Over the past several years, I'd wandered past Hellenic American Imports on Mission Street many, many times, never bothering to go in. Mental notes were made and promptly filed away. If I ever had the need for a Greek flag or an evil eye charm, I thought, I'd know just where to go.

After lunching with a friend in the neighborhood a few months ago, I found myself in front of the store. As I peered through the plate glass windows and past the statuary, I saw something that caught my attention-- food for sale. A sucker for interesting markets, I found myself compelled to enter.

After browsing the cheeses in the refrigerated case at the back of the store, a young woman descended a little staircase to the right to welcome me.

"Let me know if you need anything," she offered, "My name is Greece." Was she serious? About the name, not the offer of help, I mean.

"Your name is Greece?" I asked, thinking how fortunate she was to have found just the right occupation for her name.

"It's actually Griselda, but they call me Greece here."

And why not? I continued to browse, working my way over to the wines.

As I wandered a bit more, grabbing a box of Dumplings with Yeast (Loukoumades. It sounds better in Greek.) here and a can of giant beans (Gigantes) there, I recognized a man I had waited on before coming down the staircase from the office that looks down upon the store. I said hello. He introduced himself as Savas Deligiorgis, the owner of the store.

After chatting for a few minutes, he mentioned that he had some work to do for his radio program. Radio program? Savas, it turns out, has been producing the Hellenic American Broadcast-- the only Greek radio hour west of Chicago-- for the past 43 years, which is as long as he has owned the store. Journalism is a passion of his. It's what he studied in school. He then excused himself and went back upstairs into the office.

I was intrigued. I made my purchases, thumbed through some Greek VHS tapes for amusement, and left, quite glad I had decided to wander in.

When in Greece last month, I got rather hooked on taramosalata, a spread made of fish roe, oil, and bread. I remembered Savas carried the stuff, so I made a pilgrimage back to his store.

He was there, up in the office. I waved hello and was invited up. As I sat at his desk drinking Amita brand peach juice surrounded by office walls lined with photos of Savas posing with the likes of Jerry Brown, Anthony Quinn, and several Greek dignitaries, we talked about the changing demographics of the Mission. When he bought the store 43 years ago, there were still many Greek and Italian families living in the neighborhood. Now that most of them have moved away, he still serves to hold the community together through his Monday-to-Friday radio hour. Greek-relevant interviews, news, commentaries and music are all on offer. While we talked, the other half of his radio team, Tonia Demitriadis, arrived and we all chatted a bit more.

Back downstairs with Savas, I noticed some cookies dusted with powdered sugar. "Hey! What are these called again? The lady I stayed with in Santorini would make these for me." I said, excitedly, but not very gracefully.

"Kourabiethes. Take some. The one's in the box are better." I took some home and had them with my coffee, powdered sugar blown like talcum over the front of my shirt and in my beard. But they were good and worth the wiping for.

Again, I thanked him for his time and wandered the store while Greece busied herself arranging merchandise. A bin of ouzo candy wrapped in shiny metallic blue paper caught my eye. I plunged my hand in as if it were a barrel of pinto beans and hoped no one would notice. I did not purchase any candy.

I went back to the cheeses. Manouri, feta, myzithra. The back walls were lined with products I'd seen in markets on the Greek islands I'd so recently wandered. Cookies, dakos, calamari, Nescafe, and frappe shakers. It's all there. I was glad to know it.

I moved on to the non-food-related areas, contemplated buying a book or a video. I wondered how funny I might find a Greek comedy. If the phrases "thank you" or "I'm sorry" or "where is the toilet, please?" were said in a particularly hilarious fashion, it might be well worth it. Otherwise, it would be a purchase entirely lost on me. I took my cod roe, cookies, a little wine, and left.

I'll be back as soon as the roe runs out.

Hellenic American Imports
2365 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Tel: (415) 282-2237

Open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm

The Hellenic American Broadcast airs at 8 pm Monday through Friday on KTVO- AM 1400

First of all, let me just say that I am not a whisky expert. In fact, I've only just begun my whisky journey. But I'm learning fast, and I'm taking notes. And I am very enthusiastic about it.

Recently, for my husband's birthday, I bought tickets to Malt Advocate's WhiskyFest. Now, my husband is part of my inspiration for not only learning about whisky, but also enjoying it. Not only is he a great lover of the amber liquid, but it kind of runs in his blood (he's Scottish, so what can I say?).

After making sure we had a good foundation (cheeseburgers from Taylor's Refresher), we headed over to the First Annual WhiskyFest at the Hyatt in downtown San Francisco. The doors hadn't quite opened, but already there was a buzz in the air. We positioned ourselves near the main entrance to the floor, where there were over 70 booths sampling approximately 240 whiskies (at least that's what I counted in the booklet, there were likely more that weren't listed).

In addition to the booths on the main floor, there were a series of seminars that took place throughout the night, on such topics as Bourbon vs. Scotch and The Art of Japanese Whisky. We made a decision early on that it might be a good idea to attend one of these and chose quite possibly the most popular talk of the night, the Chocolate and Scotch Pairing, which I'll be covering in my next post.

So, back to the floor, which is where we spent the greater part of the evening. I kept very accurate notes, because I wanted to know exactly what we tasted. It's quite a list. In fact, I'm not sure if I'm impressed or horrified by it. You can make your own judgments.

Springbank, 15 year
The Macallan, 15 year Fine Oak
Highland Park, 12 year
Highland Park, 15 year
Highland Park, 18 year
Highland Park, 25 year
Highland Park, 30 year
Compass Box, Oak Cross
Compass Box, The Peat Monster
Compass Box, Asyla
Compass Box, Flaming Heart
Suntory "Yamazaki" 12 year
Suntory "Yamazaki" 18 year
Suntory, The Cask of Yamazaki 1993
The Glenrothes, 1991
The Glenrothes, 1985
The Glenrothes, 1987
The Glenrothes, 1975
Bruichladdich, 12 year
Bruichladdich, 14 year
Isle of Jura, 10 year
Old Potrero, 18th Century Style Whisky, 100% rye
King's Crest, 25 year
North of Scotland 1964
Edradour 1983 22 year
Ballechin
Signatory Laphroaig 6 year
Signatory Glen Scotia 14 year
Tullibardine 12 year
Tullibardine 1992

My favorite whiskies from this list were:

Highland Park, 12 year
This delicious whisky is distilled on the Orkney Islands northeast of Scotland, and is the world's most northerly located whisky distiller. This particular year was sweet, lightly peaty, and bright. It was my favorite whisky of all the Highland Park whiskies (including the older, more expensive versions they were sampling) and one of my absolute faves of the night.

The Balvenie, 15 year and PortWood 21 year
Located in the northeast of Scotland, The Balvenie is a good example of a Speyside whisky, which tend to be more sherried and less smoky (although the ones we tried were both aged in bourbon casks). Their 15-year single barrel is aged in bourbon casks, and was one of my favorites. It's smooth, slightly sweet, and really delicious. The 21-year was interesting in that it was aged in bourbon casks but then finished in port casks for 4 months (any longer and the port wood would become overpowering).

Edradour 1983 22 year
Granted this was the last one of the night, but it was also the only one I finished, and the guy poured me a healthy nip. This 22-year-old is finished in port wood, and from the smallest distillery in Scotland. It goes for about $300/bottle.

Suntory "Yamazaki" 12 year
This Japanese single malt whisky, which is made in the outskirts of Kyoto, is a Scotch-style whisky. The distillery was actually the first of it's kind outside of Scotland. If you've never tasted Japanese whisky I suggest you give it a go. Aged in American oak, it's delicious and quite interesting in flavor, you know it's not Scotch, but you can't quite place it.

In addition to tasting a whole lot of whisky, I learned quite a few things at WhiskyFest, such as:
1) Older whisky is not always better.
2) I tend to like younger whisky (it's often bright and feisty).
3) Peaty is good, it doesn't necessarily have to knock you upside the head, and it really can be subtle.
4) Chocolate and whisky are a match made in heaven.
5) I can drink a lot of whisky and still remain standing.
6) Not everyone suits tartan. Especially when it's made into a suit.
7) Conventional wisdom is bullshit; the great thing about a whisky tasting or event such as this is to turn things on their head, and discover that you might not necessarily know what you like.
8) Japan makes some damn good whisky.

I also learned how to "nose" whisky two different ways (no no no it's not dirty). The first way is to open your mouth and stick your nose down into the glass (mouth on the outside) and breathe in. With your mouth open. Apparently this allows you to smell the actual aroma of the whisky without breathing in so much alcohol. The other way, which was more about smelling the barley while it was malting (we did this with a 10-year-old Laphraiog) is to cover your glass with your hand, palm down, and shake the glass to get a bit of whisky on your palm. Then rub your hands together vigorously until you create heat and friction. Cup your hands to your nose and breathe. Try it.

The best part of WhiskyFest, however, was having the opportunity to taste things against each other (all different ages). Nowhere can you sample so many whiskies in one place and one night (without seriously falling flat on your face). So if you are at all interested in whisky, or know someone who is, you might consider going next year. I promise, it's worth it.