New meat arrives for Folsom Street Weekend

Pork personified - Taylor Boetticher smiles from the new Fatted Calf in Hayes Valley

Just in time for the high holiday Queeristan, when new meat traditionally trots into town from around the world, Taylor Boetticher of the Fatted Calf brings another of his haut-couture butcher-shops to San Francisco, this time in Hayes Valley. Conveniently located between the Castro and SOMA, Folsom visitors can line up for high-priced pork of a different type this holiday.

All the savory deets available on, naturally, Eater SF.

Folsom 2008 – Sunday recap

Me, Paul, Rick

Okay it’s been a week since the post on Folsom Street and I had only gotten through Saturday. Recall, our friend Jeff was in town staying with us, and he and I planned on going to Aftershock to start Sunday off. As I got ready at 4:30 on Sunday morning I got a text message from Jeff that he hadn’t been able to sleep (LOL – what could have been behind that?) and would beg off Aftershock. Which was a pity because Jeff was sure to know a lot of the out-of-town visitors, him having a travel schedule that gets him around the country and Europe quite a bit. And I am not very good at introducing myself to new people at these events.

So I finished getting dressed – I skipped the boots and opted for comfy sneakers because after all, this is a dance, and boots are too damn heavy to dance in! I didn’t wear a harness either (chafing, you know) do my only Folsom-ish accessory was a cool leather and chain belt. I ended up feeling under-accessorized but had a great time anyway.

Ran into, almost literally because it was crowded, a lot of friends. Shout out to me ex-trainer, Mike, who was there and celebrating his birthday. And although Jeff didn’t go, many of our LA friends were there so I was able to catch up on weekend gossip and plans for the rest of the day. I got back home around 8am, and Rick and I went down to our favorite breakfast place in the Castro, Castro Tarts. Pancakes, yum.

Rick and I left for a pre-Street Fair house party then we all headed down to the Fair in the early afternoon. It was already crowded and our group made its way as best we could down Folsom and back, stopping to watch Twister at the Steamworks booth, and chatting with friends all along the way. Rick and I then left, pretty early, and since it was the end of the weekend (no Real Bad fundraiser dance for us this year) we had an early dinner at my favorite Salvadoran restaurant – Majahual on Valencia Street – where we stuffed ourselves on Pupusas, the Milanesa and fried Yucca. Then we went back home and vegged in front of the TV. Jeff on the other hand stayed at the fair, went to Real Bad and had a *fun* time which we didn’t get to hear all about until late on Monday.

Folsom weekend update

I’ve had time to recover from the busy Folsom Street Fair weekend. Yes, it’s not just a Sunday afternoon walk South of Market anymore. It’s actually a whole week of events.

We had our friend Jeff in town from Los Angeles, and we went out to Lookout for some drinks Friday night to kick things off. We had dinner after at Barracuda, the Latin American Japanese sushi-bar fusion restaurant. Always love that place, and they make a lot of mean cocktails. Which is why after stuffing myself with delicious sashimis and sushi rolls (including being daring enough for the ones with the habanero hot sauce!) and washing them down with a couple of martini specials I opted to stay home rather than go out with my hubby and Jeff to the Powerhouse later. They reported the next day that it was packed and fun at the same time.

Saturday Jeff dragged me to the gym and I followed his workout routine, and my calves and abs are still feeling the burn from that. I think his are as well – because even though he does the same routine weekly, the SF gym’s machines are different than he was used to. I’m sure he got some new muscles broken in.

BigMuscle had an area for photos to be taken - John and Matt

Jeff and I went to the BigMuscle.com cocktail party at the DNA Lounge that afternoon. Rick went to play a challenge tennis match instead (which he won by the way). So Rick missed the ultra-hot crowd of locals and visitors. A crowd that included Moby of the Moby Files; Adam of This Boy Elroy and his boyfriend Brad, and Frank of Urswine Addiction. It was great to meet the bloggers, and Moby is healing nicely, despite my near-miss bearhug. Adam by the way does not look at all geeky in person. He has muscles for days.

We got to the party in full-swing and both the bars (upstairs and down) were jammed with people trying to get drinks. Jeff had a bad time at the cocktail party because of the long wait initially for drinks. And being an impatient person he wanted drinks now. Since we had to wait a while to get a drinks, he ordered our group two cocktails at once. We had to wander around with hands full, which made the meeting and greeting awkward.

Jeff was taking a lot of photos – but I have to wait until the end of the week to get them. I will be sure to post when I get them.

I also ran into my friend Raynard from LA at the DNA Lounge. He was having a great time on the dance floor, and introduced me to other friends of his from San Diego and the southland. I had a great time because between Raynard, Jeff and a few other friends at the party, I was able to get introduced to just about anybody – proving once again it’s a very small gay world.

I didn’t recognize many pornstars – although Jake Deckard was there as was Kyle King. I’m sure many more went unrecognized or were in VIP rooms. But I’m only counting the stars, not the one or two film models. I would bet that a non-trivial percentage of the hotties there had been on film.

Jeff and I left a little before the end at 6pm. Rick got home almost at the same time from tennis, so we got the good news about his victory.

No one was going to Magnitude but Jeff and I planned to do Aftershock by itself, sleeping until 4am then heading to the club at 715 Harrison. Which takes us to Sunday…and more to follow on Aftershock, house parties before the Street Fair, the Fair itself and Real Bad.