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.

a day with John and Bryan

If you poke around in the tags for this archive, you will find a tag for John and Bryan.  Different people, a different time.  That John and Bryan have not been together for many years now (since before we left Chicago), and we've drifted away from John over the years.  It happens, alas.

So, a new John and Bryan, Van's friends.  John and Van were fraternity brothers at CU-Boulder decades back, and Bryan is John's longtime husband.  Confusingly, Van and John have a fraternity brother whom Van stays in touch with also named Bryan.  Thankfully, that Bryan is not currently dating or married to a John!  Oh, and John and Bryan know Allan and Paul in part because they all lived in Santa Rosa for a time and also because John and Allan both work in real estate.  I'm still going to use the same John and Bryan tag, though.  So, clear as mud?  Great!  Let's proceed....

Our second full day in Sonoma (and writing that, I'm really realizing what a compact trip it was and how much we did but also how much driving to and from there was on top of the flights), we met up with John and Bryan at their new house in Sonoma, which proved to be not that far from our hotel.  Nice to see them - it's been a couple of years or more for me!  From there, they drove us to lunch at Bear, the restaurant at the Stanly Ranch resort in Napa.  Handsome place!  I had a pork belly and fried rice dish that I really got into. 

We held off on wines - that was to come!

John and Bryan had planned for us to try two wineries that day:  Cuvaison and Donum.  Hooray!  Who doesn't love a winery visit? 

When we got to the modern-looking Cuvaison tasting room

and settled in, I had the realization that Conrad and I had been there years before, on  a tour we took the day after I ran the Napa Marathon.  It was nice to be back.  I liked the wines, but, sadly, we had to rush through the tasting to make a tasting appointment time at Donum.  A shame - the setting was pretty glorious,

and we might have bought a bottle or two had we lingered.

Where Cuvaison was a lovely but typical wine tasting experience, Donum was a very different thing.  The wine tour was at an appointed time and with a group that included others.  Rather than collect around a tasting counter or table, we were taken out into the winery grounds.  As we went along, we learned about the impressive sculpture collection on the grounds. 

I especially liked the stained glass structure that represented a spreadsheet of environmental data from a year in the vineyard. 

That was cool.  The wine-making building was interesting, too -

that design on the wall is actually venting for the facility. 

Did I mention, by the way, that they poured wines during the tour? 

We did finish in the tasting room. 

Excellent wines, start to finish, though, and Van ended up joining the wine club.  I hope he'll stick with it.  I would enjoy having those wines in the future, for sure!

We headed to dinner from there, a place in Kenwood called Stella.  Lovely place, a newer restaurant.  Pasta was the specialty.  I liked the burrata and asparagus I had,

and the pasta with chicken livers was good (but not photogenic), but I think we all thrilled to share the baked Alaska dessert. 

A small quibble:  that wasn't baked.  Torched, yes, and definitely tasty, but not baked.  No matter.  It was a good end to a very good day with John and Bryan.

fried chicken

So good, we went twice!

I'll blog other Sonoma meals soon enough, but this was lunch on the day we left Sonoma and headed to the coast.  Van and Conrad had been to Lou's Luncheonette

on a previous trip, and Van

was keen to take me there.  The fried chicken was pretty darn good, hot out of the fryer. 

The biscuits? 

God, yes!  Mmmmmm...

We went back for lunch two days later on our way to the airport.  A fried chicken sandwich for me that day.  I may have liked it even better.  Honestly?  I hope I get back there again some time.

San Francisco weekend, the dining blog entry

Many days later...

Tuesday night here, dinner done.  We got back from San Francisco eight days ago now.  EIGHT!  My, the time has gone by.  So let me talk about the dining we enjoyed there.  But let me state a few things first:

• It was easier to find good dining in San Francisco in a smaller area than Los Angeles.  Two cities of very different sizes and layouts, but I have to say, it was nice to walk to meals rather than plan for an hour to get across town.
• The seafood was fresher than what I feel we get in Los Angeles.
• The service was better than what I feel we get in Los Angeles.

All of which makes me sound like I am absolutely crapping on LA.  I've had many many good meals in LA and area, of course!  But although I love our local favourites, I am trying to recall the last meal I had out in LA where I was talking on and on afterward about how much I enjoyed it.  It's been a while.  The San Francisco weekend?  Scratched a culinary itch.

Onward... 

(And now more time has passed.  It's been a week, I tell you.  Sunday night after dinner here, and likely this won't see light of day until Monday morning.  Sigh.)

Up first:  Sorella.  Italian food.  Recognizably classic, but with things that caught my eye when I looked at the menu online.  And walkable from the hotel - uphill on the way back, mind you.  The food was great, though the lighting was low.  But such good oysters,

a delicious tuna dish,

a hearty timballo,

and Conrad enjoyed his pasta course. 

Plus:  dessert! 

I'm selling it short with such a description, sorry.  We loved the bottle of wine we shared, but most of all, we really appreciated our server, whose name I have now (sorry) forgotten.  She gave us terrific recommendations, and we enjoyed the meal so thoroughly, we asked to speak to the manager so we could tell him how very much we were enjoying it.  I would love to go back!

Saturday lunch:  606.  We had wandered aimlessly in Chinatown, intimidated by picking a place, until we did a quick search for best Chinese in SF.  That led us to this cafe, bright with sunlight.  The server made a few recommendations, and she was right about them.  Silken tofu and green beans,

a chicken dish. 

It was all tasty, and good fuel for the walking ahead!

Saturday dinner:  Sushi Sato.  First off, tasty cocktails. 

And the sushi (and other fare - there was an appetizer of eggplant in there)

was terrific, too.  The service was nice although it was clear to us that the server needed support.  He was deeply apologetic for not being attentive enough, and we assured him that we were having a nice, leisurely evening.  He deserved that grace, and he brought us a dessert on the house as thanks. 

A very kind touch, but I'd happily go back there.

Sunday brunch:  Mymy.  A crab and shrimp cakes egg Benedict. 

Satisfying!  A very cute little place with substantial breakfasts!!

Sunday dinner:  Zuni Cafe. 

YES!  I've been wanting to go there for so many years and try the famous roast chicken.  We were seated (then offered another table in a quieter spot by the windows), and our waiter let us know that the chicken would take an hour.  So we got that order in and went on with browsing the menu.  Cocktails to start,

and once I saw the loaves of bread in the kitchen (which we could see into in part), I knew we needed bread service. 

Oysters!! 

But we went light on the appetizers because we had a whole chicken coming out with bread salad (essentially dressing) and lightly wilted bitter greens. 

SO GOOD.  Worth it.  Oh, and pavlova for dessert. 

Our server was excellent once again - we delighted in his sense of humour.  Definitely a place for a return visit.

It's Tuesday night again as I finish this.  Sorry.  Lots going on.  I may be a little quiet on the blog for a bit, but if I wake up tomorrow with renewed energy, great!  In the meantime, enjoy this overdue look at some mighty fine dining in San Francisco earlier this month!