Sea Ranch

Second to last of the Sonoma posts, I promise!

Several years back, Conrad and I spent a weekend in SF with Courtney and Robert.  Just being tourists, no agenda.  It was a nice time.  One of the highlights for me (other than all of us having dinner at Chez Panisse) was visiting the art museum (I can't recall which one) and seeing an exhibit about Sea Ranch.  There was a reconstruction of a home in the gallery and a lot of cool stuff that showed off the design - architecturally as well as graphic.  It stayed with me even as a key piece did not:  Sea Ranch was not a utopian experiment that was abandoned.  Rather, it still exists and thrives and grows.  I learned this from Van shortly after we met him - he took a trip up that way and told us about it.  The three of us have idly talked (as we often do about similar locales) about what it would be like to retire there (beautiful, too isolated).  And, finally last month, I had my opportunity to visit.

We drove the short distance up from Timber Cove in time to have lunch at the Sea Ranch Lodge. 

What a handsome place that is.  Conrad and Van have plans to stay there in September, and I'm a little jealous.  They'll have a relaxing time there, and if our lunch is any indication, the food will be good.  A fritto misto,

a shared salad,

some bacon-wrapped dates,

a refreshing herbal iced tea -

it was a delicious lunch, and the menu had a lot more that looked appealing.

Lunch done, we wandered the Lodge complex a little,

then headed out toward the sea bluffs. 

A bright and sunny day, yes, but also very breezy by the water.  The scarf kept the sun off my neck but also kept me warm enough! 

What a glorious day, though.  Ah yes, I am a little jealous of their future stay there.

From there, we drove north, making it all the way into Mendocino County to get gas (and a bottle of water or two) in Gualala, but otherwise stopping at a couple of places in the Sea Ranch community.  One of those was the little interfaith chapel, which looked a little like a Hobbit residence, but turned out to be a gem of a building. 

The stained glass was lovely,

and the inside felt spacious enough, not closed in.  I thought it was delightful.  We then parked where there was a path to head down to waterfront access and walked through the trees and past homes to get out by the sea again. 

So fantastic.  I didn't like every home I saw there, but I generally had serious real estate envy that day.  Again, so isolated (imagine a medical emergency up that way!), but a guy can fantasize about a second home up there after winning a lottery, right?

It was a terrific afternoon of seeing a community I had heard about for so long, and I was so very glad we did.

Sunday breakfast

How awesome is it to have breakfast at home?  How even more awesome is it to have breakfast at home cooked by someone else?

I use home a little loosely - we walked to Van's yesterday, stopping to pick up a few breakfast supplies, and there we had our meal.  Conrad set the table and did the dishes, Van cooked. 

It's fair - I do so much in the kitchen, they can take care of me for once.

Pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, a tomato blistered in the oven - it was more than satisfying. 

Though I'd also stopped at Starbucks for a decaf latte, I got Conrad to brew me some decaf to enjoy. 

And all was good.

The little girl?  Hopeful as always when she smells our food!🐶🤣

Saturday breakfast

You ever get hankerings?  In the mood for some particular food or beverage?  I get that way, for sure.  Fly to Hawaii, and by gosh, I need some Spam.  That sort of thing.

Saturday morning we did a rare thing in the desert and went out to breakfast someplace other than walking to Koffi or to Starbucks.  Equally as often, it seems, we would just have some brewed coffee (well, decaf for me) and a light bite at home as well.  Saturday, however, Van and I wandered up the 111 to The Atrium for breakfast at The Palms Cafe.

Breakfast is a conundrum for me sometimes.  I have come to love eggs as an adult (I was so-so on them as a child), and I seldom make them at home, so I usually want eggs when I go out.  Something savoury for me, some protein.  But I had a hankering for pancakes, too.  The solution?  Grand Slam it, as it were.

I don't usually eat breakfast in this quantity, but I told myself there would be no lunch.  Eggs over easy, bacon, hashbrowns (which are a miracle of potato cookery), and a side of a big pancake.  Perfect.  Van had his coffee,

I had my decaf,

and we started the last full day at the Rancho Mirage house together just right.

bucatini

A quick post, a photo of dinner last night.  Conrad had a work dinner to go to nearby, and I wasn't in the mood either to go sit with sushi alone at a restaurant or bring it home.  I kind of wanted to read my book I was well into and have a simple meal with things I had at home.

So, pasta it was!  Bucatini, and a big bowl at that (I had eaten so little breakfast and lunch, in my defense).  I caramelized some cabbage and onion with some seasonings, added some pasta water to make a sauce, then tossed it with the noodles.  I topped it with a bit of parmesan and some pancetta crumbles.  Yum!  Book in hand, an Aviation nearby, a bowl of pasta.  A nice Thursday night.

lunch, dinner, brunch (NOLA)

More New Orleans food while I am here (and though this will post later in the week, it's Sunday night, one more night to go!).

Saturday lunch I dined with my friend John.  He's vegetarian, sometimes vegan, and hey, I like vegetables.  Genuinely!  He suggested a place not too far from the convention center, Carmo, and while it had many vegetarian and even vegan options, it also had non-vegetarian options.  A glass of wine each, and we both opted for different versions of the Rico. 

Fried plantains, with pork for me.  Yum!  Really satisfying.

Saturday night I had dinner with Maggie.  I opted for Luke for us in between receptions (we missed the second because dinner was nice and relaxed).  I'd been there in years past, and I remembered it as an oyster bar/French-ish bistro in a hotel.  They still serve oysters, but I didn't see them all on display on ice.  No matter.  Maggie is not a raw bar fan, and the man at the next table was having a super-delicious looking food, so I ordered what he had:  red beans and rice with fried chicken. 

Damn satisfying!

Sunday brunch I skipped out of the conference with some colleagues and we sought brunch.  And oh, look:  hello Luke!  A glass of sparkling rose, but the main event?  A standard-ish breakfast.  That makes it sound boring, but by gosh I wanted some decent grits and a biscuit. 

Locals will surely quibble, but mmmmmm.

More food from New Orleans to come!

mixed review

I think I've said before about how very much I want to like restaurants I go to. Having had several years of front and back of the house experience, I'm inclined to be sympathetic to waitstaff and kitchen staff both. I just want them all to do their best and succeed.

Hearty is making it tough for me.

I went there back in May with David for brunch on a Sunday and was, sorry to say, underwhelmed. The menu promised great things, but when I can barely saw through a waffle with a butter knife, there's an issue. And yes, bad me, I didn't tell them so.

Same for last night. Some issues, but at no point did I tell them. So with that in mind, let me strive for fairness...

The company was great! We've got a small group of teammates with whom we dine monthly, and it's proven to be a great way to try new places and catch up on the swim team gossip we miss out on. Amy, George, and Brian were terrific fun last night.

Huge portion of tasty fried chicken. Good stuff.

Tasty cocktails. I liked mine - it disappeared quickly - and the wine list proved not just to challenge us with new names, but also new places (NC, NY, IN, VA, and AZ wines among the unexpected things on the list). Also, the wines were a great price. Hearty is quite nicely priced all in all.

The tater tots with truffle oil. Did they make the tots from scratch? I don't care. They were piping hot and richly scented and oh so good.

But...

Everyone at the table was thrilled by the appearance of a pound of (I think) deep-fried bacon on the appetizer portion of the menu. Great! But really, what we got was a cone full of bacon, nothing more than that, and it wasn't that warm. I'm not such a bacon acolyte that I will mindlessly enthuse over that.

The sliders were a buck each and, frankly, worth only that much. They tasted fine, but unexceptional.

I had other small quibbles with the food - my collard greens, for one - but I did like the food far more this time. And really, with beverages and friends, it was a fun time. The real problem was the timing.

I wonder if Hearty needs more staff. I wonder if that might help reduce the gap between the appetizers and the entrees to comfortably under the 35 or more minutes we experienced last night. I wonder if that might have made a leisurely night less forcibly leisurely. None of us said anything, but I think we were all thinking it: this place needs to step things up.

I want Hearty to succeed - it's in an odd stretch of Broadway but very welcome in the neighbourhood. I will go back - the food was better, and while service lagged, it was friendly. Perhaps just for cocktails? We'll see, and hope for even better.

they grow 'em tall in Virginia

I actually wanted to title this post with David's last name. It's become an affectionately humourous thing to do to refer to him by it, but you have to imagine that in doing so, there is an exclamation point. Hence: Xxxxx! It's a one syllable last name, and lends itself beautifully to this silliness. Alas, I don't put last names on this blog if I can help it, and so I shall not do so now.

Instead, let's know David for a few other things:

• height - they grow 'em tall in Virginia
• humour - the man laughs a lot. Smiles. Laughs. Cheerful. Cheering.
• hotness - I KNOW that many many men in the GLBTRT would looooooove quality time with David. Whatever that means!

Conrad is still in Honolulu (back on Thursday, yay!), and David needed a bit of a break from rural life downstate with Farmer Dave (his partner). A trip to Chicago, a chance to hangout outside of conference? Heck yes!

I met him downtown - he had walked over from the train station. Our first mission: Nordstrom Rack, where we'd successfully found shirts to fit his frame last summer. Fun shirts. Apparently Farmer Dave made some comment about David shopping with me and coming home with more embroidered shirts. That made me laugh.

We both hit the racks and the fitting rooms - David had a haul of 15 to try on. We found this one in particular that was just so bad 80's Parachute Club sort of gear that HE had to try it on. Lo, it was a woman's top on the wrong rack. It kinda fit him, but he doesn't have the bust to really work it.

;-)

David ended up with a few shirts and a pair of shoes, while I tried on several possible ones

before settling on a couple of short sleeve Brokeback shirts.
Size small. I just wanted to brag about that.

A late lunch then at Bin 36, a cab up to Boystown, more stores and ice cream, a walk home. Laughter.
A ton of it.

Dinner was at Wakamono on Broadway - we took along a bottle of Chardonnay and settled down to tempura and maki. No other big plans for the night - David wanted to see photos of BC, and I never mind boring people to tears with photos!

We kinda slept in. And then we kinda just lounged around a long while before bothering to head out, this time to Hearty Boys for brunch sitting at the bar. I wish the food were better - the menu reads so well, and the waffles looked great. Tough as leather and cold. I didn't mind - conversation was good, and the atmosphere in the restaurant was fun, too. Plus, at least I had a bit of bacon.

And then it was afternoon. David and I looked at more BC and other photos lazily before I roused us to grab a coffee and go walk over by the lake a bit. We were barely home after that when he was off to catch his train back to Farmer Dave, leaving me to hope that he can come visit again - Conrad has only met him once but would have enjoyed the visit a lot - or that I can check out downstate one weekend down the road.