My oldest sister Carolyn came in for the weekend and tasked me with 'pick a place to eat...any place'.
Let me just admit flat out I am OCD in making decisions. I CANNOT make a choice until I know every single option with intimate details of each, then weigh them all THEN decide. So this is a task of epic proportion....in a foodie town with Michelin star restaurants. So taking the easy way out by selecting a chefs tasting menu somewhere just seems the cheap way out...because of course...it doesn't involve compulsively obsessing over every detail and weighing options.
I hope that gives you a glimmer of my day today, because I spent the large portion of it - outside of a trip to the dog park with Buck, digging into the depths of San Fransisco looking for MY perfect place if I could pick anywhere.
What I ended up choosing was Seven Hills - this place is close to where Richard is, and is a farm to table Italian place in Nob Hill / Russian Hill...and damn it I couldn't get my mind off Ravioli Uovo no matter how much more I searched...and trust me when I say I searched. Fate guided my way as well as every other place I had on my short list had reservation times disappearing off availability so I pulled the trigger and committed...EEEK!
Carolyn made great time here. Took BART from the airport and then a taxi from city center. She was here before I was even done with my hair and dressed.
I went to a bakery that Richard loves in new Chinatown yesterday and picked up a couple of mousse / tarts and a box of candles, and we made it to him at rush hour traffic. He was so happy to see her. Big smile, some big laughs, and I pulled out my tarts and lit a candle and made him sing me happy birthday :) He of course has the 411 on everything and knew exactly where they were from. We visited for a while and left at about 6. He was way down low close to the ground, and I said why are you so low? He said I don't know - I found the button recently...and I reached around his head and said its this one, and raised him up a bit more normal. Said goodbye again...then have another thought when i see a new face nurse and think oh I wonder if the nurse I hate got fired- I didn't look at his board to see the name of current staff, so back to his room and he is now about 5 feet off the ground way the hell up there... What the hell is going on ion here come back down! That was a good laugh.
So dinner.....ooooooooo dinner. Parking faerie has a spot directly across the street from the front door. We are probably 20 minutes early and have a glass of prosecco, and are the only people in the restaurant besides staff. Then music comes on and it is my favorite song of all time, and it is the most obscure redition of an oasis song that I dont even really think many people even know exists...but there it is playing for me in the most profound way.
The ravioli was rich and I need to use brown butter more often in cooking and lather something up in egg yolk more often...heart don't fail me now. Bottle of Sicilian wine, sweet bread tortellini, a beef special with mushrooms that were pan seared so they were sort of crunchy on the outside but still mushroomy on the inside and bone marrow...home made ricotta cheese drizzled in honey with orange slices for dessert and a glass of port. Seriously good food and we got out of there for under $200.
Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes, gifts, texts, emails, and generally good energy my way today.
Tomorrow morning we are having breakfast with Bill, and then heading back over to Richard for the afternoon.
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