-- Carmen Jones: Based off of Georges Bizet's famous French opera Carmen, the adaptation was made into a successful Broadway musical, and then a '50s film staring Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, and Pearl Bailey. Now, see it again on stage right here in SF. The curtain goes up tonight at the African-American Art & Culture Complex (762 Fulton); $15. -- The Halloween Friday Night Skate: Rollerskate (or blade) in your Halloween costume without breaking......

This Saturday at the San Francisco Embarcadero Hyatt Regency from noon-4 p.m., you can join KGO Radio and the Mendocino Wine Growers Foundation in celebration of the wines and other good stuff from Mendocino County. The event, called "Wine By The Bay 2007,", is $35 if you buy your ticket now; it'll be ten buck more ($45) at the door. What's exciting to us is that Friend of SFist, Destination Dinners' Lisa Diamond, is scheduled to be interviewed by KGO's Gene Burns during the event for his "Dining Around" program....

For many of us with standard 9-5 jobs, a long weekend is coming up. Naturally, our minds turn to libations. Always plenty of booze news around these parts; here's a roundup of some of the ones we found to be interesting....

When we see parsnips at the store or in most markets, they're big, with a tough inner core. We were thrilled, then, to see smaller, in-season parsnips, split down the middle like a serpent's tongue, at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market. The slimmed-down root vegetables have not yet formed the woody center that we chop from normal versions. That means higher yield and less work for the home cook. Given the odd carrot colors......

As much as we enjoy planning dinners, sometimes we just want to assemble a quick meal from fresh ingredients at the farmer's market. How often do you get to the many markets here in the Bay Area? If you haven't been in a while, we'd like to urge you visit your neighborhood market and taste the treats on display. Scrumptious stone fruits such as cherries and nectarines are at the peak of their flavor......

When SFist Jackson announced, "Hey, I saw your BFF Dede today", we went scarlet (we don't wear green) with envy. When do we get OUR Dede Wilsey sighting? Taunting our jealousy, Jackson sent us this: In a black raincoat and brown Timberland boots, Dede Wilsey and squire looked bored and even a little uncomfortable while checking out the selection at Tsar Nicoulai Caviar in the Ferry Plaza on Sunday. Note to Dede -- kohl eyes......

Finally! Some cold weather! We've pouted over this winter's heat, which has prevented us from cooking our favorite seasonal dishes. High up on the list of foods we would've made? Beans. Just imagine: Slow-cooked onions, beans, maybe a bit of bay leaf for an aromatic component, maybe a bit of salt pork or bacon for a rich meatiness? Is there anything more soul-filling? (Yes, we know about bean salad, but that's not what we're......

I rely on a number of high-quality producers for the Kitchen column. Some I've written about in depth, some make frequent cameo appearances. Here are the unsung (at least at this site) producers I relied on in 2005. Fatted Calf Great charcuterie is hard to find. No wonder, then, that Fatted Calf has a cult following among cured meat connoisseurs. Taylor and Toponia, who started the business with their own savings, use top-notch ingredients to......

Holiday shopping and holiday parties leave us little time to cook this season. As we wandered the waterlogged Ferry Plaza market this weekend, we passed by the stalls of produce, knowing any veggies we bought would go bad before we prepared them. We're sure many of you face the same dilemma this week, unless of course you're cooking for a holiday party. But then we saw the Hog Island Oysters stall. Wouldn't it be......

When it came time to pick the best place to shop for food, we fretted over the decision. We knew the winner would be a farmer's market, since seasonal produce bought from local farmers beats virtually every store's fruits and vegetables. But which market to choose? The Bay Area probably has more farmer's markets per capita than anywhere else, each with its own personality and devotees. The Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market gets plenty of......

The SFist test kitchen has come up with a great idea. Sometime in the next week, arrange to see your friends or family at a big meal. Imagine how pleasant it will be to rediscover the quirks and foibles of your kin. You could even take this opportunity to clear up any issues you've let simmer over the last year. You'll thank us for giving you the chance to air out the metaphorical closets.......

This absolutely priceless picture is courtesy of Thomas Hawk, who managed a few snaps of His Royal Choadness during today's visit to the Ferry Plaza to speak about the environment (after taking a Coast Guard cutter instead of a public ferry). We hope Frank got at least a moment to impress upon Chas the importance of protecting the planet from the threat posed by the 12 Galaxies, since sustainable agriculture and artisan cheeses won't......

The hands on Nature's clock have just ticked past fall and hard squash have appeared in abundance at the markets. The always good-natured staff at Eatwell decorated their pile o' squash at the Ferry Plaza market with Sharpies and a sense of humor, while SFist reader Brett spotted a honker of a pumpkin outside the Market Bar. Winter squash is to autumn as tomatoes are to summer. "But, um," you're thinking, "shouldn't that read......

We have been eagerly tasting apricots on our farmer's market forays, waiting for them to go from tart and unpleasant to juicy and sweet. Someday soon, we knew. Saturday wasn't promising until we stopped by the Frog Hollow booth. Emissaries from the stand were offering samples to the throngs of tourists at the Ferry Plaza. One bite of the heavenly apricots, and we dived into the palace of produce to get more. We love......

We loves us a good piece of meat, but we can't stand buying the factory-farmed animal products we find in most stores. An American obsession with cheap meat has left us with powerful producers who use their government-approved anonymity to wreak all sorts of travesties. (Have you read Fast Food Nation yet? You should.) We try not to contribute to this karmic sinkhole, and so we were happy to see Marin Sun Farms at......

We were over the moon when we saw cardoons at Tairwa' Knoll's stall last Saturday at the Ferry Plaza Market. Restaurateurs and avid cardoon eaters usually buy all these tall, light green stalks long before they get to market. Maybe farmers are growing more because they see demand for the husky, peppery flavor of this Mediterranean vegetable. Cardoons may look like steroid-riddled celery, but the name comes from the word for thistle and they're......

When we shop at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market, we almost always swing by Achadinha's stall to taste some Capricious, the company's popular aged goat cheese. We've long been fans of the nutty, buttery taste and smooth, firm texture of this cheese, and we're not the only ones. The first time Ginger Olsen and Diane Livingston brought Capricious to the American Cheese Society's annual competition, the cheese won Best in Show and Best Aged......

When we asked about asparagus season, the bustling woman with farmers' hands working the Zuckerman's stand gave us a quick answer, "We're three weeks in with 12 to go." The thin, long wands are still just at one or two stalls in the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, but we're sure they'll be everywhere soon enough. That's fine with us; we love the distinctive green stalks with their grassy taste, and we're happy to pretend......

Organic satsuma oranges made for a nice snack as we shopped at Tuesday's Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market, but we thought we'd mention the dried mandarins at Everything Under the Sun's [PDF] stall. These brittle, bitter wheels aren't exactly an accessible snack on their own, but a moment in our spice grinder turned them into a flavorful powder with a multitude of uses. We particularly liked this dust as a coating for Cointreau-flavored chocolate truffles,......

Alaina Browne moves west, and NYCeats becomes A Full Belly....