SF DDD TOUR WRAP UP

Thursday AM we headed into SF.  Cooper seemed unaffected by our decision to leave!!

Into the city to go to a (you guessed it) Padre Game.  We went to ATT stadium, my first time.  Almost saw a no hitter...instead saw a one hitter!!  It is a gorgeous park and we had tickets compliments of Mark Loretta and his lovely wife Hillary (TY).

This is a beautiful park...with a giant Coke bottle--how cool is that.  I loved the entrance with a row of giant baseballs (upon one of which Hen is resting).

It was a  gorgeous day as you can see....and we won!!!

We picked up our friend Karen after work and headed to another DDD choice.  Sol Food in San Rafael. 

The address we had brought us to a parking lot with a total of 9 chairs on 3 benches next to a dry cleaner....and a line out the door of people waiting for to go orders.

We got three seats inside and were treated to some of the best food we had on the entire journey.  As well as a wonderful photo op!!

The entire place was the size of a small bedroom...

...and yes, this is homemade hot sauce!!

Plantains used as napkin holders...
and a bell jar filled with "Ponche" which is 1/2 Mango Iced tea and 1/2 homemade limeade--aka the Arnoldo Palmero.  Fabuloso.

We ordered an appetizer of Tostones Con Mojo--which were green plantain fried, smashed and fried again.  It is served with fresh garlic and olive oil...topped with avocado.  Yum-o.  Then moved into dinner...I had Camarones Empanizados--large fried prawns marinated and breaded with green plantain.  Fresh lime and sauce for dipping (two kinds) with black beans.


Then, for the first time all week, we had dessert--TEMBLEQUE.  Trust me, if anything deserved to be capitalized it is this dessert.  Creamy coconut pudding with mango sauce or cinnamon (in our case both).

If it would not be considered rude, Karen and I would have fought over licking the bowl!!

Friday night we finished our trip in our usual fashion---with SAKE.

Our final take on the DDD tour...is mixed.  There were home runs, walks, and total misses.  But we found a few great new places...and as always, our friends were fabulous!!

NAPA DDD TOUR

What better place to spend some time for our 30th anniversary than at the person's house that we became married 30 years ago?  For those of you who guessed Henry's ex-wife Judy, you are right again.  Yes, friends, for those of you who are unaware of the story...Henry and I married in his ex-wife's living room 30 years ago.  Andrea was there.  Schooly took the pictures.  The kids wore clogs (thanks to me!!).  Henry wore a brown suit.  I borrowed my dress...and my hat...and my shoes...what can I say, my priorities were askew.  Then we went on our "honeymoon" to Disney with....that is right his parents, his sister, her husband, and her kids.  With a beginning like that who would have thought that I would be doing this post 30 years later.

So we are here staying with Judy and her husband Kurt...I could not help myself I love this picture of them!!

I love this picture!  I know they hate it.....but they love the picture of their dog Cooper.

Yesterday we went to a familiar place that is on the DDD route--Taylor's Refresher, which is now Gott's Roadside.  The only thing that they have changed is the name.  We went to the one in St. Helena, which gave me time to go to the cute little knitting store called Muse.  I bought a couple of skeins of Koigu, and although I defended her, she really was not very pleasant.  Cute store tho.

Last night we went to hear rehearse for a concert with a band....I wanted to take a picture, but I really had the wrong lens. But it was wonderful.  I recorded it on my iPhone and when I figure out what to do with it it could become his ring tone.  I will let you know the progress on that.

This morning Henry and I headed off to Calistoga..which we passed and decided to head to Healdsburg.  Along the way we saw a place called Jimtown.  What a find!!! It was charming and the food was delish.  Henry and I split Fire Roasted Poblano, Jack Cheese, Mushroom, and Onion, with Roast Garlic Aioli on Sourdough, and then we had a side of Melon Seed Pasta with Chopped Olive, Cucumber, Spring Onions, Carrots, and Garden Herbs.  Then Henry went back and got the vegetarian chili....yum-o!!  Did I mention it was charming.

This "store" was started by two people from NY one of whom was the part owner of the infamous Silver Palate in NY.   Why should I expect it to be less than fabulous!

Not much could be be better than this, but we actually went to dinner at a place that had Octopus Burrito, called La Taquiza.  It was great (I, of course, skipped the Octopus anything, but Henry loved it).  I do wish we had one of these closer to work, home, or anywhere.

Off to SF tomorrow to see our good friend Karen.....we always have tons of fun!!

DDD Vacation

Well, what do you do for a vacation celebrating 30 years of marriage. Let's face it...we have done almost everything: Orient Express, Hawaii, Santa Fe, Belgium, I can't even name them all. So where do you go from here...we were watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, and we thought...that's it. We will eat our way through our vacation with Guy Fieri as a tour guide.

 Come on...wouldn't you eat where this "guy" told you to??

Our first stop was for lunch at Hubert Keller's Burger Bar at Macy's...not on Guy's list, but on Sonny's.   It is tucked away on the 6th floor at Macy's overlooking Union Square.  We had a lovely table at the window.  Henry indulged in the Burger Bar Pale Ale.  Henry had a Turkey Burger and I had a Veggie Burger (made of carmelized onions, button mushrooms, lentils, green peas, brown and white rice, pumpkin puree, potato, bread crumbs and mozzarella cheese).  The veggie burger was yummy.  We split an order of Jalapeno pickles (not so great)---too much on the pickle, not enough on the jalapeno.

We pick one of Guy's places for dinner..."Q".  We survived the 30 minutes of driving around trying to find a parking place so we were praying it would be great.  We walked in and it was crowded but there was one table so we were golden.  Five minutes later the place was packed and people were lined up outside.  I had Portobello Risotto with Sherry, Shallots, Herbs, Asiago Cheese and Sauteed Spinach and Henry had catfish that was superb.  Oh, and did I mention the Sangria...yum-o.  

The next morning (Sunday, if you are keeping track), Clifford recommended that we head over to "Just for You", which he said had the best breakfasts ever.   This is a picture that Cliff took of his breakfast...I am a sucker for grits, grits, and more grits.  It was Mother's Day, and there was a wait, but it was worth it...and knowing what I know now any amount of time waiting would be worth it.  They had wonderful signs up...like "We reserve the right to pour coffee on your cell phone", another was "Your baby is so small and your stroller is way too large".  Henry had the Hangtown Fry: 3 eggs scrambled with bacon, oysters, and onions.  I had the very delicious Greg's Scramble: 3 eggs scrambled with spinach, onions, garlic, and topped with parmesan cheese with chorizo, grits, and cornbread.  Superb.

The Michael Jordan sign in the bathroom was my fave.  Oddly enough there were no paper towels on the floor....after all, how could you argue with that logic.  

With that beginning the day was not going to get better.  We went to Rocco's for lunch...but I am sure we ordered the "wrong thing"...that means not what Guy had.  Our run had to come to an end.  Sure it was the end of the day for them, but, it was dreadful.  Maybe the solution was to say:   'I'll have what Guy had!"

Rocco's is right next to Oil Can Henry's...perhaps a "sign" for a new career path....after all Hen installed an entire toilet all by himself last week.

So on we went to Sushi Aka Tombo, which was rumored to be fabo. It may have been the best sushi in the world, but with a full restaurant and one sushi chef, any goodness was overshadowed by the yucky service.

Always in love with a safe bet, we returned Monday morning to "Just for you" where there was no line and still terrific food. Then we headed to Santa Rosa to hit "Willie Bird" home of turkey, turkey, turkey.  I do not know if the restaurant supports the turkey farm or the other way around...but suffice it to say it is ALL about the turkey.  Again, I think the way to go here was to order the turkey special dinner, but no, I ordered the Turkey Salad Sandwich delivered by Aunt Bee.  Yes, the food tastes like the outside (pictured above) seems like it would taste.

We traveled on to Napa via a small road with some gorgeous scenery.

I could live here!!

Check out the baby grapes on the vine at Hagafen Vineyards!

The trip has been fun so far....the only other thing we have done but eat is visiting knitting stores...how much fun is that??  Don't ask Hen that question!!

Shared photo book from Cathi

Click here to view this photo book larger