San Francisco Field Trip

A sunny, breezy Friday afternoon in San Francisco – life is so very good! Just enough time to have check in, have lunch, and spend an hour or so in the MOMA sketching. Sad not to have done the exhibits and tour, but this weekend is about food, wine and the outdoors.

Dinner at A16 – heard amazing things about the cookbook so wanted to check it out. We were positively gasping for wine and were thrilled with our choice – Alberto Longo Negroamaro Rosé “Donnadele”. We kicked off with Manila clams with assorted beans, cherry tomatoes and grilled bread – pretty delicious. Next up was the funghi pizza – adorned with proscuitto San Daniele. About this time the table next to us was re-seated. The star of the table shall remain nameless – Ms. Overwhelmingly Loud Talker. Our pasta arrived soon after and the flavor was drowned out by Ms. OLT – so too was the pleasure of the evening. I’d come back for lunch when a more “lively” atmosphere is more comfortable.

Saturday morning…must find espresso and the farmer’s market! I’ve been dreaming of the scrambled egg sandwich from Hayes Street Grill – but the coffee and the market must be savored first. Latte in hand, I am at peace – good morning! It’s a spectacular day in San Francisco! I love every booth – check out the Miner’s lettuce with the cute little bloom in the middle of each leaf and the conehead cabbage – intriguing. Next trip? Roli Roti. Memories of the stands in Paris with lovely potatoes roasted in the dripping chicken juices – heaven! Inside – visit Culinaire for a trip through the French countryside and chat with Peter – he’s charming and loves what he does – Alsace here I come. Don’t miss The Gardener – every item is perfectly chosen – including a fun hat that looked good on my bean head. Happy times. Before the camera “incident”. Suffice it to say that the gods of the bay bridge should be content for some time to come and those little straps are there for a reason.

Fast forward to Arlequin Wine in Hayes Valley – two wipeouts and one de-railed chain later – a bottle of pink Chinon on a secluded terrace. If pink is the weekend wine theme, then memories of France is Saturday’s theme. The wine has saved the day – two cameras (one new) are intact and there are no more bicycle incidents!

Piperade! A word that brings joy to my soul. The food, the service, and the vibe are all wonderful here. This is my must visit place – after a day of misadventures, I found myself hoping I’d not overbuilt my past visits, but no, it is just as wonderful as before! Unsurprisingly, we are ready for a glass of wine – not pink – Herri Mina Irouleguy – a favorite! We started with the garlic and egg soup and the stuffed piquillo pepper. The soup was delicious; the pepper was fabu! Continued with hake in a vinegar reduction and pork shank. Tucked into the chocolate cake with crème fraiche and crème caramel for dessert and waddled happily back to our hotel.

Fog rolled in overnight and threatened our bike ride across the bridge – we decided to kick it off with breakfast at The Plant. An organic café overlooking the bay – cameras were kept inside the railing and we enjoyed an incident-free omelet with fresh corn and cherry tomatoes. The carrot orange ginger juice was refreshing and made me feel healthy and ready to tackle the ride!

The first sign of trouble came at the Fort Mason incline (90 degrees); at the marina we watched the fog roll in from the west, pouring into the bay. Next came the soft sand trail – does anyone have any idea of how old and out of shape I am? So we get to the base of the bridge – yes, that’s it the orange fog-shrouded smudge 100 or so feet straight above our heads; yes that narrow, foggy, curvy, steep, two-way road is the path – who’s idea was this? Oh, hmmm, nevermind.


A lot of fog and a spot of vertigo later, we find brilliant sun and breeze through Sausalito with a brief stop for a floating picnic. Tiburon here we come, Tiburon he we come, Tiburon here we come, Tiburon are you there, are you some sort of Atlantis or fountain of youth, am I Don Quixote chasing windmills in this blistering heat on my newfangled horse? Ferry boats with cold beer are my new favorite San Francisco treat!

We are soo-oo-oo ready to ditch the bikes. Instead, we sooth ourselves with musings of clam chowder at Hog Island – closed?! Was the camera not offering enough? The gods of the bay hear our plea and we score two seats at Slanted Door! After my first glass of Kalmuck Zweigelt Rosé, I was back in the pink! The crispy imperial and spring rolls and shaking beef were perfection on a plate! Is it possible to waddle on a bike?

Monday – last day in town – one last meal – Hog Island! The clam chowder calls and calls…it would be rude not to answer. Crazy wait, but a glass of Sancerre and some fun making nice with our host help the time pass quickly – and score us an outside table – that gods of the bay are with us again. The clam chowder? Perfection in a bowl! We finish off by sipping another glass of sancerre with baked finocchio oysters – divine! We say goodbye to our new friend Kelli (that’s with a chainsaw over the “i”) and head for gelato…we burned a lot of calories yesterday! They call it Ciao Gelato, I say Ciao Bella! Hello lovely gelatos and sorbets – try to Sicilian lemon or the pink grapefruit campari.

As the sun goes down, I head for my plane and savor happy food dreams all the way home.

Tomatoes Three Ways

A quick update on the horchata...it was gone in flash (not the camera's unfortunately). Another batch is on the drawing board but will have to wait until after San Francisco.It finally got to be summer and the tomatoes starting ripening in batches big enough to cook. I was reminiscing about cooking classes in Barcelona and Tuscany and started to poke around for recipes...The first recipe I found was from Osteria La Gramola (http://www.gramola.it/)...happy days in the restaurant kitchen with Cecilia guiding us, while Massimo kept us in wine and olive oil and grappa, and their son baked amazing bread. We made pappa al pomodoro with the ingredients in the center picture. Simply saute the finely minced leek, garlic and chili until brown then add tomatoes that have been through the food mill. Cook it for about an hour and season with salt, pepper and basil. Add thinly sliced stale bread and stir with a wooden spoon until most of the liquid is gone...easy and amazingly delicious.

The Barcelona recipes are MIA, but the memories are still wonderful (http://www.cookandtaste.net/) …paella, crema catalan, wine (of course) and gazpacho. Instead I found a recipe in My Kitchen in Spain; Janet Mendel doesn’t just give the recipe, she tells the story. Gazpacho is much like that of pappa – it was peasant food created out of what was available and needed to be used. I used bread in mine and red bell pepper instead of green. The trimmed bread crusts made fresh croutons; joining the croutons were diced cucumbers and swirl of peppery olive oil. The ingredients are similar, bread, tomatoes, and garlic, but the tastes and textures couldnot be more different. Try them both.



For the third installment and the first picture, I cooked up a pot of linguine. While that was on the boil, I diced an assortment of the you know whats – pineapple heirlooms, cherry heirlooms and yellow grapes. Into a dish with finely chopped garlic, a splash of balsamic, a bigger splash of olive oil, s & p, and chiffonade of a healthy sprig of basil. I let the heat of the linguine take care of the “cooking” so this meal was out of the garden and on the table in less than ½ hour…sweet!

A Taste of Spain

If this wine weren't so fantastic, the memory would be fading! It is hard to believe that the bottle has been empty for lo', these many weeks. You should know I have a particular fondness for riojas, especially whites and pinks and reds. This rosé from Muga is zesty and hints of strawberry; the color is deep and rich…it reminds me a bit of one of my old favorite crayolas – salmon. A happy memory and a delicious wine! It was less than $15 from me and more than worth it! Until you can get to Spain, sip this wine and pretend.Two Buck Chuck Tasting Alert After a lazy day poolside with red meat on the menu, some friends and I did a tasting of the Merlot and Shiraz on Sunday evening. It was fun and random and our reward for finishing the LA and NY Times crossword puzzle. The merlot was quite fine; we agreed that for big holiday parties we would be quite content to pour this wine -- @ $ 3.29 it was more than twice better than a lot of under $10 bottles. Ok, so it's not 2 buck chuck anymore but 329 buck chuck doesn't flow as well after a couple of glasses. The shiraz was drinkable but came in a distant second. I wonder about the chard...hmmm...