Benu, San Francisco's Michelin two-star restaurant run by artist/chef Cory Lee, garnered raves from critics and diners alike since it opened in 2010. Rightfully so. The sparsely-decorated joint and Lee's avant-garde molecular gastronomy, with Asian and European touches, are unparalleled. We were fortunate enough to have our birthday dinner there over the weekend thanks to friends with fat wallets and even fatter hearts. (Per person? 12 courses for $180, add $120 more for wine pairings.) And while we typically loathe diners who snap shots of their food with their phones, we couldn't resist taking footage of Benu's whimsical birthday box and cake that arrived at our table. more ›

Yesterday, Sunday March 20th was Willie Brown's Birthday. We feel pretty horrible that we didn't mention it earlier, but if you see him today be sure to send a glass of that Duckhorn Merlot he likes his way. Da Mayor is 77. more ›

Today is Grace Jones' 62nd birthday, and as a sort of supplemental palate cleanser today, because you did have to suffer a bomb threat and all, please enjoy this clip of her as 'Katrina' in 1986's Vamp, dancing in white-face around a Keith Haring sculpture. more ›

He'd be too embarrassed to tell you all himself, but today is the birthday of your beloved SFist editor, Brock Keeling. In his honor, I bring you this live appearance by Cibo Matto from 1997's brilliant but short-lived Viva Variety on Comedy Central (remember Michael Ian Black as Johnny Blue Jeans?), singing "Birthday Cake." Let's all give him a hug and try to keep his mind off the fact that he shares this blessed day with the anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger explosion. more ›

In Friday's Chronicle, the paper's editorial page editor, John Diaz, writes that he recently discovered that he was placed on the Government's "Watch List." Which makes sense, we guess, because Diaz is Arabic for "not even close to sounding Arabic." In the piece, Diaz says that when he tried to print out his advance tickets at the airport, he was instead told to go to the counter. There, he was told the reason for all this was because he was on double secret probation more ›

Meetup madness! Tonight at the House of Shields, indie publishers, zinesters, filmmakers, podcasters, airwave pirates and the like will descend upon the House of Shields at 7pm for the Webzine 2005 Drinkup! -- this isn't the official Webzine event (that's in September), but it's a chance to meet the organizers, pitch panels, come up with workshop ideas and, of course, drink lots of $2 PBRs (there will be some birthdays celebrated as well). SFist will definitely be there, as we're helping to organize -- we'll wear an SFist tee and introduce you around if you like. Tomorrow, blog nerds will have to make a tough decision -- MetaFilter meetup at the HoS, or SFlickr meetup at the Crossroads Cafe? Tough call. more ›