SATURDAY
Wendy and I had quite the day on Saturday.
We headed over to Berkeley for our friend (and old frisbee teammate) Jenny's baby shower. She's due in September with a baby girl. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home (I know, it actually does happen) and I don't have photographic documentation, but it was nice to hang out in the sun of east bay and snack on Kerry Soo's awesome cooking/baking. She made this fantastic cold soup with avocado, crab and lots of other goodies that I can't remember. She also made some of the best buttermilk biscuits I've ever had. And this amazing peach cake. And quiche that I didn't try but Wendy said was awesome.
Then, we headed back to SF and met up with Will and Vitaly downtown at Banana Republic. Our friend, Janice, works at Gap headquarters and hooked me up with a 30% Friends & Family discount, so I got some good work clothes...Thanks Janice!
A little later, Wendy and I got in my car and drove down to San Jose to my sister's house, where she was hosting a girls' only "pleasure party". Umm, I'd tell you more, but this is a PG blog.
Jack took Olivia to go see "Ratatouille" in the theatres, but the babies were still home, so I hung out with the babies (who were barricaded in their room and weren't that happy about it) and gave them baths before joining in on the festivities.
(Look, she's standing on her own...she's so close to walking!)
For food, my sister whipped up another wonderful menu of items. She's such a good cook.
She made a pretty killer mac n' cheese and chicken parmesan. Along with insalata caprese, spinach dip, and chocolate fondue. Glorious!
SUNDAY
On Sunday, we rolled out of bed, into the car and headed to Castro Valley for our first practice of the second half of frisbee season. Our month off is officially over...
Later in the evening, Frederick and Vitaly came over to our house for drinks, and then we headed to Mission Dolores to check out the new restaurant, Farina Focaccia and Cucina Italiana, where the old Anna's cookies used to be on 18th street (between Valencia and Guerrero).
Farina opened in late spring (end of May, early June?) and has done a really good job of renovating the space to introduce a lot of laid-back style and comfort. We had 8 pm reservations, but ended up waiting 45 minutes for a table. Some people just don't know how to leave after they've paid the bill. Also, I think this may be a symptom of being a new restaurant, as they're still trying to figure out the rhythm of the service and how quickly they can turnover the tables. They finally offered us some bread, but it was around the 40 minute mark when that happened. It was a bit of damper to start the dinner, as we were starving by the time we sat down.
Our server was really nice and at ease, but somehow, they forgot to bring us our appetizer to share, the Prosciutto crudo di Parma e burrata (prosciutto and burrata cheese) before our entrees came out. Maybe a new restaurant mistake again? Oy, what next?
We shared a bottle of the 2003 Sinfarosa Zinfandel from Primitivo di Manduria DOC in Puglia. It was a really nice bottle of wine that pleased us all.
Thankfully, my first taste of my entree proved that all is not what it seems. I ordered the Filet mignon with Norcia truffles (from Umbria, Italy), watercress, and carmlized shallots in balsamic vinegar. Seriously, one of the best dishes I've had in a long time. The filet was perfectly cooked with fantastic flavor from the (surpringly) mild truffles and the wonderful sauce (there must have been some butter in there!). Delish!
Will had the feature of the day, the pan-seared veal chop with sage and thyme sauce. Very good as well, if not tremendously huge.
Frederick had the butterfish filet with perperonata agrodolce and a pine-nut and white wine sauce.
Vitaly had the hand-made tagliatele with baby meatballs in a light tomato sauce.
For dessert, we all shared the house-made vanilla pannacotta with blackberry compote topped with blackberry foam and blackberry gum drops (above) and a selection of Italian cheeses served with truffle honey walnuts and strawberry-sage jam (you can get a glimpse in top right corner).
At the end of the night, we were happy with our meals, but not quite the entire experience. The hiccups at the beginning were enough to still be in our minds, but I would definitely be willing to come back to this place and nosh on some more dishes. They have some good counter space, and it seems that it would be easier for two people to show up and grab a spot to eat.
On the way to the car, we saw this sign that I had never noticed before on a garage along 18th street. Hilarious.
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