Weekend Re-Cap: Back to Tahoe!

February 25, 2007

Hail ye snow gods, you have answered our prayers!

The lack of precipitation and low levels of snow pack in the Sierras have been more than concerning to the weekend warriors. I had only ventured up to Tahoe once this season in early January and the dismal snow conditions (and ridonkulous flu of January) have limited my enthusiasm for the 3.5 hour trek (on average) to South Lake every weekend.

Will and I hopped in his Subaru on Friday night and whizzed up to the cabin in just over 3 hours...that must be a record! No traffic! Inconceivable!

SATURDAY

I woke up much earlier than usual on Saturday morning so that I could get ready to hit the mountains with Jojo and Mike. I normally sleep in, have some coffee and roll to the mountains around 10 am or so and ski for a few hours, but the potential for some snow on the mountains got me up early. In my mad dash, I forgot to bring my digicam. I was also treated to a very unexpected and unwelcome surprise stashed in my helmet and gear bag, where a little winter mouse had been collecting a winter stockpile of seeds in my stuff!!! Eww!

In addition to the overall grossness of the situation, I'm also incredibly allergic to rodents (courtesy of the house infestation of 2004). Ick. I did my best to wipe out any mouse "dander" that might have been lingering, pulled up my Patagonia hoodie and shoved the helmet on (safety never takes a vacation!).

The day was awesome, I love boarding with Jojo and Mike because they're both so adventurous and fun. We parked on the Nevada side of Heavenly and found some good snow in the Milky Way bowl and on the north-facing side of Mott Canyon. However, in order to get to the good stuff, there were some treacherous rocks to avoid on the ridge above Mott. I scraped up my board pretty badly at some points. Ow! The first couple of runs were rough, as I was going at the mountain hard, and I took some sweet tumbles. Apparently, I needed some practice. Later in the day, I was cruising pretty well and wasn't hitting the snow with the rest of my body.

In addition to the good snow in Milky Way and Mott, there was some good pow to be found in the Olympic trees and the North Bowl trees. Sometime after 3 pm, we were pretty spent (longest day of boarding for me in a long time!), so we headed back to the car.

When we got home, I went through the rest of my ski bag and cleared out the remnants of the mouse problem (you don't want to know). We hung at the cabin for a while, relaxing and taking it easy.

Sometime after 7 pm, we rallied and headed over to Tahoe Bowl, where 9 of us were ready to bowl. It was pretty busy, so we decided to wait for two lanes next to eachother and play pool in the bar while we waited...

There were a few new folks working at Tahoe Bowl since last season. The ladies at the bar, Cindy and Claudia, were really sweet and got to know us real well.

Two games later, some of us had to head out to meet up with our buddy Damien, who in his typical crazy fashion, had decided to take a cab from North Lake Tahoe to come meet us at the casinos in South Lake. So, Kenny, JonZ, Marina, Will and I headed over to Harrah's, where Damien was waiting for us with a table in front of the Casino Center Stage, where Arty the Party performs, with a handful full of drinks waiting for us...

There was a lot of drinking, dancing, carousing and people-watching, all the time with Arty the Party entertaining us with his sweet one-man show. Brian Stein, in the midst of his rambling tour between finishing his Master's degree early and starting his job in NYC in early spring, was in the house and joined us mid-way through the evening.

The boys hit the tables late in the evening/early morning wee hours. I played a little craps with Stein but then headed over to where Will was playing blackjack. Apparently, I am a very good blackjack assistant, as I kept hoarding his winnings and cashing out for him so that he couldn't lose it again...very good strategery.

I'm not going to lie to you, we were out really late. We got back to the cabin before 5 am, and it was storming. As a result, it was pretty much guaranteed that I wasn't going to be hitting the hills early.

SUNDAY

And snow it did. The non-casino folks headed to the hills pretty early, while the rest of us slept the morning away. Will and I had planned to leave South Lake before 2 pm anyway, as he had to get back to SF for a hockey game, so we took it easy until we had to leave. The major winds had also resulted in the majority of the chairlifts being closed at Heavenly, so that made me feel just a little better about not heading to the hills...

The big snowstorm inevitably brought with it some major traffic issues. The traffic was at a standstill on Lake Tahoe Blvd., but luckily, we've hung out in South Lake long enough to know a shortcut to Hwy 50 that avoids driving by Meyers, where they do all the chain control and which causes all the traffic issues.

Will and I made it home in 4.5 hours, a record for a snowstorm. It was a fantastic weekend, and a little pre-celebration for Will's birthday on Monday (February 26). Will was heading out of town for work to Dallas/Chicago, so his real birthday celebration will have to wait until he gets back. I imagine we'll be coming back to Tahoe next weekend with the snow report getting us all antsy...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL!

Ana Mandara

February 22, 2007

On Thursday night, Will headed to a dinner with some of his co-workers and some folks in town for a speech conference. Cindy, a Nuance-er who I had met in Grand Cayman in January, was sweet enough to remember my foodie-ness and extended the invitation to me...how could I refuse? The destination was Ana Mandara, a French-Vietnamese restaurant close to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square.

I had been wanting to try Ana Mandara for quite sometime, but to be honest, I've always had a hard time bringing myself to hang out in Fisherman's Wharf. But this was a perfect time to try it, so I was psyched.

Ana Mandara is infamously known as "Don Johnson's restaurant', and the kitchen is under the helm of Executive Chef Khai Duong, a pioneer of modern Vietnamese cuisine. We had an early reservation at 6 pm. The room is beautiful, a multi-tiered room with lush greenery, great ambiance and lighting, and beautiful accents (specifically representing cranes and turtles).

There were 11 folks at dinner, a nice large party, and starters were ordered for the table. I love it when other people take the lead in ordering food for a group, in this case, it was Cindy. I tend to favor certain types of food, and when someone else orders, I get to try dishes that I might never order. Very exciting! The servers were fantastic and the appetizer order gave enough portions for everyone and was served individually.

On my plate above:

• "Whispering Waves" - Crispy lobster ravioli with mango and coconut sauce
• "Delightful Dewdrops" - Vietnamese steamed dumplings with shrimp and chicken
• "Smoky Wonders" - Mesquite-grilled baby spare ribs with five-spiced honey bbq sauce

These bites were really nice, and were easily split individually. The crispy lobster ravioli was my favorite on this plate. I usually gravitate to spare ribs, and they were good, but nothing compared to the other starters.

Another feature appetizer that was ordered was the Kobe beef tartare with some kind of potato cake on the bottom and truffle oil sprinkled on the plate. I looovvee beef tartare, and don't always order it. This tartare was really nice because the egg was not over-powering and the meat tasted fresh and rich...mmm...meat...

The last starter was the "Voyage Into Sunshine", which was a ceviche of striped bass, cucumber, shallots and red chili oil. I'm used to typical ceviche which includes diced or cut chunks of raw fish that taste relatively "cooked' after the marinade process. This preparation was delightfully different, as the bass was marinated as a thin fillet and was presented more sashimi style. By far the best appetizer of the bunch.

Cindy also ordered the table small bowls of Ana Mandara's trademark crab soup called the "Dreams of Sea and Fire", which included sweet Dungeness crab and house-made hand-cut noodles. Wonderful, wonderful soup.

As most of you know, I usually only blog about what Will and I eat, but folks were excited to share what they were eating too, so here are some of the other entree dishes that were sampled during the dinner...

Steve had the "Tales from the West Sea", which was a whole New Zealand Snapper with a green mango sauce. Steve was so taken by this dish that he declared it one of the best fish dishes he had ever had. What was so great about this dish was the green mango sauce, which had a perfect balance of zippy spice with the flavorful mango to complement the snapper.


Cindy, Shine and Mark had the "Ebony & Ivory", the Seared Day Boat Scallops with sweet black rice, light kumqut marmalade sauce, and asparagus. All three enjoyed their scallops and commented on how satisfying the dish was.

Will had the "Storm Clouds Brewing", the Roasted Rare Duck Breast with daikon cake, Shanghai baby bok choy and caffe latte sauce. The duck was perfectly cooked, with the just-right amount of sauce that did not overwhelm the duck, and wonderfully cooked asparagus.

Ah yes, and I had the "Memories of Nha Trang", the Maine Lobster with sweet and sour lobster roe sauce and sticky black rice and green beans. It's no secret that I love lobster, and this dish was good, but it was the roe sauce and the green beans that I couldn't ge enough of. I've noticed that lately, a dish will really win me over if the sides and accompaniements bowl me over.

Meyer Lemon Mousse in a fresh orange cup. This was very light and I always love the fresh taste of anything made with Meyer lemons.

Ginger creme brulee with candied ginger. Creme brulee used to be my favorite dessert, but that has changed in the past couple years. I rarely order it now, tending to not order dessert at all and try others', or order something like sorbet. This creme brulee was good, but nothing to write home about. The ginger was subtle, but there's nothing like the classic.

Roasted Banana Boat with caramel-walnut sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. This was Will's pick, a great dessert, especially if you might happen to like a tasty banana with a rich caramel sauce.

Coconut black rice pudding with vanilla ice cream and guava sauce. I had a little taster of this, which was fine, but also nothing to write home about.

Maybe I was a little full from the epic eating, but the starters and the entrees definitely outshone the desserts for me. Ana Mandara has such an extensive menu that includes an easy-to-please wine, cocktail, aperatif and after-dinner drink list, that there's plenty to come back for. I was surprised to find that the beautiful dining room wasn't very busy this evening.


The night was fantastic and I was so happy to check another one off my list. Thanks to Cindy for an amazing dining experience!

Weekend Re-Cap: President's Day Long Weekend

February 19, 2007

Hooray! It's the long weekend!

FRIDAY

On Friday night, Will and I stayed in and watched "The Guardian" with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. It was a decent movie, only slightly cheesy (especially with a closing credits song by Bryan Adams), and with the typical mentor-tough-love story and plenty of insinuations from "Top Gun".

Our friends, Kareem and Geneve, were crashing at our house on Friday night, en route to Napa. But due to the long weekend travel craziness, they missed their flight and managed to finally get on a flight to SFO two stand-bys later. They rolled into the house sometime around 1 AM, what a way to start a weekend...phew!

SATURDAY

We woke up and got in a little catch-up with Kareem and Geneve before they headed up to Napa with their friends. It's a very exciting time for both of them as they've quit their jobs, are going on a quick trip to Thailand, and the will return to pursue their passions (Geneve with cooking school and working with Sweet Riot, and Kareem with a new start-up). Good luck you two!

What a gorgeous day Saturday was. We were inspired to enjoy the sun, so we recruited Ashley and the three of us headed down to The Ramp, a fave place to enjoy food and drink in the sun by the bay. Unfortunately, I forgot the little digicam, so you'll have to take my word that the 1/2 pound beef burger with cheddar, bacon and avocado was absolutely delish, the two pints of Wyder's Pear cider went down like water, the sun was wonderful on the skin, and Ashley looked hot in her summer outfit.

After such an exhausting lunch, I took Will home and then went on a campaign of errands, which included a pedicure for me! Yay!

Early in the evening, Will and I scooted over to the Financial District to meet up with a gaggle of folks for an early dinner. The event was a surprise birthday dinner for my friend, Beth, whose husband Tony planned a soiree for 10 folks at Frisson.

(BTW: Beth is an amazing artist and if you like botanicals and have a sense of humor, you should check out her newest collection which was inspired by famous hair-dos...my favorite is the Alfalfa!)

Anyway, we were ushered into one of the private dining rooms at the back of the restaurant, that had a nice little entrance to a "private" garden as well. Swanky! The dinner party included some folks that Will and I had met previously at Beth and Tony's wedding last September, a really nice group of people with eclectic backgrounds and varied life stories.

To start the evening of dining, a featured appetizer was ordered for the group to share, a charcuterie plate. I love charcuterie plates, but never seem to order them, so this was a perfect start. The plate included house-cured duck carpaccio, a chicken galantine, horseradish cream, and a terrine of foie gras accompanied with toasted brioche. I'm a lover of foie gras (don't hate me all you treehuggers out there!), so the terrine was divine. But the winner here was the duck carpaccio, slightly salty but with a lovely texture and the flavor of the duck wonderfuly preserved.

Both Will and I started with the crispy pork croquettes with yukon gold potatoes, bacon-frisee salad, sherry vinaigrette. We tried to order one to share, but they brought us two orders...oh well. So we just had to eat both of them, right? This was lovely as well. The croquette contained really tender pork that was spiced with some veggies (I couldn't discern which ones, I was eating too fast), and the breading was really light, not greasy at all.

For dinner, Will chose the roasted red snapper with house made chorizo with forbidden black rice, crispy lotus root chips, red beet reduction. Will has been on a snapper kick lately, and this dish was not disappointing. The red beet reduction was a nice complement to the fresh and light fish.
Of course, I stuck with my meat theme, and chose the Fino sherry braised short ribs with horseradish mashed potatoes, shallot roasted dino kale, herb & caper relish, truffle jus. First of all, the horseradish mashed taters blew me away. Maybe it's because I'm a lover of horseradish, but they were so damn tasty. The short ribs were incredibly tender and had wonderful flavors. Of course, the truffle jus was delightful, and I couldn't get enough of the kale. I was happily satisfied with this entree.

Tony had the organizational prowess to call ahead and arranged for the pastry chef to create a chocolate cake personally for Beth's birthday. The chocolate ganache was lovely, but the cake was a little on the dry side, so of the entire meal, only the dessert was not up to par.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH!


SUNDAY

On Sunday morning, after a nice long post-fantastic meal slumber, I woke up and got some stuff together to go for a hike with Katharine and Key in Marin. We headed to Stinson Beach to do my favorite hike in the Bay Area, which is a 7-mile loop from Stinson Beach, through Muir Woods, through Mt. Tam State Park and back to Stinson. From Stinson, we hiked up the Matt Davis Trail for about 4 miles to the Pan Toll Ranger Station, then proceeded on the Steep Ravine and Dipsea Trails back to Stinson Beach. It takes about 2.5 hours and takes you through lush woods, sunny grasslands, and a ravine.

Katharine was on a banana-slug-saving mission, as every banana slug she came across on the trail was moved off the trail to prevent an early demise.

Far off views of the tips of GG Bridge and Sutro Tower:

After the awesome hike, we rewarded ourselves with a late lunch at the Stinson Beach Grill.

I started off with 6 large Miyagi oysters on the half shell. They were large and delicious with the mignonette. Then, I polished off a burger (two in two days...look at me go! Good thing I went on a hike...)

From Stinson, we headed back to the city, after some grocery stops in the Sunset and at Andronico's. That night, Will and I were pretty weary (he went mountain biking in the Santa Cruz mountains all day), so we tucked in and got through only part of "An Inconvenient Truth"...

MONDAY

On Monday, I headed down to SJ to see the little ones.

I could go on and on about how cute and lovely and big the twins are getting, and how smart and adorable Olivia is as the 4-year old who knows everything...but I won't.