The Tablehopper’s Guide to Dining and Drinking in San Francisco

Find the Right Spot for Every Occasion

Marcia Gagliardi

Quick: your parents/ex-boyfriend/regional sales manager/hip friend from Manhattan are coming to town. Do you know where to take them for dinner? Unfortunately, most restaurant guidebooks can’t help you find the right spot. Because here’s a revelation: diners don’t choose restaurants by category ranking (French, Financial District, $$$, ***), but by occasion: cocktails and nibbles with the girls, first date, power lunch, dinner with the kids.

Finally, there’s a guidebook by someone who understands how people really eat really dine out. Marcia Gagliardi, a San Francisco food writer and culinary personality, is known from coast to coast as “The Tablehopper,” a trusted source for what’s new, good, and of course, delicious in the San Francisco restaurant and bar scene.

Since Marcia was a teenager, she has been an unofficial culinary concierge for her friends and family, who came to rely on her knack for providing the perfect restaurant recommendation. After launching her weekly tablehopper e-column in 2006 and receiving an onslaught of requests from her readers, Marcia started “tip please,” a free customized restaurant recommendation service on her site.

After making more than 1,500 restaurant recommendations, Marcia realized that her readers were always looking for restaurants by situation, and rarely by neighborhood or cuisine. Whether it’s a group of out-of-towners trying to find that quintessential San Francisco experience, a birthday group seeking a rowdy place for a party of 10, or a nervous couple on a blind date, people want a personal recommendation from a well-connected local—not a faceless guidebook.

Marcia’s solution to these dining dilemmas is The Tablehopper’s Guide to Dining and Drinking in San Francisco, which covers the city’s dining landscape with a totally fresh perspective and voice, recommending the right place for the right time. With her unique blend of enthusiasm, insider knowledge, and sass, Marcia takes into account why you’re going out, who you’re dining with, and how much cash you have to burn.

The book contains nearly 600 reviews of her top suggestions for occasions like:

Marcia also includes “insider” one-, two-, and three-day itineraries for gourmet-minded tourists on a variety of budgets. With sections on destination-worthy locations in the East Bay, South Bay, and Wine Country, this is the sort of handy guidebook even a local—especially a local—will find useful.

The Tablehopper’s Guide to Dining and Drinking in San Francisco is full of hot tips about obscure locations, can’t-miss dishes, and the best seats in the house that only a savvy food writer, obsessive restaurant insider, and San Francisco resident of 15 years would know. The tablehopper is your ultimate restaurant matchmaker, guiding you to the best pupusa or Pimm’s Cup, for date one or three. 

about the author

Marcia (rhymes with Garcia) Gagliardi is a freelance food writer and culinary personality, known as the tablehopper. Marcia and her free weekly e-column are among the Bay Area’s most trusted resources for spot-on (and fun) recommendations on where to eat, drink, and hobnob. She has appeared on Oprah & Friends: The Gayle King Show; Playboy TV; the Martha Stewart Living Today radio show, and many local programs. Visit www.tablehopper.com for more information.

The Tablehopper’s Guide to Dining and Drinking in San Francisco: Find the Right Spot for Every Occasion  

by Marcia Gagliardi

$16 paperback • 240 pages • two-color • 5 x 7 inches

ISBN: 978-1-58008-128-3 • Publication Date: March 9, 2010

Cynthia is already on the message board:

Join the discussion tomorrow and chat with Cynthia!  

ECO-SEX:

GO GREEN BETWEEN THE SHEETS AND MAKE YOUR LOVE LIFE SUSTAINABLE

by Stefanie Iris Weiss

“Eco-Sex will take you from book cover to sheet cover with your eco-mate, addressing everything from green dates to earth-friendly aphrodisiacs to safe, healthy sex.” —The Green Life, Sierra Club

“Eco-Sex is really about better sex. In her fast-paced, engaging style, Weiss dispenses long overdue advice for leading a healthier, sexier, and greener lifestyle.”—Josh Dorfman, host, The Lazy Environmentalist, Sundance Channel

A discerning, sexy and on-trend guide, ECO-SEX arrives on shelves just in time for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.  Authored by Stefanie Iris Weiss, MA, ECO-SEX examines all the elements it takes to create a truly sustainable sex life. Looking for a red-hot thrill in the bedroom?  ECO-SEX brings a whole new meaning to the old phrase “the birds and the bees.” Recharge your passion for the environment with ECO-SEX and help inaugurate the next (and best) sexual revolution.

ECO-SEX: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable opens with smart, sexy questions:

• What’s that condom really made of?
• Does the birth control pill do more harm than good?
• Where can I find sex toys that won’t harm my body OR the environment?
• How do I make sure that my lingerie is as sustainable as my locally-grown veggies?
• Which brand of organic chocolate is equally delicious and good for the planet?
• Why is overpopulation the environmental disaster we never talk about in public?

ECO-SEX provides even smarter answers that every ecosexual must grasp before sliding between sustainably-grown bamboo sheets.  Chock-full of reliable websites, manufacturers, and labels to look out for, ECO-SEX is a user-friendly manual covering courtship rituals, bedroom basics and eco-lifestyle choices. From greening your beauty routine to sourcing fair-trade gifts to green solutions for STDs to eco-parenting––no dirty detail is left out.  Whether you’re worried about Big Oil or trying to achieve your own Big O, ECO-SEX has the answers.

Ms. Weiss takes the guesswork out of which ingredients to avoid in cosmetics and personal care products, while exploring the dangers of “greenwashing.” Experts abound in ECO-SEX: a certified aromatherapist and natural botanical perfumer provides DIY essential oil blends for the ultimate in libido-stimulation.  Celebrity chefs share their most seductive vegan and raw recipes, and a connoisseur of seduction offers her tips on eating sensually. ECO-SEX also covers tantra, yoga positions for better sex, the best cities to find single greenies, and even sex tips for pregnant chicks. Remember, there’s nothing sexier than a clear conscience.

About the Author

Stefanie Iris Weiss, MA, is the author of nine books on topics ranging from yoga to veganism to the beauty myth.  Weiss is a regular contributor to many publications. She keeps her carbon footprint small in New York City and is available for interviews.  Learn more at www.stefanieirisweiss.com and visit the blog at www.ecosex.net.

               $14.99                     paperback             978-1-58008-118-4                

Ten Speed Press is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? FOR TEENS, SECOND EDITION

Discovering Yourself, Defining Your Future

Carol Christen and Richard N. Bolles with Jean M. Blomquist             

Just as columnists are beginning to talk about the cost to the United States of a “generation without jobs” and the long-term negative impact of careers that stall out of the gate, a new generation of job-seekers is preparing to enter the job market. Only 20 percent of 2009 college graduates had found full time work as of September (when the latest figures were released), and the unemployment rate of 16- to 24-year-olds stands at 52.2 percent (US Gov, 9/2009). Getting the best job one can in any market is a survival skill few youth are taught. In this tough economy, it is now essential for young adults to position themselves for a career as early as possible.

Carol Christen has worked with teens and young adults for more than 30 years and has made it her mission to equip young people with the skills they need to launch a successful career. Co-authored with Richard N. Bolles, Christen’s What Color Is Your Parachute? for Teens adapts the time-honored techniques of What Color Is Your Parachute? for a younger audience—bringing vital new information to the fore about what young people need to do now to get the job they want later.

Tackling pertinent career issues young people face—from the high cost of education to the increasingly competitive job market—the book shows readers how to put together a blueprint for finding jobs that match their interests, and for getting the most out of high school and college in order to achieve their goals. Fully updated, this new edition offers timely advice on why foot-in-the-door internships are more important than ever and how a gap year with career goals in mind can ensure the right “purchase” in one’s education.

A huge portion of our young adult population spends their early twenties floundering with pointless education debt, no jobs, or jobs that are ill-suited for them. Loaded with self-discovery exercises and valuable tips from the world’s best-selling job-hunting book, What Color Is Your Parachute? for Teens delivers unparalleled guidance—not only for teens in search of a perfect career, but for the parents and counselors eager to inspire them.

Carol Christen is a career strategist who has worked extensively with teenagers. She lives in Atascadero, California, and is available for interviews. For more information follow Carol (Parachute4Teens) on Twitter or her blog  http://parachute4teens.wordpress.com/.

RICHARD N. BOLLES has been a leader in the job-hunting field for more than 35 years. The author of What Color Is Your Parachute?, the best-selling job-hunting book of all time, Bolles has been the keynote speaker at hundreds of conferences. Bolles holds a bachelors degree cum laude in physics from Harvard and three honorary doctorates.

What Color Is Your Parachute? for Teens: Discovering Yourself, Defining Your Future (second edition)

by Carol Christen and Richard N. Bolles with Jean M. Blomquist

$15.99 paper, 192 pages, 6 x 9 inches, ISBN: 978-1-58008-141-2

TEN SPEED PRESS, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group

Mixt Salads

A Chef’s Bold Creations

Andrew Swallow with Ann Volkwein

Andrew Swallow is the founder and executive chef at the beloved boutique salad joints, Mixt Greens, with locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. Blending some of the most talked-about issues in contemporary food debates—seasonal/local, modest portions but big flavor, salad-as-meals eating—Swallow shares his creative, flavor-forward salads for the first time. Mixt Salads is a bold collection of more than 60 salad recipes featuring unusual and dynamic ingredient pairings that demonstrate just how incredible the overlooked salad can be.

Swallow’s training under Tom Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern and at Gary Danko, together with his penchant for cooking with fine products and the conscious use of seasonal ingredients, uniquely equip him to reinvent the salad category. Swallow starts from scratch and walks readers through salad-building essentials, from tools to pantry ingredients to dressing and plating tips, then presents seasonal information on everything from radicchio to watercress so they can create their own masterpiece.

We’re not talking about prewashed greens thrown into a bowl and loaded up with some overly sugared dressing. These are mixt salads: organic, hyper-fresh, deeply layered with flavors and textures, and totally, completely addictive. Some of Swallow’s playful yet elegant offerings:

From healthy, super-food packed salads to indulgent affairs that feature premium ingredients like duck confit, crab, and lobster, these center-stage salads lay the groundwork for revolutionizing the way we think of greens.

About the Author

After working at Gramercy Tavern, ANDREW SWALLOW graduated from the CIA in Hyde Park, New York. While working as a manager of Gary Danko, he decided to create a new eco-gourmet fast-casual option: Mixt Greens. With locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., Mixt is continuing to expand across the country, while preserving its gutsy approach to salads, maintaining ecologically sound business practices, and retaining its original mandate of environmental sustainability. Andrew lives in San Francisco.

Mixt Salads: A Chef’s Bold Creations

by Andrew Swallow with Ann Volkwein

$28 hardcover • 160 pages • four-color photographs • 8 x 10 inches

ISBN: 978-1-58008-057-6 • Publication Date: April 27, 2010

Burger Parties

Featuring Winning Recipes from Sutter Home Winery’s Build a Better Burger® Contest

James McNair and Jeffrey Starr

It’s no wonder that burgers are America’s favorite food. When all the components are perfect—a patty that’s charred on the outside and moist and tender on the inside, a high-quality bun that’s toasty warm, spreads that are packed with flavor, toppings that are crisp and cool and balance the burger with sweet and acidic flavors—there’s nothing better!

Burger Parties showcases some of the best—and most unique—burgers ever created. Each recipe is a prizewinner or an outstanding finalist in Sutter Home Winery’s Build a Better Burger® Recipe Contest and Cook-Off. Every year, thousands of cooks from across the country compete to participate in the BBB Cook-Off, which is frequently featured on the Food Network. This collection, marking the 20^th anniversary of this annual search for the best home-cooked burgers in America, features contest-winning burgers loaded with flavor-enhancing extras and party-ready menus bound to be a hit at any backyard bash.

Head judge James McNair and culinary director Jeffrey Starr let the burgers guide them in choosing party themes from Big Fat Greek Night to Southwest Fiesta, Burgers and Blues (a New Orleans jazz brunch) to Burgers in Paradise (a tropical patio party), and Jamaican Me Hungry to Festa Italiana. McNair and Starr developed side dishes and desserts to complement each burger, along with some spirited wine-based cocktails and wine pairings.   

A great burger is reason enough for a party! The cornerstone of spring and summertime entertaining, the prize-winning burgers and the all-star, chef-developed recipes in Burger Parties are the embodiment of fun in the sun.

About the Authors

James McNair is the author of more than 40 cookbooks and recipient of the International Association of Culinary Professionals Award of Excellence. He is the honorary chairman and head judge of Sutter Home Winery’s Build a Better Burger® Recipe Contest.

Jeffrey Starr serves as the culinary director and executive chef for Trinchero Family Estates, where he entertains and educates industry professionals in food and wine. He is the culinary director for Sutter Home Winery’s Build a Better Burger® Recipe Contest.

Burger Parties

Featuring Winning Recipes from Sutter Home Winery’s Build a Better Burger® Contest

James McNair and Jeffrey Starr

$19.99 paperback • 192 pages • full-color photographs • 7 7/16 x 9 inches

ISBN: 978-1-58008-110-8 • Publication Date: March 23, 2010

The Overnight Resume

The Fastest Way to Your Next Job

THIRD EDITION

DONALD ASHER

Author of How to Get Any Job and Asher’s Bible of Executive Resumes

With unemployment nearing 10 percent, millions of job-seekers are in need of a crash course in resume-writing. In The Overnight Resume, career-guru Donald Asher shows readers how to merge two classic resume forms into a uniquely dynamic, highly focused document guaranteed to get job-seekers in the door.

Featuring an entirely new roster of sample resumes, Asher’s best-selling guide delivers everything one needs to know to have a job-winning resume ready tomorrow. It reveals what today’s employers are really looking for, what HR directors consider in their hiring decisions, what everyone should know about the Internet and social networking sites, and what makes a great resume, including the four most important things a good resume can do.

Used by the Professional Association of Resume Writers as a primer for certification, this step-by-step resource is completely revised and updated for anyone serious about getting an interview and landing a job. With The Overnight Resume, job-seekers at any level can learn hot tips of the trade from a professional resume writer, such as how to successfully achieve the following:

• Launch a full-scale job search within 24 hours.
• Access the hidden job market.
• Beat resume-sorting software!
• Look like a local, from anywhere in the country.
• Learn how fast-track heavy hitters write their resumes (including online resumes, HTML, scannable, and portfolio versions).

For the millions of people who have been laid off, are worried about it, or are planning to make a job or career change soon, The Overnight Resume is the fastest sure-hire way to the next great job opportunity.

DONALD ASHER is a nationally known speaker and writer on the topics of careers and higher education. He is the author of ten books on career development issues as well as a contributing writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Wall Street Journal’s CareerJournal.com and CollegeJournal.com, USAirways Magazine, MSN Encarta and MSN homepage, Dow Jones’s National Business Employment Weekly and Managing Your Career magazines, and many other publications and career sites. He visits more than one hundred university campuses every year to discuss career management topics from salary negotiations to linking your major to your life goals. When not on the road, Asher divides his time between San Francisco, California, and Northern Nevada. He is available for interviews.

The Overnight Resume: The Fastest Way to Your Next Job (third edition)

by Donald Asher

$12.99 paper, 144 pages, 8 1/2 x 10 7/8 inches, ISBN: 978-1-58008-091-0

ALSO AVAILABLE:

101 Toughest Interview Questions… And Answers That Win the Job! by Daniel Porot and Frances Bolles Haynes

TEN SPEED PRESS, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group

Publicity Contact: debra.matsumoto@tenspeed.com

510.559.1639

THE UTERINE HEALTH COMPANION

A HOLISTIC GUIDE TO LIFELONG WELLNESS

By Eve Agee, PhD

By age sixty, one-third of American women have had a hysterectomy.  Why is it that we lead the world in this unfortunately high statistic? 

Medical anthropologist Eve Agee has studied women’s health throughout the world and has observed a Western health crisis.  More than four million women suffer from endometriosis.  Twenty-five percent of women in the United States report pain from uterine fibroids each year.  Nearly three million women encounter infertility problems in America, and we possess one of the highest rates of debilitating PMS and menopause symptoms in the world.  Yet women in many non-Western cultures typically do not experience so many benign uterine problems. So what gives?

The uterus has been so stigmatized in Western cultures that surgical removal is commonplace even for benign conditions.  But living without one’s uterus should be the last resort, not the first.  Everything is connected, and even biomedical research reveals that the uterus produces hormones that support the heart, help keep our blood from clotting and relieve pain; it carries out essential immune functions; it supports healthy posture; and a healthy sex life.  It is a vital organ and one which enhances the overall health of all women.

Preventative strategies are not widely promoted in uterine healthcare even though scientific research shows that traditions rooted in complimentary medicine can offer significant relief.  THE UTERINE HEALTH COMPANION is a groundbreaking book offering alternatives that work and global insights that will empower women.  Deep breathing, nutrition, cognitive restructuring, visualization, and other mind-body healing practices make up a prescriptive holistic plan for optimal uterine health.  THE UTERINE HEALTH COMPANION is a fascinating reference that makes a compelling argument for preventative care.

Eve Agee, Ph. D., is a medical anthropologist and holistic healer specializing in uterine health. During the past 20 years she has conducted research on women’s health and empowerment in the U.S. and Africa. She is a certified Spiritual Life Coach, Conscious Connective Breathing Facilitator, and Reiki practitioner with extensive training in integrative nutrition, visualization, and energetic healing. She was a political appointee for the Clinton Administration specializing in education and health care policy.  She has taught at the University of Virginia and has spoken nationally on health care and education. She has received numerous honors and awards for her research on women’s health. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and is available for interviews. 

$16.99                  paperback                    256 pages               978-1-58761-351-7

Published by Celestial Arts, an imprint of Ten Speed Press.

Also available: THE REAL LIFE BODY BOOK (March 2010).

The Inventor’s Bible

How to Market & License Your Brilliant Ideas

3^rd EDITION 

RONALD LOUIS DOCIE, SR.

It is the American Dream to bring the next big idea to market and achieve success. Whether it’s a small gadget that makes something work smoother or a technological breakthrough that forever changes the way we live, it is human nature to create, invent, and build a better world—one brilliant idea at a time.

Who hasn’t looked at some modern convenience and thought: “Why didn’t I think of that?”; …or dreamed about discovering the next amazing product that no one can possibly live without. If the ideas are bubbling over and all you need to know is how to proceed, The Inventor’s Bible is the definitive guide to bring brilliant ideas to life.

Using real case studies as examples, this newly revised and updated edition presents everything one needs to know to market, license, and sell inventions: how to figure their worth, who to trust, which companies to approach, and what steps to take to ensure success. A comprehensive workbook guides inventors through the process—from identifying potential manufacturers and attaining critical feedback to determining when to apply for a patent, and more.

With invention licensing at an all-time high, many large corporations are welcoming submissions from outside inventors. Armed with The Inventor’s Bible, creative thinkers everywhere are primed to reap the rewards of their own ingenuity.

RONALD LOUIS DOCIE’s career in the world of inventions spans more than three decades. His own inventions are found in Wal-Mart, Kmart, and thousands of other outlets. As an agent for inventors, Docie has negotiated more than fifty licenses with such companies as General Motors. He is an expert consultant on idea submission to Johnson & Johnson and other prominent companies. Docie is president of Docie Development, LLC, an international company that provides services for inventors and corporations. He lives in Athens, Ohio,  and is available for interviews. For more information visit docie.com or DIMWIT.com. An extension of The Inventor’s Bible, DIMWIT is a self-help site for inventors providing free guidance and support at all stages of the invention process.

The Inventor’s Bible: How to Market & License Your Brilliant Ideas, 3^rd Edition by Ronald Louis Docie, Sr.

$24.99 paper, 376 pages, 7 x 9 7/8 inches, ISBN: 978-1-58008-120-7

TEN SPEED PRESS, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group

During WWII, it was estimated that nearly 20 million Americans maintained Victory gardens to grow vegetables, fruit, and herbs.  Eleanor Roosevelt was the first, and Michele Obama the second to make an example of White House lawn.  Today, urban farming is all the rage for a multitude of reasons.  It’s cheaper, it’s fresher, and the carbon path doesn’t get much shorter than going from your own yard to your own table. 

SMALL-PLOT, HIGH-YIELD GARDENING is a book that delivers on its promise.  It is the dream of every home gardener to have vine-ripened tomatoes and Meyer lemons at one’s fingertips.  Sal Gilbertie’s book features step-by-step basics for gardening organically in small plots for maximum production.  Readers are led through the entire gardening process:  from sourcing seeds and preparing soil to planting, cultivating, and harvesting.  Easy to follow, the book advises on Practical Vegetable Groupings and how to feed your garden for only 12 cents a day.  Highlighting handy Productivity Tips throughout and discussing everything from mulch to insects, SMALL-PLOT, HIGH-YIELD GARDENING guarantees success.

Alone worth the price of the book are the detailed garden plans reflecting a variety of sizes and purposes.  See page 223 for hand-drawn garden arrangements from 8’ by 4’ to 3,000 square feet.  Readers will find a lay-out for a 20’ x 20’ soup garden, along with suggested plans for a raised-bed garden, a cold-frame garden, and a winter garden.  In addition, the appendix includes a fascinating look at the financial investment versus financial gain from the produce yielded, making a very strong argument for home-grown.  Finally, a detailed listing of seed and plant companies along with helpful resources make SMALL-PLOT, HIGH-YIELD GARDENING a foolproof tool. 

SAL GILBERTIE is a third-generation gardener and herb grower.  He operates Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens in Westport, CT, established by his grandfather in 1922.  Today, it is the largest herb grower in the U.S.  Visit www.gilbertiesherbs.com.  He is available for interviews and speaking engagements.