns at SpeakerText right before you guys got acquired and would have loved to meet you. I'm working in SF now, maybe we might bump into each other. :)
Gonna take this opportunity to ask: anybody know of some good things to do in San Francisco on Christmas day? I'm coming to visit and will be alone for the most part.
seattle and the east side are 'okay' but nowhere near what you'd find in the sunset/richmond, san gabriel valley, or manhattan + queens
for example in a single neighborhood you can find halal chinese, dim sum, szechuan, hot pot, proper roast duck, chinese bakeries, shanghai style dumplings, fresh noodles ...
the bar for comparison should be beijing, shanghai, singapore, hong kong, taipei, etc.
Not at all. There are good restaurants and there are bad restaurants. Most of the customers in the SF Chinatown restaurants are Chinese, so you know there are going to be some good restaurants.
Exactly. Chinese friends tell me "Chinese" food one finds in Chinatowns in western cities is heavily adapted to western tastes and nothing like what is eaten in China.
I have a hunch that the 'Tso' is actually a corruption of 'sauce', meaning instead of being named for a military general, 'general' is the name of the sauce.
What laws are these? I find it strange to hear anyone claim that US laws determine what is made and sold as Chinese food. There are some laws regarding food safety, but they apply to all foods.
This is probably not what either of you meant, but until 2005, it was illegal to import sichuan peppercorns. This resulted in a lot of dishes missing a fairly important taste, even in otherwise authentic Sichuan restaurants.
As an AU/NZ/DE citizen who has been mostly based in China (but also a year in LA, 2 weeks SF) since 2001, I can tell you that Auckland is a best case example.
Compared to SF (which has one of the oldest Chinatowns in the US... unlike LA's, which incidentally was ruthlessly bulldozed to make way for a 'required' freeway by racist local government) much of Auckland's Chinese population is recent, which is perfect. Recent mainland immigration brings real Chinese food as Chinese eat it.
SF is dealing with Americanized interpetations of Chinese food that persist from the modified cuisine of multiple generations of Cantonese immigrants distilled through American popular culture. You know:
(1) Paper box
(2) Disposable chopsticks
(3) Fujian/Guangdong style egg (yellow) noodles
(4) Canto-Americanisms like 'chop suey' (Mandarin 'chao cai') and 'dim sum' (Mandarin 'dian xin') and such.
(5) Total overuse of meats and a relative lack of vegetarian options
(6) Total overuse of heavy sauces (oyster, sweet and sour, etc.)
By contrast, despite an early presence of Chinese in New Zealand, just fifteen years ago you would be hard pressed to find any Asian food at all in central Auckland, and certainly there was no or next to no honest mainland-style Chinese cuisine available at all, anywhere in the city.
FWIW I upvoted you! I'd always wondered if the Chinese in Auckland was any good or not compared to China (I'd suspected yes, but good to know!). It has been crazy watching all the good asian food popup over the last 20 odd years. It all feels so natural and part of NZ culture now (e.g. there are 7 Korean, 3 Japanese, 2 Chinese and 1 French restaurants directly across from the office!).
Christmas Day is the exact best day to go around all of the sightseeing locations in SF without having to worry about parking or crowds. I've done this 3 times now, whenever guests come, and it's great.
You can hit all of the places in SF like the Golden Gate Bridge, Chrissy Field, Coit Tower, Pier 39, etc.
This is really nice. It reminds me about a tradition here in Poland. On Xmas Eve Dinner we prepare additional place at the table for any unexpected guest. As a chid I was looking at it and wondering who could sit there and nobody ever did. I also don't know anyone who had a chance to use it and actually there were several journalists' provocations when celebrities and politicians rejected such "unexpected guests" at their homes. So it's great to hear that the idea works on the other hemisphere :)
Last year I just moved to San Francisco and attended. I had a great time meeting a lot of people with various interests. Huge thanks to Matt for doing this again.
I'm not there and it doesn't apply to me but I came here to tell you what an amazing thing you're unto. I wish you all the good in the world and hope you have / had a great Thanksgiving!
Feel really touched, by the humanity on display on HN. Proud to be part of this community. I am not a US citizen, and don't celebrate Thanksgiving. But still, it fills my heart seeing such thoughtful gestures.
PS: No upvotes please. Lest I feel guilty of posting this message...
54 comments
[ 0.15 ms ] story [ 347 ms ] threadIf you want to come, just email me at matt@buttr.co
I'm thankful there are people like you in the world.
Gonna take this opportunity to ask: anybody know of some good things to do in San Francisco on Christmas day? I'm coming to visit and will be alone for the most part.
for example in a single neighborhood you can find halal chinese, dim sum, szechuan, hot pot, proper roast duck, chinese bakeries, shanghai style dumplings, fresh noodles ...
the bar for comparison should be beijing, shanghai, singapore, hong kong, taipei, etc.
I imagine there are over a billion people in China and Taiwan who would beg to differ ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper#US_import_ban
http://www.chinatouradvisors.com/UpLoad/Jiangsu/Suzhou/Food/...
Chinese migration isn't just limited to the USA...
Compared to SF (which has one of the oldest Chinatowns in the US... unlike LA's, which incidentally was ruthlessly bulldozed to make way for a 'required' freeway by racist local government) much of Auckland's Chinese population is recent, which is perfect. Recent mainland immigration brings real Chinese food as Chinese eat it.
SF is dealing with Americanized interpetations of Chinese food that persist from the modified cuisine of multiple generations of Cantonese immigrants distilled through American popular culture. You know:
(1) Paper box
(2) Disposable chopsticks
(3) Fujian/Guangdong style egg (yellow) noodles
(4) Canto-Americanisms like 'chop suey' (Mandarin 'chao cai') and 'dim sum' (Mandarin 'dian xin') and such.
(5) Total overuse of meats and a relative lack of vegetarian options
(6) Total overuse of heavy sauces (oyster, sweet and sour, etc.)
By contrast, despite an early presence of Chinese in New Zealand, just fifteen years ago you would be hard pressed to find any Asian food at all in central Auckland, and certainly there was no or next to no honest mainland-style Chinese cuisine available at all, anywhere in the city.
(Edit: What's with the downvote? Sheesh.)
You can hit all of the places in SF like the Golden Gate Bridge, Chrissy Field, Coit Tower, Pier 39, etc.
Thanks for being so kind.
Happy thanksgiving to everyone.
PS: No upvotes please. Lest I feel guilty of posting this message...