When last we left Willie Brown before the holidays, the former mayor was returning from tours of Beijing and Cuba where he apparently found things to be surprisingly hospitable. (Except for the part where he had to eat rice all the time.) So, after visiting with about half of the remaining communist superpowers, Willie needed to get in some Quality Time with the restaurants that subsidize his gadabout lifestyle his favorite places around town. So it was lunch at Le Central, Christmas Eve dinner at Bix, and Christmas Day at the Claremont in Berkeley.

Bix, if you didn't know, has been a Willie Brown Christmas Eve Tradition for over 20 years — a fact that will come in handy should you ever find yourself lonely and in need of some mayoral camaraderie during future holidays. Willie neglected to divulge what meal one orders at Bix on Christmas Eve (the famous chicken hash just seems like it would make Christmas Eve even more depressing), but he did divulge his preferences for the artwork inside. (He likes the "WPA mural-style piece" over the bar. Girlfriend Sonya prefers the Mark Stock painting in the dining room.)

The Claremont must have been good to Willie in 2011 because Da Mayor's writeup reads like a travel guide for the place: the service is "old school", the whole place looks like it hasn't changed since 1915, the piano player in the lobby looks like he belongs in the Count Basie orchestra, etc etc. Apparently their selection of cheeses is so mind blowing, "you immediately want to bifurcate".

Finally, it wouldn't be a San Francisco inauguration without a Willie Brown pre-party, which is exactly what Da Mayor will be throwing tomorrow night, the night before Ed Lee is officially handed his full term as the rightful heir to City Hall. Like his election night party, Willie's Inauguration Bash will be at the Palace Hotel's Garden Court according to Matier & Ross. Expect power brokers, luncheon-goers, early 90's rappers, Nob Hill residents and kingmakers to all be in attendance.