San Francisco Archives • WANDALUST

WRITER. TRAVELER. CULINARY LIFESTYLES. PHOTO FEATURES.

California TravelMarch 30, 2026

Bee Nice: here’s the buzz

Did you know that one-third of the fruit and veggies we eat are pollinated by bees? Honeybees and non-honey producers. And they are in jeopardy.

BuddhismFebruary 9, 2010

Zen and The Art of Vegetarian Cooking

Greens Restaurant in San Francisco has an outstanding reputation for fine produce and creative food.

Story by Wanda Hennig This story was first published in Food Illustrated magazine, London, with photography by Richard Jung

A visit to Greens in San Francisco is a celebration of the senses. Dip your spoon into a bowl of butternut squash soup and delight in the delicate harmony of lightly caramelized onions and apple confit blended with a hint of calvados. Feast your eyes on a salad that marries fresh ripe figs with Kodata, Mission and Calmyra olives, melon, watercress and creamy goat’s cheese. Inhale and delight …

BuddhismOctober 28, 2009

The Zen of Food

It’s sometimes fast, always Slow, deafeningly quiet and a metaphor for life.

Story and Pictures: Wanda Hennig First appeared: East Bay Edible

“In Zen practice we want our intuition — our universal self — to come forth,” says Berkeley Zen Center abbot, Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi. “When you’re doing simple tasks [like peeling broccoli or breaking lettuce into bite-size bits], your body, mind, the broccoli, the knife, your hand, the breath, are all involved. When you keep bringing your attention back to what you’re doing — when you are simply one with your activity — it’s the same as sitting zazen.”

Lifestyle FeaturesSeptember 30, 2009

The great East Bay Beast Bloggers Bar Camp

The happening was in Oakland at Tech Liminal. So — what is the nature of The Beast?

On a Saturday morning in late July, just after a flock of white pelicans arrived for an extended stay at Lake Merritt, a group of activists, bloggers, would-be bloggers, vloggers, Twitter gurus, print journalists transitioning to the web in the age of social media, high-tech nerds, and others, gathered at Tech Liminal in Oakland for the East Bay’s first Beast Bloggers Bar Camp. People at the event, hosted by journalism micro-funding project Spot.Us, Oakland technical hotspot and salon Tech Liminal and Oakland’s must-read independent politics and development blog, A Better Oakland had been advised to arrive: With coffee mug and a laptop (or notebook and pen); prepared to talk blogging

Culinary TravelSeptember 8, 2009

Eat Thiebaud, drink Blue Bottle, see Avedon at SFMOMA

Richard Avedon Photographs, 1946 – 2004, runs July 11 to November 29 at SFMOMA. James Freeman’s newest Blue Bottle coffee shop is located high above […]

FeaturedJuly 5, 2009

Botti Beautiful

You know you’re a jazz superstar when you make a slow, dark, moody, melancholy record and it tops the charts.

Story by Wanda Hennig Photo courtesy the artist First published in Black Diamond Living magazine

We all know Sinatra, Paul Simon and Sting. Most of us, however, didn’t know trumpeter Chris Botti until late in 2004. Strange when you think that his first professional gig was with Sinatra; that for five years, starting in 1990, he played the world with Simon; and that he joined Sting as a featured soloist in 1999 and the two have collaborated ever since.

San FranciscoJune 27, 2009

Gay Pride — Ya gotta eat!

Top 12 Castro dine-out hotspots The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration runs Saturday June 27 noon to 6 p.m. and Sunday June 28 noon to […]

San FranciscoJune 17, 2009

Tomales Bay kayaking and oysters

A delicious adventure — “Why am I living in a city?” The question came the first time when I glanced upward from beneath the visor […]

California TravelJune 10, 2009

Best Beaches Northern California: Flavors of Capitola and Santa Cruz

Which beach is best? Capitola with its cocktail cuisine has a party flavor — plus family appeal. Santa Cruz main beach has sea lions alongside the wharf, surfing beneath the cliffs and the famous Boardwalk.

Story and photos by Wanda Hennig All travel has a culinary flavor, given that one has to eat. True culinary travel, however — I’d say what defines it is the focus. It’s about eating the specialties of a place. Learning about the food traditions of the people. It doesn’t imply eating lavishly, isn’t necessarily about haute cuisine, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Visiting a farmers market and creating a picnic from the produce stall … Read more

California TravelJune 2, 2009

The Moss Beach coastal stroll — Highway 1’s best kept secret?

A breathtaking beach walk; a scenic cliff-top hike; a chance to see harbor seals up-close-and-personal; and if you keep your eyes peeled, perhaps a whale […]