Fantasy Dining On & Below the Bay

15 01 2014

Although I don’t have any photos – let me see if I can paint you a picture.

The hustle and bustle of San Francisco.  The Ferry Building.  As the clock strikes 6PM, the crowds part and 6 friends find each other to reconnect for one night of the year.  Who knows what adventures will unfold.  First stop:  Hard Water – a whiskey bar that has floor to ceiling lit shelves of every type of whiskey, artisan ice cubes and the most savory smelling fried chicken I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch as it was walked across the room from kitchen to patron.

Second Stop:  Forbes Island – which you probably would never think about but most likely have seen it when you went to watch the sea lions barking up a storm at Pier 39 (by the way – they have returned).  The website says ‘Fantasy dining on & below the bay’ and that pretty much sums it up.  You board a pontoon boat and take a 2 minute (maybe) boat ride past the sea lions to dock at Forbes Island.  There’s a restaurant on and below the water and a lighthouse with an observation deck that gives you a view of the skyline.  It’s an odd experience.  It’s kind of like you’re in an overstuffed boat with chandeliers rocking on the ceiling, port holes – some with stained glass art and some just glass so you can watch crab and fish swim right by you as you dine.  As you sit down to eat, the water level is right at your head and you can feel the subtle rock and sway of the ‘island’ as it bobs in the water or gets hit with wake from the boats in the bay.  You get used to the motion of the ocean (hopefully before you get sea sick) but it doesn’t help when the servers rock back and forth on their heels to counteract the movement.  It’s a whoozy experience, but definitely a memorable one.  And the women’s bathroom – it’s like you’re entering into the captain’s quarters – bed and everything!

The food was tasty, the bubbly was bubbly, the experience was odd and kitschy but nothing could outshine the laughter and the jokes and the stories that were told and the stories that will be retold from that night.


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Categories : California, San Francisco

The ‘Flavours’ of San Francisco

14 10 2012

San Francisco.  There’s a certain mystique about the city.  When you think about the city quickly, it’s a flurry of sights that go through your mind:  Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Pier 39, Ghiradelli Square, etc.  Sometimes it feels like you could experience the city just by flipping through one of those ‘best sites of’ postcard books.

But it’s so different when you’re actually in the city.  When you think about the city, you think of the highlights.  But when you are walking the streets of the city, that’s when you realize that San Francisco is more about the city’s flavour – and not necessarily the notable attractions.

One of the very best places that you can discover the flavour of San Francisco is at The Ferry Building at the Embarcadero.  Yes – it is full of very tasty treats and boutique food stores, but it is more than that.  The Ferry Building is packed full of local restaurants and vendors (especially on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays).

All I can say is……YUM.  A few of my favourites:

Boccalone:

The first thing I saw was a sign that said, ‘tasty salted pig parts’.  To some that may not be appealing, but to a bacon-lover such as myself, I couldn’t pass up their ‘Salumi Cone’ which had a selection of their salumi to sample.

Tasty Salted Pig Parts

 

Cowgirl Creamery:

Poached egg with cheese polenta for breakfast.  It was like a savoury oatmeal, and the perfect breakfast.  And for dessert (a little bit later), Earl Grey and Chocolate panna cotta.  The Earl Grey was light and creamy and was infused with a hint of the earl grey.  The Chocolate was an intense, rich, dark chocolate flavour and a much thicker custard, but just as good.

Hog Island Oyster Bar:

I can’t think of anything better than having dinner on a patio, watching the sunset, sipping white wine and eating tasty, salty, briny oysters.  The recommended oysters while we were there – kumamoto and extra smalls.  The clams, mussels and grilled cheese sandwich were also perfect.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market:

If you can make it to the Ferry Building on a farmer’s market day – it is definitely worth it.  One – you can browse the stalls trying little morsels of fruit.  But on Saturday, when the farmer’s market extends to the back of the building, that’s when I found the perfect sandwich.  I can’t remember the name of the vendor, but it was an open-faced smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich, with lemon slices, tomato and capers.

There’s only so much you can taste in one trip…guess I’ll have to make my way back soon!

 

 

 

 

 


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Categories : San Francisco

Road Blocks

7 10 2012

There have been many times when I’ve had an idea for a blog post.  After a trip, I have gotten a sudden wave of inspiration of this funny tale to tell about, for example, how I got trapped inside a San Franciscan public restroom as water came flooding into the little oblong capsule and as I kicked and yelled to try to get out, I felt like I was in some sort of Hunger Games booby-trapped room.  (This made me realize that I may have read the Hunger Games Trilogy one too many times). 

 

But once it came down to sitting down to write this funny little anecdote, I couldn’t do it.  The story never really came together on the page, and it sounded so much funnier in my head.  But it was definitely a story that I wanted to tell, and because I couldn’t figure out how to tell it, and because I am somewhat anal about wanting to tell stories in order of when they happened, I was stuck.  Since that horrifying experience thinking that I was trapped in a bathroom at Twin Peaks, I have gone to Napa and driven through wine country, I’ve taken a gondola ride up Crystal Mountain and seen crystal clear views of Mount Rainier, I’ve explored Pike’s Market and bought fresh seafood, taken water taxis and watched sea lions frolic, and seen the sun rise over the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge.  A lot has happened since those 90 seconds of bathroom terror.  But still, I haven’t been able to move forward since I couldn’t get past this one insignificant, but embarrassing moment in time.

Castella Di Amorosa

Up Close and Personal to my Friend Vino

Mt. Rainier View from Crystal Mountain

Mt. Rainier

Seattle Skyline

Early Morning at the Bay Bridge

This reminds me of when I was young.  Maybe 13 or 14 and I decided to try my hand at drawing.  Both my sister and brother are artistically gifted, and I on the other hand, always willed my hands to be able to create some masterpiece when I put pencil to paper, but it never felt like anything came of it.  But on this day, I decided I was going to use some sketch paper and one of those artist’s pencils and I was going to make a teddy bear be my subject. 

I drew feathery strokes on the paper.  Tried to do a little shading to create depth.  And I really wanted to capture that perfect glint in my teddy bear’s eye.  When I finished my drawing, I was so impressed with myself.  I patted myself on the back and showed it off to everyone.  I truly felt like I had overcome some sort of obstacle and that I did have some sort of artistic gene in my body.  But even though there is the saying that ‘practice makes perfect’ and that every talent needs to be continually worked on and practiced to evolve and improve, I decided that there was no way that I could draw any better than that.  I had peaked.  And anything that I drew after that point would surely not meet up to my now high expectations of myself.  So, that was it.  That was the last drawing that I drew…never allowing myself to improve or fail.

I don’t really know what all that says about me, (maybe I’m a control freak?), but during the last few months of my writing absence where I’ve felt like I couldn’t produce the quality of writing that I expected of myself, I realized today that I love writing too much just to stop because I haven’t been able to tell a story the way that I wanted to.  Perhaps one of these days I’ll be able to perfect my San Franciscan bathroom story, but for now at least, I won’t let not being able to tell that story prevent me from moving forward.

On to new adventures and life lessons….

Moving On…


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Categories : Miscellaneous, Napa Valley, San Francisco, Seattle