By Anna Nordberg, Sunset special projects editor

In honor of New Year's, and the fact that People magazine tells me that old-fashioned cocktails are making a comeback, I've decided to write about Negronis and where to find them in San Francisco.

Negronis are hard-to-make, hard-to-find cocktails that combine equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. That's right, Campari—the apertif everyone loves to compare, unfavorably, to cough syrup. Now, you're realizing why this drink is hard to find.

But a well-mixed Negroni (not too heavy on the gin, with maybe with a dash less vermouth) is heaven. Just read this truly poetic description of them in the New York Times. Unfortunately, when I lived on the east coast I only got to experience heaven about once a year.

So when I moved out to the Bay Area three months ago, an amazing thing happened. In addition to realizing that the heirloom tomato season never ends, I found Negronis popping up at hole-in-the-wall seafood places, swank new bars, and Italian restaurants (they were invented in the old country). Given how good they were, I can only recall the names of two places that served them. But, just your luck, they happened to be the best ones.

Pesce in Russian Hill ... this is where I wish I were a food writer. Why was this one so good? I'm not sure, except that it was strong without being harsh and had just the right amount of bitterness.

Taverna Aventine in the financial district. Hmm...again...I think the success of the drink had to do with the proportions. In both cocktails, the Campari came through the strongest, which is the trick (a Negroni should NOT taste like a gin cocktail—there are enough of those).

So happy new year—and here's to old-school cocktails making a comeback. Cheers!

PHOTO CREDIT: The New York Times

By Amy Wolf, Sunset travel editor

We cyclists are used to being treated like nothing but a nuisance by everyone except other cyclists. Drivers love to complain about how we two-wheelers are always in the way. I've been chased by cars, honked and cursed at by drivers, not because I'm doing anything wrong or illegal, but simply because I'm not a car.

So when we're offered a scrap of goodwill, like mistreated puppies, we gobble it up and feel eternally grateful to the granter of the goodness.

Which leads me to this proclamation: Bill and Christine, I love you!

Bill Laven and Christine Pielenz (pictured above—photo by Alison Chaiken) apparently are the good people behind the Bike Hut, a soon-to-open resting and refueling stop specifically made for cyclists. I happened upon this adorable red farmhouse-like hut, part of an organic farm that's doing all kinds of great things for sustainable agriculture and education, just a couple days ago, while riding Tunitas Creek Road. And while I can't say the stop made the climb any easier, it certainly made me feel like someone's looking out for me and my kind.

Here's to everyone showing a little more love to one another, whether we're drivers, cyclists, walkers, runners, blue-haired, cross-eyed, or what have you. Tolerance, peace, and love be with you in 2009.

By Amy Wolf, Sunset travel editor

Especially in these lean times, there's something about the idea of a castle—I mean, a truly grand, enormous castle with turrets and torture chambers and gargoyles and banquet rooms with handpainted frescoes—that's downright dreamy and fun. With that in mind, here are two ways to get an eyeful of the kind of castle I'm talking about.

1) See the new Adam Sandler flick Bedtime Stories, which features a lot of footage of Castello di Amorosa, the Calistoga winery that's also a castle.

2) Forget the flick and instead visit the real Castello di Amorosa, the most outrageously extravagant winery you'll ever lay eyes on.

Here's a short list of what's outrageous and extravagant about Castello:

• The price of admission. A tour plus tasting costs $25–$50 depending on the day and the type of tour you sign up for. Ouch! (A cheaper option is the $10–$15 tasting without a tour, but then you'd be missing the best part.)

• The size of the castle. It's 121,000 square feet. Picture the size a modest Bay Area home, multiply that by 80, and you get an idea of how big that is. It's 8 stories high and has 107 rooms.

• The time it took to build it. Construction took a whopping 14 years. Daryl Sattui, the owner (whom the tour guides refer to as "Dario") obviously needed a project.

• The gimmickry. Don't miss the torture chamber, where Cal-grad Dario is said to have laid a Stanford-sweatshirt-clad dummy on the bed of nails on Big Game day.

• The caves. There are 900 feet of 'em dug into the mountainside beneath the winery.

Speaking of caves, don't leave Calistoga without visiting Schramsberg, where you can tour caves and taste some of the West's best sparkling wine.

One more bit of advice: instead of driving home after all that wine tasting, spring for a night in town. Pull out all the stops at the fancy new Solage Resort, or go a little more moderate at Indian Springs Resort, whose mineral pool is just the ticket for the midwinter blues, or save a buck and stay at Dr. Wilkinson's Resort, an above-average motel with its own mineral pool. It's no castle, but that's what movies and winery tours are for.

by Allison Arieff, Sunset editor-at-large

Do you remember a time when childhood didn't involve batteries, videos, and plastic?

Sean Quigley does. Proprietor of the quixotic Paxton Gate, a San Francisco store selling a marvelous concoction of oddities from mounted butterflies to bat skeletons, Sputnik sea urchins to silver rings, apothecary jars to air plants, Quigley, just opened a new store, Paxton Gate's Curiosities for Kids.

Entering through the store's double doors is akin to stepping into an enchanted forest. An oasis from Leapster and the Disney Princesses, the new store puts curiosity, imagination, and wonder on display. A recent visit there was a magical distraction in the midst of holiday madness for me and my three-year old daughter, (and we were able to pick up a wonderful, non-toxic sand toy set for her new little cousin).

Quigley's curatorial bent leans toward the unusual and unexpected. Non-toxic, sustainable materials are a priority as is interactivity and one-of-a-kindness. You're child won't be the first on the block to have one of these treasures; they're more likely to be the only kid to have, say, a dissected frog made from organic wool:

“One of the aims of the new store is to provide a place to purchase the tried-and-true toys we played with as children,” says the soon to be new parent Quigley, “as well as the toys our parents played with as children.”

Hurry in...there's still nearly two days til' Christmas!

Health-minded chef Akasha Richmond shares her take on sustainable and good-for-you eats. Photo by Joe Schmelzer

Expert: Akasha Richmond, restaurateur and chef, Akasha ($$$; 9543 Culver Blvd., Culver City; 310/845-1700)

Field of study: Healthy, sustainable eats

Favorite healthy ingredients: Soy milk and unusual ingredients like açaí and goji berries.

Can’t-live-without-it ingredient: Hand-harvested salt from a company called Big Tree Farms (866/972-6879).

Recommendations for finding sustainable and safe seafood: The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a downloadable seafood guide divided into regions of the country.

Tips on healthy dairy products: It’s important to eat organic dairy products or artisanal cheeses from small, local dairies like Bellwether Farms (888/527-8606) in Sonoma County.

Favorite cheese shop: The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills (closed Sun; 419 N. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills; 800/547-1515).

The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills creates and sells mini boules with melty Apenzeller, Gruyère, and Emmentaler cheeses. Photo courtesy of the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills.

Cookware to use at home: Americraft Cookware. Really good stainless steel cookware will last forever.

LPGA golfer turned yoga instructor Dodie Mazzuca shares her favorite outdoor spots around Phoenix.
Photo by Gabriela Hasbun

Expert: Dodie Mazzuca

Fields of study: Golf and yoga for hikers

Great outdoor yoga spot: Owl’s Rest in Pinnacle Peak Park (free; 26802 N. 102nd Way, Scottsdale; 480/312-0990) has great views. You can do sun salutations right at daybreak.

Best pose before starting a hike: A standing forward bend or runner’s lunge is great, because hikers are notoriously tight in their hamstrings. And classes that focus on balance help to prevent injuries by strengthening the joints.

Favorite outdoor spot in Phoenix: McDowell Mountain Regional Park ($6 per vehicle; 16300 McDowell Mountain Park Dr.; 480/471-0173). It has great mountain biking and hiking trails, especially in the northeast valley section.

Great the sun at Owl's Rest in Pinnacle Peak Park. Photo by Bob Baile

Golf course with a difference: Troon North Golf Club (morning tee times through Jan. 22 from $195, tee times after 1 p.m. $99, discounts for Arizona residents; 10320 E. Dynamite Blvd., Scottsdale; 480/585-5300) really gives you the desert golf experience—it’s all boulder formations and cactus, not tree-lined fairways.

Fitness coach Tony Williams shares his secrets on running in the Northwest. Photo by Michael Hanson

Expert: Tony Williams

Field of study: Improving runners’ techniques at his coaching company, Always Running Personal Conditioning Center

On running in the rain: When the weather gets bad, a lot of people put on tights, which retain water and make you wet and cold. My best trick for running in the rain is to wear shorts and cover my legs with an oil-based lotion like Vaseline. The water beads off instead of clinging to clothing, and your legs stay warm.

How to buy the right shoes: First, find a good store with a knowledgeable staff, and make sure they’ll let you run in the shoe—indoors and out—before you buy. Better yet, ask the staff to watch your running gait in a particular sneaker and advise you on whether that style works for you. In Seattle, I send people to Super Jock ‘n Jill (7210 E. Greenlake Dr. N.; 206/522-7711).

Best marathon for first-timers: Portland Marathon (Oct. 4; $90 entry fee), hands-down. It’s every October, and the organization is top-notch—they have a good course, good scenery, and (usually) good weather.

Always Running Personal Conditioning Center offers customized programs on beautiful trails. Photo courtesy of http://alwaysrunning.com

Sleep expert Robert deStefano has mastered the essentials for restful, uninterrupted ZZZ’s. Photo by Jen Siska

Expert: Robert deStefano, founder of Sleep Garden (877/475-3376), a Menlo Park, California, company that specializes in audio and visual sleep aids.

Field of study: Sleep as a means to better mental and physical well-being.

His basic philosophy: Stress-induced insomnia is not a disease or illness. You do not need to medicate. The secret is learning how to recalibrate. It takes work to break its vicious cycle, but once you do, you’re good for life.

Most memorable hotel bed: The beds at the Stanford Court hotel (from $179; 415/989-3500) in San Francisco are, forgive the cliché, like sleeping on a cloud.

Favorite quiet retreat: Olema Inn & Restaurant (from $198, including breakfast; 415/663-9559), near Point Reyes. It’s so sweet, especially the rooms up the hill and further from the road. It’s wonderful on a sunny afternoon to sip Champagne and enjoy local oysters on your little garden patio.

Best mellowing warm drinks: Many teas can help you relax. Try “Get Some ZZZ’s” from Republic of Tea ($10 for 36 bags). Look for organic and for simple flavors like chamomile—and, of course, no caffeine!

Get cozy in the beds at Olema Inn. Photo courtesy Olema Inn & Restaurant

Next-day remedy for a sleepless night: Avoid the temptation to add extra caffeine. Eat well throughout the day, avoid sugar and fats, and have an early dinner. Don’t try to compensate by going to bed too early. Take a warm bath, listen to relaxing music, then go to bed around your usual time—which, by the way, should be between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Allen Gilmore (Lenck) and Stephen Caffrey (Fasch) in SSC's 2008 production of Bach at Leipzig by Itamar Moses. Photo: r.r. jones.

This morning, one of the Bay Area's most beloved theater companies, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, sent an email to supporters and friends to announce that if the perennially cash-strapped company cannot raise $300,000 by Monday December 22, if may have to cancel its 2009 season, effectively pulling the plug on the company itself. To read the message from the board of directors, click here.

Shakespeare Santa Cruz is a local treasure, a gift to the community that deserves our support, especially in these tough economic times when a lot of us could really use a good laugh and the feeling that we can only get from sharing live theater with a room full of fellow human beings. Let's not let "the numbers" dictate everything...

To make a donation, click here.

Update, 12/22/08: Shakespeare Santa Cruz just announced that it had exceeded its goal by raising $416,417, which means we can all look forward to Shakespeare under the redwoods again this summer!

Yoga master Sue Hollingshead teaches classes and workshops in the Boulder area. Photo by Carmel Zucker

Expert: Sue Hollingshead

Field of study: Best places for yoga in Boulder and beyond

Where to do outdoor yoga in winter: Strawberry Park Hot Springs ($10; four-wheel-drive required in winter; 44200 Routt County Rd., Steamboat Springs, CO). I take my two daughters for yoga and Watsu (water massage). Water is incredibly grounding and brings us to awareness of our own fluidity.

Top yoga studios: The Yoga Workshop (classes from $15; 2020 21st St., Boulder) is one of the most respected traditional Ashtanga studios in the country. Öm Time (classes from $10; 2035 Broadway, Boulder, and 773 Santa Fe Dr., Denver) offers a broad spectrum of styles, from prenatal and kids’ yoga to the most hard-core Anusara Tigress classes. I love their Anjali Restorative Yoga. It’s very healing and quieting, and offers an unintimidating way to get into the flow of yoga.

Stay warm amidst the snow at Strawberry Park Hot Springs in Steamboat Springs, CO. Photo courtesy of Strawberry Park Hot Springs

Best shops for yoga gear: Gaiam, for Earth-friendly products like biodegradable yoga mats and organic cotton clothing. Prana (1147 Pearl St., Boulder) has great designs inspired by nature.