Glittering Mirror Maze in Monterey

Mirror, mirror on the wall? Well this one is actually a mirror labyrinth maze challenging you to find your way through sparkling psychedelic paths while the lights go out, strobes flash, and the loud pumping music completely—almost—disorients you. Well it took my friends and I almost thirty minutes to get out, giggling and laughing all the while. A great place to visit and have fun on a rainy day in Monterey. Don’t leave your kids behind and make time to visit all the magnificent places and attractions nearby such as the Monterey Aquarium and Cannery Row. Better yet, make it a weekend getaway!

Tickets and Information
Admission is $8 to $12
Kids under 3 are free
montereymirrormaze.com
Open daily
Mirror Maze
751 Cannery Row in Monterey

Photo courtesy of Mirror Maze

Virtuoso Pianist Yefim Bronfman Returns to the Bay Area
January 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Bing Concert Hall in Stanford
February 1 at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley 

The Bay Area welcomes back Yefim Bronfman, one of the most acclaimed and brilliant pianists in the world. Bronfman has awed the global audiences with his emotional musical temperament and his poetic romance and lyricism, which he brings on this visit to the Bay Area with a repertoire ranging form Schumann’s mercurial Humoresque, Debussy’s richly impressionistic Suite Bergamasque, and Schuberts’ late-period gem of the Sonata in C minor.  “One of the greatest pianists active today,” writes The New York Times. Definitely a special gift for all the piano aficionados and music lovers around the Bay.

Tickets and Information
Bing Concert Hall
327 Lasuen Street in Stanford
650-724-2464
live.starford.edu
Prices start at $32

Zellerbach Concert Hall
101 Zellerbach Hall, #4800 in Berkeley
510-642-9988
calperformances.org
Prices start at $68

Photo courtesy of live.starford.edu

San Francisco Restaurant Week
Now through January 31, 2019

Enjoy San Francisco’s world-class culinary celebration and eat like a king or queen at a moderate price. Nearly 130 restaurants will offer special prix fixe menus to showcase their passion for sharing great gourmet food with city diners. Most of the chefs prepare their favorite dishes, the food they love to cook, or feature a new menu item they are tasting. Many menus feature a discount or a special offer. This is a wonderful opportunity for diners to discover a new favorite restaurant or revisit a perpetual favorite and enjoy special multi-course menus that are offered exclusively during this special program. It makes for a great fun outing  with a group of your foodie friends. Special offer: When you eat at four or more participating restaurants during SF Restaurant Week, you can post a qualifying entry to the Facebook event page and be eligible to win $1,200 in dining gift certificates to different restaurants. See this Facebook site for guidelines. Bon Appetit!

Information
For all the details about the participating restaurants, the prices and the menus they may feature visit sfrestaurantweek.com

Photo courtesy of SF Restaurant Week

Edward Albee’s Seascape at A.C.T in San Francisco
Now through February 17, 2019

American Conservatory Theater (ACT) rings in the new year with Edward Albee’s play Seascape. In her A.C.T directorial debut, Artistic Director and Tony Award-winner Pam MacKinnon will showcase and share her exploration of American theater’s legendary playwright and Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?). In this wildly imaginative and satirical comedy, a newly-retired couple picnics on a beach and squabbles about their life together when they are interrupted by two life-sized, English-speaking lizards. And the rest is history, as they say, for you to enjoy and spend a fascinating night at the theater. “Of all Mr. Albee’s plays, this is the most exquisitely written,” writes The New Yorker.

• Audience Exchanges:  Tuesday, February 5, 7 p.m. | Sunday, February 10, 2 p.m. | Wednesday, February 13, 2 p.m.   After the show, stick around for a lively Q&A session with the actors and artists.
• Wente Vineyards Wine Series:
Tuesday, February 12, 7 p.m.
Before the show, raise a glass at this wine-tasting event featuring the Bay Area’s hottest local winery.

Tickets and Information
Single tickets ranging from $15 to $110
415-749-2228
www.act-sf.org
A.C.T.
415 Geary Street in San Francisco

Photos of Edward Albee and Pam MacKinnon courtesy of Brian Harkin
Photo courtesy of A.C.T.

Lina Broydo immigrated from Russia, then the Soviet Union, to Israel where she was educated and got married. After working at the University in Birmingham, England, she and her husband immigrated to the United States. She lives in Los Altos Hills, CA and writes about travel, art, style, entertainment, and sports. She hardly cooks or bakes, with no borsch or piroshky on her home cooking menu. Therefore, she makes reservations and enjoys dining out, mostly sushi.