MONTCLARION: JULY 14, 2011

If you were a car, what kind would you be? That question came up on my Facebook page the other day, and it got me thinking. Ten years ago, I would have been a Mustang convertible. Today, I’m a sedan on the side of the road with steam coming out of my engine.

It’s not easy being a middle-aged woman — especially with a hot body like mine. No matter how much fluid I put in the radiator, my temperature gauge spikes and I overheat like a ’72 Pinto.

My friends tell me this will pass. They make jokes about me being a “hottie” and give gag gifts like bottle misters and Chinese hand fans.

None of it works.

Look for my next series of columns to be written from an ice flow in the Arctic.

FROM THE KITCHEN: Topping my list of things that are ultracool is Bocanova, 55 Webster St. on the waterfront. The Pan-American Kitchen, hailed as a critical component in Jack London Square’s transformation, is the culinary creation of acclaimed chef Rick Hackett.

On the night we were there, the room had a buzz that said Oakland has arrived as a destination for foodies.

We shared achiote marinated whole chicken in tomatillo and white chocolate mole; Brazilian seafood stew “moqueca” with coconut milk, chiles and tomato; and from the raw bar, my favorite, halibut ceviche. It was the perfect marriage of flavors from Hackett’s Peruvian sous-chef and mostly Hispanic staff.

Ifyou’re going there, Monday nights feature live music from local guitarist Jock Rockenbach, whom BAM Magazine once called “the guitar ace of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene;” and on Wednesdays, bottles of wine are half price.

FOOD NEWS: Safeway is using social media to garner support for its plan to expand the old Redwood Road store. The Lincoln Square shop needs an update, having been built back in 1963 with a third of the space of most markets today. If you want to see the plans for the new 45,000-plus-square-foot Safeway with a full service bakery, pharmacy, coffee bar and meat/seafood counter, log on to www.safewayonredwood.com.

SWEET SOCIAL: Meet kids from Colombia who need homes, at this Sunday’s Art and Ice Cream Social in Piedmont. The event is put on by Kidsave International, an organization that’s hosting seven Colombian kids in the Bay Area this summer. Meet children and parents who’ve participated in the program, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 1300 Grand Ave., and see if this opportunity is right for you. The website is http://kidsave.org.