de Young: Modernism from the National Gallery of Art

Modernism from the National Gallery of Art: The Robert & Jane Meyerhoff Collection

June 7, 2014 – October 12, 2014

 

Modernism from the National Gallery of Art: The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection brings paintings by the great masters of the post-war world to San Francisco. The de Young will feature nearly 50 works by Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, and Frank Stella, among others. The de Young is the exclusive venue for this exhibition, the first of the Meyerhoff Collection outside the greater Washington, DC, and Baltimore metro areas.
This exhibition of modern and contemporary art will be organized into three generational groupings, allowing for a remarkable overview of American art from the end of World War II through the end of the century. Highlights of the exhibition include Stella’s Flin Flon IV (1969), Johns’ Perilous Night (1982), and Lichtenstein’s Painting with Statue of Liberty (1983).
The centerpiece of the exhibition is Barnett Newman’s The Stations of the Cross (1958–66). This series of 15 paintings, widely considered to be the artist’s most important work, will be displayed as the artist intended—shown together within a discrete, chapel-like gallery devoted solely to the series.
Beginning in 1985, Robert and Jane Meyerhoff began donating major works of post-war art to the National Gallery, and in 1987 signed an agreement with the National Gallery of Art for the eventual donation of their entire collection to the Gallery.

Ticket Information

Adults $21–$24, seniors 65+ $18–$21, students with current ID $17–$20, youths 6–17 $11–$14, members and children 5 and under free. Prices subject to change without notice.

Save $1 per ticket with advance online purchase. Prices in your online shopping cart reflect the automatic savings.

Order tickets

Groups of 10 or more have access to priority booking and private tours. Contact the group sales office at groupsales@famsf.org or 415.750.3620.

Description and Photos Sourced From:   http://deyoung.famsf.org/deyoung/exhibitions/modernism-national-gallery-art-robert-jane-meyerhoff-collection

Jeans for Giraffes

Jeans for Giraffes @ SF ZOO

 

 

We're celebrating our long-necked friends on the first annual World Giraffe Day, June 21, which also happens to be the longest day of the year. Actually, we love giraffes so much, we decided to celebrate the whole weekend! World Giraffe Day is a global celebration of these amazing animals and an annual opportunity to raise public awareness about challenges they face in the wild. To mark the occasion, we're scheduling extra keeper talks and an interactive enrichment-building experience, and receiving donations of old jeans for Jeans for Giraffes, which is a project that supports giraffe research and protects giraffe populations in Africa. Visitors who donate denim for the Jeans for Giraffes will be entered in a raffle to win a behind-the-scenes visit with our beloved herd of giraffes. So join us all weekend at the African Savanna to appreciate these majestic beauties ... and don't forget those jeans!

World Giraffe Day Weekend Schedule

• 9:00 - 10:00 am Members' Morning in Bernard Osher Giraffe Lodge (Sunday only)
• 10:30 am Keeper Talk at North Overlook
• 2:00 pm Enrichment making at acacia plaza
• 4:30 pm Keeper Talk in the Bernard Osher Giraffe Lodge
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Bay Area Home Price Growth and Sales Volume Cool in May

After several months of solid price and sales volume gains, real estate activity across the nine-county Bay Area slowed a bit in May, though prices were still at their highest levels in nearly seven years.

According to the California Association of Realtors just-released May home sales and price report, the median price for a single-family home in the Bay Area rose a barely noticeable $800 – 0.1 percent – from April to May. The median price currently stands at $768,910, the largest since October 2007.

Year over year, home prices across the region were up 6.9 percent, the first month in 2014 that the rate of annual appreciation has dipped into the single-digit range.

Bay Area sales volume grew by 7.2 percent in May – nowhere near the amounts observed in the previous two months, when home sales jumped by about 30 percent. Still, sales growth in our region was decidedly more robust than it was across the state, where it declined by about half of a percentage point.

Napa and San Mateo were the only Bay Area counties to post double-digit month-over-month price gains in May. At nearly $603,000, Napa County’s median price reached the highest levels recorded since November 2007. San Mateo County prices climbed above $1.1 million, overtaking Marin as California’s most expensive county for homebuyers.

CAR’s data shows that monthly price gains across the rest of the Bay Area were more moderate, ranging from 0.5 percent in Contra Costa and Solano counties to 4.3 percent in Alameda County. Santa Clara was the only local county where home prices decreased from April to May.

The months’ supply of inventory across the nine-county region expanded slightly to 2.5 in May, but the Bay Area real estate market still strongly favors seller – just as it did last spring. By comparison, the MSI across California has grown considerably over the past year and is now nearing a more balanced state.

Buyer demand still far outpaces supply in five of our local counties, which boast the smallest inventory pools in the state. Santa Clara County had the fewest number of homes for sale in California, followed by San Mateo, Alameda, Marin, and San Francisco counties.




(Photo: Flickr/Colin Harris ADE)

Saison grows up - and gets four stars

Saison has grown up and has turned into a glorious restaurant.
Chef-owner Josh Skenes, who opened Saison in the Mission a few years ago, always had a touch of rebel in him. Even now you see him among his white-clad crew in jeans and an untucked shirt.
Last year, Skenes moved the restaurant to a space near AT&T Park - a former warehouse, with concrete floors, exposed duct work wrapped in shiny silver insulation, and no barriers between the kitchen and dining room. When I reviewed the restaurant in April 2013, I gave it four stars for food, but only two for decor and service. At the time, there was no valet parking, which can be a real problem when the Giants are playing a home game.

A few months after the review, management started offering valet: $20 on a normal night and $30 on game nights. It's expensive, but when you're paying $248 for the standard menu (about 18 courses), and $398 for a longer, customized "discovery" menu, it probably doesn't matter.
Skenes also remodeled a few months ago, extending the wall above the bank of stainless steel refrigerators up to the 35-food ceiling, which hides the duct work. The concrete floor was covered with dark blue carpet in the dining area, and wood to define the kitchen.

Both changes add a finishing touch to the decor, but they don't obliterate the organic feel of the brick walls and open ceiling that honors its founding as California Electric, a historic structure built in 1888.

However, Skenes has strengthened the connection between the kitchen and the dining room by having the cook who made the dish deliver it to the table. It brings the food full circle and helps guests understand the intricate preparation that some might think is just sashimi on a plate.

Flavors, textures

And, believe me, it's much more than that. Skenes and his crew create a unique ballet of flavors and textures, coaxing unexpected nuances from the ingredients.

On my recent return visit, we decided to go with the less expensive $248 menu. And, instead of choosing from the extensive wine list - it's grown so much that co-owner Mark Bright has separate leather binders for the whites and the reds - or for ordering the course-by-course wine pairings (an additional $248), we asked the sommelier to select a few wines for matching. His choices went brilliantly with the food.

Kumquat discs, a tangle of rhubarb threads and dabs of sorrel
granita top a dessert at Saison.
Photo: John Storey, Special To The Chronicle

Shortly after we were seated, the waiter - they are all in suits - poured a splash of Krug Champagne, followed by warm towels for the hands. Then, explaining that Skenes likes to start his meals with tea, he brought out a white cylindrical cup of Meyer lemon and Douglas fir honey infusion with a raffia string hanging down the side tied to a bouquet of herbs balanced on the rim. We dunked it into the pale yellow liquid, sat back and began to enjoy the ride.

Waiters check to see if there are dietary restrictions; once that's out of the way, diners are in the hands of the kitchen - they never really know what will come next, but just about every course is touched by fire. Because many dishes are delicate, precise and refined, and the smoky elements are always subtle, it's a guessing game as to where the flames come in.

The first course was a beautiful domed crystal bowl holding a smoked, cured chunk of sturgeon belly on kelp, topped with caviar resting on an amber pad of gelee made from the grilled sturgeon bones. The dash of smoke, the brininess of the sea and the richness of the fatty fish float around the mouth and come together in a single, integrated bite.


That was followed by a barigoule of artichoke fortified with wild thistle milk becomes a broth that surrounds a chunk of artichoke and scallop, a prelude to three crudo dishes that arrived in rapid succession: sea bream lightly seared in hot coals and topped with a cherry blossom; golden eye snapper, barely warmed under coals and drizzled with vinegar made from the grilled bones; and a glistening chunk of pickled horse mackerel on a thin slice of grilled bread that mirrored the shape of the fillet.

Trout, smoked in a wood oven at Saison
in San Francisco. Photo: John Storey,
Special To The Chronicle

Trout, smoked in a wood oven at Saison
in San Francisco. Photo: John Storey,
Special To The Chronicle

Next came two generous chunks of abalone roasted over embers set on a sauce made from the liver. A pattern became clear: The crew uses different levels of heat and various techniques with the fire to bring out specific qualities in the fish.

One dish will remain a fresh memory every time I think of Saison: a thick chunk of toasted soy-soaked Tartine bread, crisp yet soft at the same time, topped with local sea urchin glazed with soy and egg yolk.

Simple twist

After such a complex play of flavors, it was soothing to have the more familiar flavor of trout smoked in the wood oven, mellowed by a brush of sauce made from the bones.
A white bowl that looked like a cloud of foam arrived next. When diners dug through the froth with the wooden spoon, they found bites of smoked white asparagus and refreshing notes of Mandarin. The waiters also brought a six-pack of house-baked pull-apart rolls.

More and more chefs are incorporating Asian flavors into their Western tasting menus and Skenes is no different. He poached a chunk of black cod in sea water and accented it with Thai seasonings - galangal, rangpur and kaffir limes in a puddle of sauce that uses yogurt for creaminess rather than coconut milk. It was topped with a thin slice of dried plantain.

That was rapidly followed by two fat spears of asparagus cooked in their juices and grilled, plated next to bubbly foam and drizzles of several kinds of olive oil.

To segue into the meat course, the waiter brought out a scoop of what looked like ice cream but was actually an olive oil foam and white chocolate ice that carried the flavor of toffee and intensely salty, smoked olives.
That led to the only non-seafood or vegetable offering - wood pigeon aged in-house to intensify its gaminess. It was served rare, tamed with a brushing of sunflower seed butter, accompanied by sunchokes and morels filled with creamy forcemeat.

Dessert included pastry chef Shawn Gawle's manicured disk of jasmine cream and rhubarb, kumquat slices, a tangle of raw rhubarb threads, and rocky chunks of sorrel granita. With staccato precision, a black walnut souffle arrived next, accompanied by a pingpong-size ball of ice cream that echoed the flavor of the souffle.

When we thought we were done, out came buckwheat tea - ending the meal the way we began - and a collection of mignardises. Those included a truffle-like candy that held another surprise - a gush of vanilla-scented liquid.

As we were sipping the tea, the waiter brought out a bamboo steamer basket with two canneles, and as we headed toward the door we received a muffin-like cardamom brioche cake for the next day's breakfast, and a copy of the menu.

In the year since my last visit, the restaurant has found its center, and the service has become smooth, understated and seemingly effortless. Saison is now playing in the big leagues.
At my weeknight dinner, the restaurant's 18 seats were filled with a young, casual crowd - one diner even wore shorts, a white V-neck undershirt and Converse high tops. Saison might have upgraded, but it still hasn't lost its edge.

For all these reasons, Saison is The Chronicle's newest four-star restaurant.

Saison

178 Townsend St. (near Second Street), San Francisco
(415) 828-7990. www.saisonsf.com.
Dinner 6-10 pm. Tuesday-Saturday. Full bar. Reservations and credit cards accepted. Valet $20; $30 if the Giants are playing at AT&T Park.
Overall: Rating: FOUR STARS
Food: Rating: FOUR STARS
Service: Rating: FOUR STARS
Atmosphere: Rating: THREE AND A HALF STARS
Prices: $$$$ (Fixed-price menu $248 or $398; wine pairings, $248)
Noise rating: Noise Rating: TWO BELLS Can talk easily (65-70 decibels)
Rating: FOUR STARS Extraordinary Rating: THREE STARS Excellent Rating: TWO STARS Good Rating: ONE STAR Fair Noise Rating: BOMB Poor



Article, Rating, and Photos Sourced From:   http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Saison-grows-up-and-gets-four-stars-5485414.php#page-2

Real Estate Roundup: Bay Area Home Prices Could Match Record High Soon

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious:

http://www.aag.com

BAY AREA HOME PRICES COULD SURPASS PEAKS LATER THIS SUMMER

Late last week, we reported that while single-family home prices in some Bay Area counties have already topped their prerecession peaks, the median price across the overall region had yet to reach its 2007 pinnacle. But that milestone could occur as soon as the next few months, according to a new report from DataQuick.
“While some of the Bay Area counties have already re-reached or passed their pre-recession price peaks, the region as a whole is on pace to reach that point later this summer,” DataQuick Analyst John Karevoll said in a statement.
DataQuick’s report, which includes statistics for both single-family homes and condominiums, places the current median price across the nine-county region at $617,000, a gain of 19 percent since last May and the highest since late 2007. The company says the Bay Area’s median price peaked in the summer of 2007, at $665,000.

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NUMBER OF UNDERWATER HOMES PLUNGES IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY
Silicon Valley’s exploding economy has helped drive up home prices in parts of the region, causing more homeowners to regain equity and the number of underwater homes to decrease dramatically.
A recent San Jose Mercury News article says the number of underwater homes in Santa Clara County declined from 136,000 in 2012 to 81,000 in 2013, a 40 percent drop.
“Equity is coming back, and people are breathing a sigh of relief,” David Ginsborg, of the Santa Clara County assessor’s office, told the newspaper. “Properties are worth more than what people paid for it.”
The article notes that southern Santa Clara communities pummeled hardest by the housing – including Gilroy and Morgan Hill — are now leading the county in value gains, thanks in part to a surge in nearby construction activity.

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SAN FRANCISCO NATION’S MOST EXPENSIVE, FASTEST-RISING RENTAL MARKET
Anyone seeking to emigrate from the Big Apple to San Francisco isn’t likely doing it to save a few bucks on rent, a recent Zillow suggests.
In a study published on its blog, Zillow pegged the median monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco at $3,550, the highest in the U.S. and $50 more per month than in the New York City metro area. San Francisco rents increased nearly 16 percent year over year in May, the largest gains in the country.
While median rents across the Bay in Oakland aren’t quite as preposterous, they’re hardly a bargain at $2,450 per month. Oakland rents have increased by about 11 percent over the past year, the third-biggest jump in the U.S.

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BUYERS’ BIGGEST OPEN-HOUSE BUMMERS
Even in markets where sellers hold the upper hand, there are some definite no-nos to steer clear of during an open house.
USA Today has compiled a list of the top 10 open-house donts for sellers, starting with sage advice to avoid helicoptering around buyers during walk-throughs. You also don’t want a soundtrack, a house that’s too hot or cold, or odors of any kind (and do hide the kitty-litter box while you’re at it).
Also, the article recommends enlisting the services of top-notch real estate professionals you trust to engage with prospective buyers — not ones who spend the entire open house with their nose buried in an iPhone.

How much is a parking spot worth in S.F.?

Everyone knows that deeded parking adds value to a property, but just how much is a parking spot (or two) really worth? According to local realtors, as with everything in real estate, the answer comes down to location, location, location.

Negotiating the price range
On the high end, agents in SFGate’s informal survey said the parking spot attached to a condo or home could be worth 100K or more, particularly in notoriously hard-to-park areas with older buildings that are less likely to have parking, like Telegraph Hill, Nob Hill or North Beach. The price for a parking spot in lower density areas like Excelsior or the Sunset could be 30-50K.
These values are chopped further if the parking spot is tandem (where one car must be parked behind or in front of another car). Agents value these less convenient spots at anywhere between 25-60K. They put the same price point on any additional parking spots that come with a property. “There is a law of diminishing return,” says Patrick Barber of Pacific Union, as one parking spot is often seen by buyers as a necessity but more is something of a luxury.

A luxury perk
In fact, any car parking may be considered more and more of a luxury these days as buyers look to cut costs wherever possible, and more people bike or bus to work. Eugene Pak of Climb Real Estate explains:

With car sharing services like Zipcar and taxi alternatives such as Uber and Lyft, plus more job opportunities to work in S.F. and corporate bus shuttles, and biking becoming even more popular, people depend a bit less on owning their own car. While dedicated parking is still considered a practical need, it’s also somewhat of a status symbol. I hear, more often than before, people saying they do not own a car, or they do not use their car as much as before.

That being said, most agents believe that parking is still one of the few make-or-break amenities for many buyers, along with location, outdoor space, permissive pet policies, and onsite laundry.
Bike parking, on the other hand, is still considered a nice bonus, more in line with storage space. Matt Fuller with Zephyr Real Estate says that while secure, onsite bike parking is certainly becoming more important, particularly in neighborhoods like Hayes Valley, the Inner Mission and the Castro, it’s still pretty low on buyers’ wish lists. “I’ve never had to assign a dollar value to it,” he says, “Nor have I ever had a buyer that did or did not buy a unit over bike storage.”




Article and Photos Sourced From:  http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2014/06/09/how-much-is-a-parking-spot-worth-in-s-f/#23967101=0

Huge rope sculpture to be removed from Embarcadero BART

After nearly four decades of hanging around at the Embarcadero BART Station, waving at incoming and outgoing trains, a grimy character so familiar it eventually blended into the walls is retiring.

"Legs," the 50-foot-tall, 7,000-pound rope sculpture that has hung on the east wall of the station since it opened in 1976, will be carefully dismantled, removed from the station and returned to its creator, noted textile artist Barbara Shawcroft, 84, who lives in Davis.

The decommissioning of the public artwork is scheduled to start Friday when BART crews will erect scaffolding. Early next week, workers will dismantle the sculpture using detailed instructions prepared by the artist. By the end of the month, "Legs" will be part of BART's past, much like grungy brown upholstered seats and free parking.

A macrame sculpture titled "Legs" by Barbara
Shawcroft hangs at the east end
of the Embarcadero BART station on
Friday, April 26, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.

There's some debate over whether the sculpture was installed in 1976 or 1978, but it was commissioned at a time when macrame and burnt orange were popular. While it may have had the appearance of oversized macrame, Shawcroft, a professor emeritus of the UC Davis School of Design, has said it's a Neolithic technique known as knotless netting.

"Legs" hangs through all three levels of the station, and is made of Nomex, a fireproof material. When it was installed, it was a rich orange and white, and it shimmied and swayed when trains sped in and out of the Transbay Tube.

"For me, this piece beautifully represents the time in which it was created," said Molly McArthur, a BART community relations representative who works on public art. "This is the '70s - it was perfect for its time."

But time and grime - particularly the dust from train brakes - took their toll on the sculpture, leaving it so dark and soiled it was scarcely noticeable against the station's gray walls. Over the years, Shawcroft tangled with BART officials who wanted it removed. In 1987, then-Director John Glenn likened it to a "hanging dish towel."

The artist insisted that BART should leave "Legs" dangling and said the agency's contract with her required them to clean the sculpture, something that proved costly and short-lived during three attempts. The standoff led to decades of inaction, with the sculpture seemingly forgotten.

BART budget proceedings last year brought the beginning of the end. The transit system included $300,000 in its budget for the removal of the artwork. Shawcroft initially contested the effort but eventually agreed to work with BART on the decommissioning. She could not be reached for comment for this story.

A macrame sculpture titled "Legs" by Barbara Shawcroft
hangs at the east end of the
Embarcadero BART station on
Friday, April 26, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif.

McArthur said she has worked with Shawcroft and that the artist understands that the grimy environs of a busy subway station aren't the best location for textile art.

"She's actually relieved it's going to be coming out of this environment," McArthur said.

Under the artist's agreement with BART, the sculpture will be removed in pieces, wrapped in plastic and delivered to Shawcroft. BART officials and the artist had looked for a museum to take in "Legs," but its size and condition made the search difficult. The artist is probably going to "repurpose" the sculpture into smaller pieces, she said.

"She is the creator of the work, and her heart still beats for it," McArthur said.

Once "Legs" is gone, all that will remain are memories and photographs. BART doesn't plan to replace the artwork, instead leaving the eastern wall of the station barren so it can be used for maintenance access - and to collect dust.




Article & Photos Sourced from:  http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Huge-rope-sculpture-to-be-removed-from-5539754.php#photo-6425846

Coming in 2015: No-Surprise Mortgage Closings

Mortgage closings should become easier, and more transparent, when new federal regulations take effect next year.
Among the revisions, lenders will no longer be able to make last-minute changes to closing documents such as imposing a higher interest rate, changing the loan product, or adding a prepayment penalty to the loan. The regulations specify that homebuyers must receive any new disclosures at least three business days before the closing.
The mortgage guidelines, set to take effect in August 2015, were written by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and are intended to be easier for borrowers to understand by providing them more time to ask questions and compare costs.
In a related move, the CFPB in January launched an inquiry into homebuyers’ mortgage complaints. The agency quickly identified four “pain points” in the process:

1. Too little time to review documents: Buyers complained that they don’t get vital paperwork until they arrive at the closing table, where there is pressure to rush through and repeatedly sign documents – without ample time to make sure that they understand what they are signing.

2. Huge stack of paperwork: Buyers said there are too many pieces of paper to examine, making the closing process overwhelming. As a result, many buyers leave the table with a lingering sense that something hidden in all those documents might adversely affect their financial solidarity.

3. Documents difficult to understand: Buyers said closing documents are full of hard-to-understand terminology, and that they could use additional help from others in the closing room to fully understand them.

4. Document gaffes: Errors in closing documents can often lead to delays. Even seemingly minor glitches, such as a misspelled name or forgetting to include a spouse, require closing agents to overhaul the package.

As a result of that inquiry, the CFPB  started work on an “eClosing” pilot program that would move much of the closing process online.
The program, still in the testing stage, would provide buyers with digital tools that explain key terms and important documents, give them more time to review mortgage documents, and make it easier to spot any errors beforehand.
“We strongly believe that electronic closing solutions, known as eClosings, can lead to more knowledgeable consumers and a much better process for everyone involved,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a recent statement.

However, the new guidelines and the eClosing program won’t take the place of homebuyers’ research. From choosing a lender to signing the closing papers, buyers need to take advantage of all the tools available to make the smartest decision.


(Image: Flickr/401(K) 2012)

Age Old Cheese Making is Under Scrutiny!

Federal regulators are scrutinizing the use of wooden racks to age fine cheeses, questioning the cleanliness of an age-old practice used by many artisan cheesemakers in Sonoma County.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration seemed to back off its stance this week following a backlash from foodies and cheesemakers across the United States. Local cheesemakers said they plan no changes to their operations while the FDA examines the issue.

“At this point there doesn't seem to be any imminent change,” said Liam Callahan, owner and cheesemaker at Bellwether Farms near Petaluma.

Bellwether Farms owner and cheesemaker Liam Callahan
currently uses wooden boards to age the
artisan cheeses at his farm near Petaluma.
(CHRISTOPHER CHUNG/Press Democrat)

The FDA ignited a firestorm when it interpreted a decades-old regulation requiring that cheesemaking equipment be designed and constructed of material that is “adequately cleanable.” A letter written by a senior FDA manager made it appear that wood, which has been used for centuries to help age cheese, was no longer sanitary enough.
“Wooden shelves or boards cannot be adequately cleaned and sanitized,” said the letter by Monica Metz, the FDA's chief official responsible for food safety issues involving cheese.

“The porous structure of wood enables it to absorb and retain bacteria,” she wrote, adding that wood aging boards “could be a potential source of pathogenic microorganisms in the finished products.”
Callahan said that aging wheels of cheese on wood racks is critical to their craft. The wooden planks help to control moisture and provide an amenable surface for the microbes that add flavor and character to cheese. Switching to metal or plastic shelves would be costly and would change the taste of aged cheeses.
Cheese would “definitely come out differently” on stainless steel or plastic shelving, although the result is hard to predict, Callahan said.
Social media blew up in this week as cheesemakers from California to Vermont took to the Internet. The hashtag #saveourcheese surfaced on Twitter. Chefs and cheese lovers took to Facebook and blogs to rebut the notion that wood was harmful.
Cleanliness is critical to cheesemaking regardless of the material used for aging shelves, said Gabe Luddy, the fourth-generation cheesemaker at Vella Cheese Company in Sonoma.
“We've always prided ourselves on having a very clean plant,” he said.
The 82-year-old company's signature product, dry jack cheese, is aged on wood, a practice Luddy said is legal in Canada and Europe.
Callahan, whose 24-year-old company's product line includes three aged cheeses, said there is “conflicting evidence” on whether wood surfaces accommodate bacteria growth, but the same concern applies to plastic if the surface is roughened, for example by knife cuts, he said.
The cheese industry has “zero tolerance” for the presence of bacteria in its products, Callahan said.
In a statement issued Tuesday in response to the growing controversy, the FDA said it had adopted no new rule on the use of wooden shelves in cheesemaking, nor taken “any enforcement action based solely on the use of wooden shelves.”
The agency said it “will engage with the artisanal cheese-making community” to determine whether certain cheeses can be safely aged on wood.
The head of the 1,500-member American Cheese Society said the trade group will begin discussions on the matter with the FDA beginning next week.
“We feel that wood is safe and cleanable for aging cheeses,” said Nora Weiser, the organization's executive director.
In key cheesemaking states such as California, Wisconsin and Vermont, up to 75 percent of the cheesemaker members of the American Cheese Society use wood to age or ripen some of their products. Half the cheeses imported into the U.S. are aged on wood, the group said.
Artisan cheesemaking is a small industry in the North Bay with an ardent following. The Sonoma Marin Cheese Trail listing 29 cheesemakers in the two counties.
The controversy erupted Monday with numerous media reports that the FDA had adopted a ban on wood aging boards, citing the letter sent by Metz in January to the New York state Agriculture Department.
“FDA may destroy American artisan cheese industry,” a Forbes report said.
“It made for a great headline,” Luddy said. “The story kind of blew up.”
FDA spokeswoman Lauren Sucher said the letter was “correspondence between two regulators — not an agency announcement of new policy.”
The FDA's statement Tuesday said the agency was “always open to evidence that shows that wood can be safely used for specific processes, such as aging cheese.
Weiser, head of the cheesemakers' group, said companies can go about business as usual “if they are doing it properly.”
The local cheesemakers said they foresee no immediate rule change by the FDA, but the matter is not resolved.
“I'm not sure this has completely gone to rest,” Callahan said.
The New York Times contributed to this story.

Social media blew up in this week as cheesemakers from California to Vermont took to the Internet. The hashtag #saveourcheese surfaced on Twitter. Chefs and cheese lovers took to Facebook and blogs to rebut the notion that wood was harmful.
Cleanliness is critical to cheesemaking regardless of the material used for aging shelves, said Gabe Luddy, the fourth-generation cheesemaker at Vella Cheese Company in Sonoma.
“We've always prided ourselves on having a very clean plant,” he said.
The 82-year-old company's signature product, dry jack cheese, is aged on wood, a practice Luddy said is legal in Canada and Europe.
Callahan, whose 24-year-old company's product line includes three aged cheeses, said there is “conflicting evidence” on whether wood surfaces accommodate bacteria growth, but the same concern applies to plastic if the surface is roughened, for example by knife cuts, he said.
The cheese industry has “zero tolerance” for the presence of bacteria in its products, Callahan said.
In a statement issued Tuesday in response to the growing controversy, the FDA said it had adopted no new rule on the use of wooden shelves in cheesemaking, nor taken “any enforcement action based solely on the use of wooden shelves.”
The agency said it “will engage with the artisanal cheese-making community” to determine whether certain cheeses can be safely aged on wood.
The head of the 1,500-member American Cheese Society said the trade group will begin discussions on the matter with the FDA beginning next week.
“We feel that wood is safe and cleanable for aging cheeses,” said Nora Weiser, the organization's executive director.
In key cheesemaking states such as California, Wisconsin and Vermont, up to 75 percent of the cheesemaker members of the American Cheese Society use wood to age or ripen some of their products. Half the cheeses imported into the U.S. are aged on wood, the group said.

Artisan cheesemaking is a small industry in the North Bay with an ardent following. The Sonoma Marin Cheese Trail listing 29 cheesemakers in the two counties.
The controversy erupted Monday with numerous media reports that the FDA had adopted a ban on wood aging boards, citing the letter sent by Metz in January to the New York state Agriculture Department.
“FDA may destroy American artisan cheese industry,” a Forbes report said.
“It made for a great headline,” Luddy said. “The story kind of blew up.”
FDA spokeswoman Lauren Sucher said the letter was “correspondence between two regulators — not an agency announcement of new policy.”
The FDA's statement Tuesday said the agency was “always open to evidence that shows that wood can be safely used for specific processes, such as aging cheese.
Weiser, head of the cheesemakers' group, said companies can go about business as usual “if they are doing it properly.”
The local cheesemakers said they foresee no immediate rule change by the FDA, but the matter is not resolved.
“I'm not sure this has completely gone to rest,” Callahan said.
The New York Times contributed to this story.


Article and Photos Sourced From:  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140611/articles/140619902#page=3

Thanking All of the Fathers

 

To All Of The Father's Celebrating Today,
Happy Father's Day

39 Big-Name Projects Transforming Architecture in the USA

Shigeru Ban's Cast Iron House
Surfing on the wake of Tokyo-based architect Shigeru Ban's recent Pritzker win, the developers of NYC's Cast Iron House launched sales for his condo conversion plans, which were approved two years ago. Back then, Ban's rehashing of the 132-year-old cast iron building, which makes for 11 duplexes and two duplex penthouses, was described as "magical" and "breathtaking." And, well, it's gotta be considering the least expensive unit, a three-bedroom, is asking $4.975M.

67 Franklin Street, New York, NY 10013
Website


Zaha Hadid's NYC Condos
Dubbed by Curbed NY as "the most exciting" upcoming project on New York's High Line, Zaha Hadid's imminent condo complex (which looks a bit like rain drops running across the windshield) is her first New York project. NY Mag once described the 11-story structure—slated to house 37 "expansive" residences—as "the delightful Earth home for the weary intergalactic superrich."

520 West 28th Street, New York, NY 10001
Website


Zaha Hadid's COLLINS PARK GARAGE
Down in Miami Beach, Dame Hadid also won a contest to design what surely will be the country's swankiest parking garage. Curbed Miami has renderings aplenty.

303 23rd Street, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Website


Zaha Hadid's One Thousand Museum
Miami will also soon boast Hadid's first skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere, which is expected to break ground this month. It's been described as "a space alien's butt plug," so there's a lot to look forward to.

1000 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33132
Website


Bjarke Ingels' W57
Bjarke Ingels' pyramid on New York's 57th Street is finally taking shape, over a year after getting approval. When complete in 2015, the 709-unit rental building will peak at 450 feet.

625 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019
Website


Bjarke Ingels' Grove at Grand Bay
And, of course, there's Ingels twisty towers for Miami, which has captivated building folk for years with its pair of twisty towers. Grove at Grand Bay broke ground almost exactly a year ago.

2669 South Bayshore Drive, Miami, FL 33133
Website


Christian de Portzamparc's Fortress of Glassitude
Sobrequet'd as the "Fortress of Glassitude," Christian de Portzamparc's 400 Park Avenue South has been in the works since the early 2000s, though previews were only announced in April. According to Curbed NY, "The 40-story tower looks like a collection of crystals jutting from the ground, which is an appropriately luxurious image since the 363 units will be ultra fancy." It's supposed to be move-in ready by 2015.

400 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016
Website


CHRISTIAN DE PORTZAMPARC's One57
Curbed NY has spent the year fastidiously following the blockbuster sales, controversies, and strange bylaws of One57. Yes, that's the building where the crane collapsed during Hurricane Sandy—but what's a good starchitecture project without a little calamity?

157 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019
Website


Jean Nouvel's Tower Verre
For years, Jean Nouvel's planned Tower Verre has lingered in the "unbuilt" and, seemingly, the "never-ever-to-be-built" phases. That is until the project bagged $1B (with a B) in financing last fall. The money comes from a few sources in Asia—the Kwee family, billionaires in Singapore, are investing $300 million in the building, and a group of Asian banks plans to lend another $860 million. Included? 145 luxury condos and three floors of new gallery space for the city's Museum of Modern Art.

53 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019
Website


Rem Koolhaas' Park Grove
Rem Koolhaas has a smörgåsbord of architectural delights rising in Miami right now, one of which is a three-structure cluster of 20-story buildings. Known as Park Grove, the design has changed quite a lot from Koolhaas' winning competition entry, a forest of skinny towers, though the most current renderings still reveal an ambitious array of curvy white superstructures.

2701 South Bayshore Drive, Miami, FL 33133
Website


Rem Koolhaas' Miami Beach Convention Center
After a months-long starchitect battle dramatic enough to make for a sparsely watched made-for-TV movie, the Miami Beach City Commission chose Koolhaas' undulating design for the city's massive convention center.

1901 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Website


Rem Koolhaas' Plaza at Santa Monica
After causing many in the L.A. development scene to clutch their pearls with its outright refusal of Koolhaas' plans, the city of Santa Monica has since allowed for new alternative designs for "one of its most coveted development sites." New renderings "are set to be released any day now," Curbed LA writes.

4th Street & Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Website


Rem Koolhaas' Transbay Block 8
San Francisco developers have tapped Koolhaas to design a 550-foot residential tower on a 42,625-square-foot plot at the city's Transbay Block 8. Included, according to Curbed SF: 740 housing units, about 27 percent of which must be affordable to households making 60 percent of area median income.

Fremont Street, San Francisco, CA
Website


Richard Rogers' 3 World Trade Center
About a year ago the Richard Rogers-designed World Trade Center Tower secured $1.3B in financing by pinning down ad company and media firm GroupM as office tenants. This means the only World Trade Center tower not picking up speed is Norman Foster's tower, which is too bad because it's unambiguously the purdiest.

175 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10006
Website


Herzog and De Meuron's 56 Leonard
Construction for Herzog & de Mueron's crazy, half-played-Jenga tower in NYC's Tribeca neighborhood is now well underway.

56 Leonard Street, New York, NY 10013
Website


Herzog and De Mueron's Perez Art Museum
Perez Art Museum Miami, a hulking project by museum masters Herzog & de Meuron, opened in late 2013 to nigh-universal praise. As Curbed Miami wrote, "this is either because of the excellence of the building's design, the curatorial mastery of the museum's staff, or the intoxicating effects of cruise ship fumes." Want to see more? Curbed Miami has 40 dazzling photos.

1075 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33132
Website


Herzog and De Mueron's Jade Signature
When renderings for Herzog and de Mueron's Jade Signature tower for Miami were unleashed, Curbed Miami wrote: "Okay, from some angles the building does appear to be something built in Bal Harbour in the 80s, but Herzog & de Meuron buildings never look their best in renderings." Diplomatic indeed.

16901 Collins Avenue, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160
Website


Robert A.M. Stern's Central Park Tower
After what Curbed NY describes as a developer "catfight," it seems like Robert A.M. Stern's limestone-clad tower at the southern edge of Central Park is officially a go. It will stand 920 feet high with floor-to-ceiling windows, coffered ceilings, ornate fireplaces, and herringbone floors.

220 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019
Website


Steven Holl's Columbia Sport Center
When Steven Holl's $30M sports complex for Columbia University opened last year, architects waxed poetic about Campbell Sports Center, which, according to Bloomberg's critic James Russell, "flamboyantly bumps and grinds, showing off its shiny metal stairs that ascend like lightning bolts." New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman called it "a tough, sophisticated and imaginative work of architecture for a devilish site."

West 218th Street, New York, NY 10034
Website


Bjarke Ingels' 950 Market
Ingels' west coast megaproject will encompass, according to Curbed SF, a 250-room hotel, 316 residences, a 75,000-square-foot arts complex, and 15,000 square feet of retail.

974 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Website


Frank Gehry's Facebook HQ
It takes a lot of clout and a lot of balls to ask flourish-happy starchitect and controversy-magnet Frank Gehry to design an "anonymous building" that "blends into the neighborhood." Apparently Facebook has enough of both. The company asked Gehry to draw up low-key plans for the company's 433,555-square-foot Facebook West complex in Menlo Park, Calif. Perhaps more surprising? Gehry delivered with aplomb. His renderings for Facebook's up-and-coming facility (above) show a low-slung complex seated under grassy spreads of rooftop park. Wired wrote "there's no question the building will blend in well with its surroundings," and notices how the new design is congruent with Facebook's "hacker ethos, which emphasizes functionality over form."

1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Website


Frank Gehry's Eisenhower Memorial
So it seems that the now totally drawn out boondoggle that is Gehry's Eisenhower Memorial won't actually happen, but between its "Disneyfied diorama" and "Iron Curtain to Ike," Gehry's "temple to nothingness" has been inexpicably slaughtered and reslaughtered so much in the last year, it seemed a crime to leave it out.

1629 K Street Northwest #801, Washington, DC 20006
Website


Frank Gehry's Grand Avenue Projet
In January, developers got approval from the Powers That Be in Los Angeles to move forward with Gehry's designs for a multi-use project on downtown's Grand Avenue. It's a step in the right direction, but an actual, real-life building is still super far off. Construction will hopefully begin in early 2015, with the building hopefully up and running by 2018.

699 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website


Renzo Piano's Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
At the end of this year, work will begin converting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's May Company building into the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, a space agey project by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali. Plans for the 1939 building? A giant glass sphere connected by a "five-story glass 'spine'" with "people-moving system of stairs and elevators," as the Academy describes it. Curbed LA breaks down the plans floor-by-floor, this way.

6067 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website


Renzo Piano's Harvard Art Museum
Piano recently completed his Hahvahd (Harvard.) project: the combining of the university's three art museums (one of which is in a protected 1920s Georgian revival building) into one reorganized and upgraded facility.

32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Website


Renzo Piano's Kimbell Art Museum Expansion
When the Kimbell commissioned Piano to create an expansion for the Fort Worth art museum, they made it clear that they didn't want a knockoff of the main building, but a continuation of the same ambient light conditions, which are considered "the gold standard" for the museum. How did the Italian architect deliver? Piano's pavilion at the Kimbell Art Museum uses motorized louvers to dial in the right amount of natural light for each exhibit. Well-played.

3333 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76107
Website


Santiago Calatrava's Transportation Hub
The 9/11 National Memorial Museum may have just opened, the area's soaring, eagle-like transportation hub, designed by Santiago Calatrava, won't open until 2015—150-foot high glass and steel "wings" and all.

Church Street, New York, NY 10007
Website


Santiago Calatrava's Church of St. Nicholas
Late last year, rumors that Santiago Calatrava was tapped to rebuild NYC's Church of St. Nicholas—which was destroyed in 9/11—were all but confirmed when eight renderings appeared on Calatrava's website. As Curbed NY writes, "Calatrava has taken his inspiration from some of the great churches of Istanbul, including the Hagia Sophia and the Church of the Holy Savior in Chora, with 40 ribs in the dome and stone bands on the church's corners."

155 Cedar Street, New York, NY 10006
Website


Santiago Calatrava's Innovation, Science and Technology Building
This month construction will wrap on Calatrava's Innovation, Science and Technology Building at the Florida Polytechnic University, the newest member of the Florida State University System. Inside the 160,000-square-foot building: classrooms, auditoriums, research and teaching labs, and offices for faculty and academic administrators.

3433 Winter Lake Road, Lakeland, FL 33803
Website


Jeanne Gang's Clark Park Boathouse
Construction on Chicago's new boathouses, by certified genius Jeanne Gang recently wrapped. To glean inspiration for her design, which was commissioned by Chicago's mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gang studied prints of a photographer of the 1800s. Eadweard Muybridge shot stop-motion images that demonstrate in rigid form the movements of rowers. As New Yorker writes: "Her design re-creates the rhythm with structure: the roof undulates like an oar's rise and fall. Because the peaks repeat, so do the clerestory windows."

Clark (Richard) Playlot Park, 3400 North Rockwell Street, Chicago, IL 60618
Website


Jeanne Gang's University 'House Hubs'
About a year ago we got a first look at Gang's new dorms—err "house hubs." Curbed Chicago has the renderings.

East 55th Street & South University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637
Website


Jeanne Gang's Solar Carve
Last month, word got out that Gang's edgy office tower on NYC's High Line will actually, you know, exist. Solar Carve initially, according to Curbed NY, "ran into some roadblocks: namely, community opposition." Anyway, it seems the project is now in the clear, though apparently Gang won't even be finalizing the designs until 2015.

56 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10014
Website


Frank Lloyd Wright's Unrealized Usonian House
In 1939 American architecture overlord Frank Lloyd Wright drafted plans for a single-story house that, like others of his middle class-friendly Usonian House series, boasted a flat roof, small kitchen, overlarge living area, and airy, if anachronistically plain-jane, aesthetic. The house turned out to be one of hundreds of Wright designs never to be realized ... until this year. Florida Southern College built the house, with grand plans to turn it into a gallery and visitors center filled with exhibitions of Wright's work. It's all made of 2,000 concrete blocks and 6,000 colored glass blocks. More photos, this way.

111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive, Lakeland, FL 33801
Website


David Adjaye's Museum of African American History and Culture
Slated for a 2015 opening, David Adjaye's Museum of African American History and Culture will sit on DC's National Mall.

Constitution Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20001
Website


Norman Foster's Chelsea Condos
Norman Foster's controversial plans for New York's Public Library may have curled up and died, but his condo development in NYC's West Chelsea is still alive and well. In fact, a few months ago, the developers unleashed interior renderings. The architects describe it as "a very elegant, well-proportioned, quiet building—a very urbane building—it's a building that will mature and it will become a classic over time." Pricing is said to start at $5.75M. The penthouses? Upwards of $35M.

551 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10011
Website


Norman Foster's 50 UN Plaza
Sales officially launched at Foster's 50 UN Plaza in October, confirming the development's, ahem, $100M penthouse.

United Nations Plaza, New York, NY
Website


Faena District by Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas
Miami Beach's Faena District (currently under construction) includes Norman Foster's Faena House tower, which has just topped off, and Rem Koolhaas' Faena Bazaar and Arts Center.

3201 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33140
Website


Norman Foster's Apple HQ
No contemporary starchitecture map would be complete without Norman Foster's mind-boggling Apple Campus 2, a donut-shaped mothership that now $2B—that's billion—over budget and a year delayed. Of course, those could simply be natural hiccups in the process to create a 2.8M-square-foot ring that will "visually banish" cars and make room for some one thousand bicycles.

19091 Pruneridge Avenue, Cupertino, CA 95014
Website

Renzo Piano's Jerome L. Greene Science Center
Piano's glassy science center, built for the neurological sciences students and faculty at Columbia University, is well underway on Manhattan's 125th Street. Curbed NY has renderings.
Broadway & West 129th Street, New York, NY 10027
Website




List, Info, & Photos Sourced From:  http://curbed.com/archives/2014/06/03/starchitecture-map-zaha-hadid-bjarke-ingels-richard-meier-robert-am-stern.php