Monthly Archives: August 2015

It’s NOT All Right, Jack, It’s Just OK. (Jack’s Seafood Restaurant)

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(I couldn’t help myself. One of the great movies of my childhood was the goofy 1959 Peter Sellers comedy, I’m All right Jack.  It’s a comedy about unions and corruption and several other things and if you’ve never seen it, you should. It’s timely.)

Jack’s Seafood Restaurant, which opened August 14th, in the Fishermans’ Terminal building, has been avidly anticipated and  heavily subsidized. As you may recall, the City put out an RFP for restaurant  operators back in 2013 and received around a dozen applicants but-mysteriously- NONE of these folks were deemed qualified and we mere peasants and taxpayers are not privy to the reasons. The contract was awarded to Jack Wu, a crony of former Councilman Chet Albin. Mr Wu has operated the nearby Bayfront restaurant for four years. For Jack’s Seafood, the CIty spent $550K on the building, another $240K on fixtures installed at City expense and will collect NO RENT for the first nine months, after which Mr Wu will pay $4500/month.

Now the Bayfront has not exactly been an unqualified success. Their Yelp reviews have run about 50/50 with positive reviews for the scenery, sushi  and teppanyaki,  negatives for the rest, especially  the service.  Mr Wu has had years now to solve his service problems, so how does Jack’s measure up?

First of all, the space is beautiful. The waterfront views are great and the bar, which looked like they were still setting it up, is nicely appointed. 

I guess we should start with the chowder, which should be the hallmark of a waterfront joint.  The chowder has a nice flavor, but a thin consistency, off-putting to folks like me who like a traditional chowder such as that available at Gill’s or the Seascape.  It’s not terrible, but, as one of our party said, it was “not yummy”.  Both people finished theirs  but no one was licking the bowl. Our third person had a salad instead, which was large and very fresh.

In fact, the ingredients overall are fresh and presented nicely.  I had the fish sandwich made with rock cod.  I thought it might come on a bun or roll but it was served on toast made of sandwich bread, which was different, with a huge mound of romaine and some sliced heirloom tomatoes.  The fish part was fine.  I ended up eating it with a knife and fork. The other two had the fish and chips, also with rock cod, and the halibut and chips. The remark was made that the halibut could have been tastier. The “chips” are quarter-sized slices of potato, fried. Again they were “not yummy”, but okay. The coleslaw was served dry and definitely needed dressing.

What about that old bugaboo, service? The staff are young and eager but the service was awkward.  We waited quite a while and then our server brought our chowders and salad at the same time she brought our mains. She explained that they had run out of chowder (at 1pm on a Tuesday, with the place only half full) and had had to make more.  I kind of think we should have been ASKED if we wanted everything dumped on the table at once but I guess I’m an old grouch.

Now, let’s talk prices.  One would expect a “view” restaurant to charge a dollar or two more than a place in McKinleyville, and the $15 fish and chips does include soup or salad.  It’s not a rip but it’s not a good deal, either. 

Bottom Line:  Has YOUR money been well-spent?  As I said, it’s a beautiful space.  Of the three of us, not one was eager to return, at least for food. The bar, however, has real possibilities. The food is okay, “not yummy”.  The service is cheerful but raggedy. Jack’s has a captive audience of tourists just from its location,  which is about thee feet from where the Madaket boards. Will it develop a local following?  I really hope so. But they definitely have work to do. If you get down there, let us know what you think. 

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Here’s the Humboldt Anglers’ Summer Newsletter

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The Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers have provided their beautiful and informative newsletter again. It can take a few minutes to download but it is definitely worth the wait. In the near future our salmon and Black Rockfish populations are in trouble.

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Tidbits and Gossip August 19 2015

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One thing leads to another: I called the Kyoto Restaurant because I saw one of these liquor license notices in the window and wondered if they had changed hands.  Not so, said Jenny Masaki,  wife of owner Eric Masaki.   The liquor license transfer came about because Eric has been hired as a Deputy Sheriff and was only pinned a day or so ago. A corporate “split” was necessitated because law enforcement personnel are prohibited by law from selling booze. Good luck in your new assignment, Deputy Masaki!

The Cutten Inn is still in a holding pattern.  No less a personage than the owner’s brother gave us the word on when the Inn will be open again: “Sometime”.

I apparently don’t get  out enough or I wouldn’t be the last person on earth to know that The Works, our hallowed indy record store, has left its digs on “C” Street and is now located at 434 Second Street. They have less space but lots more visibility.  Bandon hasn’t thrown a grand opening party yet but let’s keep asking. The old space on “C” Street was taken over by neighboring Mantova’s Two Street Music.

I signed up for Newsmax by mistake- and it’s been enlightening. One of the out-of-town papers I read is showing a lot of Trump ads and when I clicked on a poll I somehow ended up with a trial subscription. I’ll be bailing soon because most of their “news” is about health matters and topics of interest to the elderly. I had expected a lot of right-wing politics,  not so much the alzheimers-and-diabetes  ads. I guess they know their market.

The ONLY fast-food chain that I would cheerfully welcome into Humboldt County,       Chick-fil-A, is opening a new store today in Rancho Cordova at 2234 Sunrise Boulevard. The closest CFA fix remains the Santa Rosa store at 1452 Mendocino Avenue. Ave. For those of us who are truly addicted, there are days when we have to stop ourselves from hitting the road in  pursuit of the Magic Sandwich. To go from the sublime to the ridiculous, I’m even having pangs for KFC lately.  We are truly a chick-deprived community.

CNBC’s latest series, “Make Me A Millionaire Inventor” is an oddball show, to judge from its first episode. They followed two inventors through the initial pitch.  The first was a woman from an events-planning background whose invention was a kind of chocolate fountain but instead of chocolate, it showers down cascades of marinara sauce! I didn’t find it appetizing at all;  it reminded me of chainsaw massacres and Edgar Allen Poe, but maybe some one will find it charming.  The contraption kept breaking down, since marinara sauce is much thicker than chocolate, fountain chocolate anyway.  Maybe they should try alfredo sauce.  The other invention was a device to be worn by athletes which signals when one is in danger of sustaining a concussion. The two Silicon Valley types who pitched this came away with some seed money and a lot of compliments and encouragement from the investor. THEIR  invention didn’t remind anyone of a slasher movie.  Continues Wednesdays at 7pm, repeats at 10pm, on CNBC, Suddenlink Channel 51.  I’m in.

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LOCAL Resolution Care featured on PBS News TONIGHT

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Jonathan Speaker of StreamGuys forwarded the following  regarding Dr. Michael Fratkin’s local initiative re: palliative care.  Sorry for the short notice!

While ResolutionCare has enjoyed a fair bit of media interest to date, the bar is raised dramatically TONIGHT with the broadcast of a seven minute segment on PBS Newshour with Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill. From my perspective, the strength of the piece is the participation of three people and families that generously and bravely shared their stories and experience to a national audience.

The nature of news broadcast scheduling has limited our ability to notify the community to these few hours of lead-time on the day of broadcast. A link to the segment will be available shortly after broadcast, and I urge you all to share that that link with your families, your networks, and everywhere you think that it might make a difference to support this work.

Here’s the info for the broadcast in Humboldt County:

▪ KEET HDTV TV Channel 13.1 at 600pm and Midnight
▪ KEET World Channel 13.2 at 700pm
▪ PBS Newshour Live Stream http://www.ustream.tv/pbsnewshour at 300pm

THE EAGLE HOUSE IS FOR SALE!

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Our wonderful, iconic hotel on the Bay is for sale for $2,850,000.  I’ve always enjoyed sending out-of-town visitors here. Whether they complain (because it’s not pristine like new construction) or appreciate it for the great, quirky property it is, is a great test of character.  Details HERE.

You’ll notice they reference a 25% vacancy factor. I don’t think the Eagle House has ever had full-time proactive management, but if they did I’m sure they could fill more rooms.

Here, courtesy of LoopNet, are some other properties For Sale In Humboldt:

The Ritz Building, 240 F Street, Eureka , former site of the Ritz restaurant, going for $3,300,000.

The Little Jalisco building at the foot of Humboldt Hill, for only $230,000.

The former Pierce Mortuary at 707 H Street, Eureka, going for $775, 000.

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EUREKA NEEDS MORE PARKING!!

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It didn’t make any of the local papers but Eureka businessman Don Davenport stood up at the July 21 meeting of the Eureka City Council and made an impassioned plea for more parking in Henderson Center.  Mr Davenport and I have had our differences in the past, but on this subject he’s absolutely right.  Last Monday I tried to meet a  friend who volunteers at the Cancer Society and drove around for fifteen minutes trying to find parking.  I finally resorted to the Rite-Aid lot, where I squeezed into a space that was already occupied by a scooter. Pathetic!

I asked everyone I could buttonhole what the problem was and no one knew. Here’s a wild guess: there’s not enough parking in Henderson Center!!  And with two new restaurants (Zöe and Diver Bar& Grill)  slated to open in the next few weeks, the situation in Henderson Center is only going to get worse.

It’s no better downtown. I routinely drive around Old Town looking for parking and go elsewhere when I can’t find it.  And I have a disabled placard! That means I’m not just looking for marked disabled parking, but ANY parking because I can use the placard in any marked space. I still end up driving elsewhere because there’s not enough parking.

What are our city officials doing about this problem? Making it worse!  Mr. Rob Holmlund, the city’s Community Development Director, has drawn a bead on the few available spaces and would like to see some of them set aside for “parklets”. Thank God the current proposal is only for four such spaces and we’ll all be curious to see if the property owners and merchants in Old Town really benefit from clearing space in front of their businesses. Considering the large population of homeless and poorly-housed folks within a block or two of the proposed “parklets”,  will it really be shoppers who fill the spaces?  We’ll see.

I believe Mr Holmlund’s well-intentioned proposal would be more suitable for Los Altos than for Eureka. 

Ditto for his similarly well-intentioned desire to preserve the neighborhood markets of yesteryear. Yes, neighborhood markets are a great convenience but most of them are just getting by. I miss Songer’s and Cannam’s too but nostalgia won’t pay the bills.  I wish Handee Market and the others all the best,  and hope they survive but if they survive it won’t be because of city planning.  It will be because they’re filling a need. And they have nearby parking.

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The Republican Debate

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As a Democrat, I don’t spend a lot of time handicapping the other party’s stable but this is a weird year. Here are some thoughts from Thursday’s debate.

JEB BUSH NEEDS NEW GLASSES. I am absolutely serious about this. Those wussy glasses he wears make him look elderly, which never helps.  His message will be lost unless he pays a visit to an optician or borrows a pair of glasses from Rick Perry. Just sayin’.

MARCO RUBIO IS AWESOME.  And we didn’t even get to really see him in action.

CHRIS CHRISTIE IS SALVAGEABLE.   When he doesn’t act like a bully, Christie can be very credible.  The problem is that whenever you look at him you hear Tony Soprano calling someone a “fat fuck”.  Christie could be someone’s running mate. He’s certainly more credible than Palin was.

RAND PAUL LOOKED LIKE HE WANTED TO BE ELSEWHERE.  The little snarlfest between him and Christie went to Christie, hands down.

KASICH WAS THE ONLY  “REAGANESQUE” GUY THERE.  If he achieves the nomination he will be a real threat to any Democrat running. Finally,

DONALD TRUMP IS A DISGUSTING PIG.   I have to admit, I used to be a Trump fan.  I loved The Apprentice and used to encourage my clients in job search to watch it, but his behavior in the past couple of weeks indicates that he’s totally lost his mind and doesn’t care who he hurts. He can’t come up with any evidence supporting his scurrilous attacks on Hispanics.  The best he could do was that “the Border Patrol” was his source for the information that the “Mexican government is sending criminals” over the border. Taking on Megyn Kelly afterward in a blatantly sexist manner wasn’t too smart either.  Megalomania will take him down. He may or may nor take the Republican  Party with him. 

WHO WON? Megyn Kelly, hands down. 

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