A little off topic, but good experiences are always worth sharing...

My friend Louisa invited me to "industry night" at Bong Su, a new Vietnamese restaurant located at 311 3rd Street in San Francisco (basically the corner of 3rd and Folsom).

(If you're not familiar with "industry night" -- as I wasn't -- it's basically an opportunity for people in the restaurant industry, be they other owners, wine importers, chefs, etc., to come check-out a new place before it officially opens.)

Long story short... it was great! It's hard to believe that this space used to be Max's Diner; Anne, the owner, has been busy creating a warm (strike that... "lush" is probably better) environment to lounge and dine in over the last 15 months, and her attention to detail definitely shows.

On the lounge front, it just works... warm colors, good music, a wrap-around bar, glass windowed wine "cellar", comfy coaches, and terrific cocktails. (Okay, having a room full of attractive, flirty female patrons probably didn't hurt things...)

While we didn't get to try the entrees or salads (full dinner service starts today), the starters we had were solid. In particular, the 5-spice quail and shrimp cupcakes really stood out; sauces and seasonings were very flavorful, without being overpowering. We finished things off with some of the densest biscotti (ok, and a 20 yr tawny) I've ever had... yum!

Looking forward to giving the place a full trial over the next few weeks; hope you will too!

Joal Ryan of E! Online was kind enough to contact me about participating in her piece about the re(re, re, re) release of Star Wars and the milking of consumers (many of whom are buying the same movie for the Nth time in order to get some incremental gain).

She pointed to my site instead of the piece I wrote about amporphous, perpetual content licensing, so I'm pointing to it here for those who might be visiting off of the E! article and want to read my original rant. Enjoy!