Wednesday, 4/22/26

 Since we had cleverly brought home empanadas, there was breakfast ready to go. We tried:chicken, asparagus-gouda, and banana dulce de leche. Delicious but the asparagus was my favorite. We had a fairly leisurely morning, then went out for manicures and conveyor belt sushi in Japantown. Just as fun as it looks, and the sushi was actually quite good. There was a mochi donut place nearby, so we had a few of those, too. Jessica had never tried one and it wasn't as gross as she feared. We headed back to the neighborhood, and fearing that we were frittering the day way with no Culture, stopped in at The Tenderloin Museum. Quire small but pretty interesting.

Dinner was "Noodle Night at Che Fico", one of a series of events put on during SF Cookbook Week. There was no menu provided beforehand, so we went into it completely blind, only knowing who the chefs would be. The space was so pretty, and the service was excellent; some dishes were better than others, but there were some standouts (more deviled eggs for me, please!). I was challenged right away by a salad with snow fungus (actually delightful) and braised pig ear (chewy and crunchy at the same time; not unpleasant but not really pleasant, either) The second course brought clams which I gamely ate, and one of the desserts had the texture of the bounciest damn jello you have ever had. But overall very fun and some tasty things in there, as well

the favorite dessert

The focaccia was amazing; had some kind of salty spicy delicious stuff on the outside

 

Tuesday, 4/21/26

 I woke up early and starving, so we left the house way too early for our ferry to Sausalito. We stopped for coffee and pastries at the Ferry Building at a place called Parachute Bakery. On a whim I picked a sort of croissant thing:

YUZU, OLIVE OIL + BLACK SUGAR:  Croissant pastry, olive oil cake, yuzu cremeux, blood orange marmalade and black sugar meringue.

Honestly one of the best pastries I have ever had. Better than a Cronut. Jessica's "Strawberry Cube" was good but couldn't compare.

So we strolled around Sausalito until it was time to meet Stephanie at Poggio. We shared a bunch of things: 

Sformatino: porcini custard, fontina fonduta, asparagus, brown butter, grana padano

Burrata: english pea purée, confit green garlic, arugula, fried shallots, crostini

Fegatini: chicken liver mousse crostini, strawberries, pistachios, aceto balsamico (Jessica and I were too polite to decline this suggestion, and both gamely tried it)

Tartare; raw yellowfin tuna, horseradish crème fraiche, capers, arugula, pine nuts, crostini

Gnudi: spinach ricotta pillows, beef ragù, parmigiano reggiano (the winner! The ragu was so delicious)

Plus some roasted asparagus that was honestly not very good, and quite fibrous.

Overall I would say the food was solid but not amazing. The garnishes didn't add anything? but we had a nice time! Then more dawdling around to catch the ferry home. Stopped to pick up empanadas for breakfast (plus an excellent if unnecessary alfajor for me).

Home to rest, than a quick trip to the GIANT main branch of the library, followed by pizza at this place I wanted to try (Outta Sight Pizza). We split three slices and they were great:

Cheese, hot honey burrata, and pepperoni

TV and bed.

Monday, 4/20/26

 Spent most of the day on a plane (uneventful in a good way), staggered off in the rain and made our way to the apartment. Dinner was nearby Indian fusion place called Kinara. We started with samosas and pani Purina, and then split a spicy chicken kebab, and something called "fire fries", which were like thrilling Indian poutine? Masala sauce, paneer, french fries and crushed taki topping. Everything was really good, but that's the dish I will be dreaming about. Then home for TV and early bed.

green lantern chicken

Fire fries

cunning little cart of samosas

Sunday, 4/19/26

 Watched a cold wet, and losing Ultimate game in the morning:

And then just had leftover pizza and broccoli  for dinner.

Saturday, 4/18/26

 Ultimate tournament most of the day, early birthday dinner with Carter. All he wanted was pizza from Athena's and chocolate cookies. Easy enough. I thought my cookies (World Peace cookies from Dorie Greenspan) were too crunchy, and all my cookies have been spreading too much lately. Anyway, nice to see the boy.

Friday, 4/17/26

 I forgot to use our avocados when I made enchiladas the other night, so somehow that translated into nachos for dinner. Refried beans, cherry tomatoes, fresh jalapenos, flan for dessert. Felt very decadent.

Thursday, 4/16/26

 Home pizza night; took advantage of the rotisserie chicken to make BBQ chicken pizza. Two minor complaints: this pizza doesn't lend itself as well to Jason's recent quasi pan pizza style, and the smoked cheddar we used was not, in my opinion, smoky enough. I think it will reheat well, though.