2 minute read
Dinner and a Movie: Big Fish and Sailor Jack's
The twelfth in a series of at home food and movie pairings.
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Cinema Cat & Gourmet Gracie
This landmark building, previously a sea captain’s home, circa 1868, has a front-and-center waterfront view and was named for the famous author, Jack London, who frequented the area and loved to carouse with the Captain. The upstairs bar for dining and/or cocktails is Gracie’s favorite in the evening with those gorgeous Benicia sunsets over the water. Try the signature “Call of the Wild” libation or one or two of several “Jackatini” options. And, ooooh la la, OYSTERS! Delicious and super fresh, multiple varieties are offered daily. All kinds of seafood… mussels, clams, shrimp, Dungeness crab, lobster…the Ahi Tuna or Crab stack with avocado and mango is fantastic! Egg battered, local Petrale Sole is a downtown favorite and loyalists come from across the Bay for the “world-famous New England Clam Chowder!” Get there early for the Yellowfin Tuna Sandwich, which is only available for lunch and is wildly popular. Dinners include your choice of Creekstone Farms filets or ribeyes.
Indoor dining and extensive outdoor dining waterside are available, as well as take out. Look for the beautiful white tent at the bottom of First Street; reservations recommended. Delightful and Delectable with unparalleled views of the Carquinez Strait and the Benicia shoreline—enjoy yourself!
— Jack London
excerpt from The Sea Sprite and the Shooting Star
123 First Street | Benicia, CA 94510 707.746.8500 | sailor-jacks.com
Our 2-Minute Movie Review:
Big Fish, 2003; Directed by Tim Burton (Nightmare Before Christmas)
In honor of all that sea food from Sailor Jack’s, this month we watched Big Fish. Now, we have a long-standing crush on Billy Crudup, so this review may not be completely objective, but after Almost Famous, what can a reasonable person do? Crudup plays Will Bloom, the cynical adult son of Edward Bloom, played by Albert Finney, who is on his deathbed as the movie opens. Stories-within-the-story are told in flashback as Bloom does what annoys his son the most – he prevaricates, he dissembles, he fabricates and exaggerates – or maybe he just plain old lies. At this late moment, before a son of his own is born, Will wants to get to know who his dad really is; he wants a modicum of closeness and to feel for once that his dad knew he was there. But the stories his dad tells are too fantastic for anyone to believe, and Will cannot accept his dad for what he is, even now. Or…maybe he can.
Big Fish travels through fantasy entwined with reality and comes back to meet itself in a sweet and satisfying resolution. The yarns Bloom spins will delight the children in the audience, and the rest of us just might see ourselves coming around in the end.
2hr 5min, Rated PG-13, | 8 out of 10 Whiskers
