Jen and Therese's Excellent Adventure

[therese]

After a week on the road for work for me (D.C. and then San Jose) I was very much looking forward to a weekend of fun and restaurants and shopping in San Francisco with fellow eG member Jen last weekend. Jen's from Vancouver by way of Sacramento, and she'd spent the last week moving house in the desert heat, and she was similarly looking forward to San Francisco: not only would we get to do girl stuff, but we'd get to do it in the positively chilly climate that San Francisco usually enjoys.

Or not. It wasn't just warm in SF, it was sweltering, and unlike those parts of the U.S. where sweltering is more common, SF is very poorly equipped to deal with the heat: no AC or even ceiling fan in our boutique hotel (The Commodore), and restaurants and shops were similarly lacking. We made the best of it, opening the room windows as much as possible (which actually involved removing the windows from their frames), setting up a room fan, and drinking lots of water.

We arrived Friday afternoon, and spent the afternoon shopping (in stores with AC) before heading to dinner near our hotel at Saha. Jen had booked this on the strength of proximity and reviews, and it was overall very good. We both chose the prix fixe option, which includes a soup or salad, a small plate, and a main. The menu says the portion sizes are scaled back, but they seemed pretty large to us. Or maybe the 90+ F temp in the dining room affected our appetites...

I started with an avocado salad (which included tofu, tasty but odd for middle eastern food), followed by stewed baby okra, followed by (I think) a lamb dish that I don't see on the menu at the moment.

I'll let Jen describe her meal, as well as the dessert. Oh, and the service.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Sorry for the heat in the city -- believe me, even we city-dwellers are shocked!

[Jensen]

I'll let Jen describe her meal, as well as the dessert. Oh, and the service.

←

I started with the fattoush. It was fresh and cool and just the thing to combat the positively Stygian temperatures. (The accompanying Czechvar beer helped in that regard as well.)

My small plate consisted of beef kibbeh in a tomato-based sauce. It was very tasty but, as one might expect, served very hot. Probably wasn't the best choice, given the heat, but the flavour was very good nonetheless.

The real star of my dinner choices was the Crispy Couscous Tower. Triangular couscous cakes layered with fresh vegetables and a tomato-harissa sauce really hit the spot.

The disappointments for the evening were the dessert and the service. Dessert was something called "Slap Yo Mama", chocolate, fruit, and marzipan wrapped in phyllo pastry and baked. It sounded fabulous but the balance of ingredients was off with the chocolate overwhelming everything. Try as we might, we couldn't find any marzipan flavour in the dish.

The service was definitely the downer for the evening. It appeared that there were no set tables for any particular server and so we were often left waiting for service. Let's just say communication between servers is definitely not their strongpoint.

[Jensen]

Breakfast on Saturday morning was a true success.

We decided on breakfast at Canteen, the hotel's restaurant. As can be seen on the website, Canteen is very small, containing just four tables and six or seven counter spaces. All of their foods are made on-site, with the exception of things like ketchup/mustard-type condiments and their breads (which are brought in from a bakery).

My breakfast order was for "The Chupacabra", a dish of black beans (turtle beans? they were quite small) made with homemade chorizo, topped with grilled peppers, scrambled eggs, and a tomatillo-avocado salsa. It was truly fabulous.

I did add a little hot sauce to my plate, not to mask the flavour, but because I like to eat very hot things when the temperatures are high.

The joint was jumping but service was prompt and friendly.

Therese can tell you all about her breakfast choices...

Edited July 26, 2006 by Jensen (log)

[docsconz]

Bummer about the heat! I hope that it didn't effect your appetites too much. I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your adventures.

[therese]

Bummer about the heat! I hope that it didn't effect your appetites too much.

←

Heh heh. On the one hand I can definitely say that the heat affected our appetites. On the other hand I can assure you that we definitely did our best to combat the effect.

[therese]

The disappointments for the evening were the dessert and the service. Dessert was something called "Slap Yo Mama", chocolate, fruit, and marzipan wrapped in phyllo pastry and baked. It sounded fabulous but the balance of ingredients was off with the chocolate overwhelming everything. Try as we might, we couldn't find any marzipan flavour in the dish.

←

One of the nice servers (there were three, with two of them being nice and one of them just barely tolerant of the fact that there guests in the restaurant at all) actually comped this dessert. Given that we hadn't actually eaten much of it and did point out (when asked) that it was sort of, um, bleah, this wasn't a surprise but it was still pleasant.

The service was definitely the downer for the evening. It appeared that there were no set tables for any particular server and so we were often left waiting for service. Let's just say communication between servers is definitely not their strongpoint.

In their defense I'll say that they were also suffering from the heat, and the restaurant was busy.

[therese]

We decided on breakfast at Canteen, the hotel's restaurant. As can be seen on the website, Canteen is very small, containing just four tables and six or seven counter spaces...Therese can tell you all about her breakfast choices...

←

The decor at Canteen includes a nicely edited selection of thrift store flotsam and jetsam. Not so much that it feels dusty or untidy, just welcoming. Old books in shelves on the walls include a manual on growing marijuana and the 1961 Guide Michelin to Italy.

My breakfast the first day (ooh, foreshadowing...) was salt cod hash. Like corned beef hash, but with fish. Just the thing for a hangover, or heat exhaustion, or possibly both. Excellent fresh OJ, good coffee.

Service friendly and efficient.

Edited July 26, 2006 by therese (log)

[therese]

Events for the remainder of Saturday morning are a bit fuzzy. I'm pretty sure we managed to get in some more shopping (you can ask Jen about my shoe fetish) and then headed out to the Ferry Building. We took the F light rail train up Market to the Ferry Building. This ride is normally probably crowded but breezy. This particular day it was extraordinarily crowded and very hot, and the entire experience was enhanced by a very, very grumpy driver.

We'd hoped for a bit of breeze out by the water, but the air was still and the pavement sizzling. I bought some very ripe apricots, dried orange slices, and white peaches that had clearly been picked for shipping: I could have thrown them against the wall of the building without bruising them. In fact, come to think of it, the vendor actually dropped the bag on the pavement and they were unharmed. One was finally ripe enough yesterday to eat.

We decided to head inside where it was cooler. Or might have been cooler had the building been air-conditioned or ventilated in any way. Small purchases at Sur La Table and I Preferiti di Boriana, and lunch at MarketBar. Food and service were both excellent. I'll let Jen supply details.

[Jensen]

We decided to head inside where it was cooler. Or might have been cooler had the building been air-conditioned or ventilated in any way. Small purchases at Sur La Table and I Preferiti di Boriana, and lunch at MarketBar. Food and service were both excellent. I'll let Jen supply details.

←

Despite the lack of air conditioning, the temperature wasn't too bad in the MarketBar. Or maybe we were just becoming more and more inured to the heat...whatever!

My lunch choice was vitello tonnato and what a good choice it was! The oh-so-finely-sliced and flavourful veal was served on top of levain from Berkeley's Acme Bread and topped with a perfectly balanced sauce. It was accompanied by a cold salad of wax and green beans and halved cherry tomatoes.

More importantly, we managed to stave off heat exhaustion with a very chilly bottle of Grüner Veltliner.

Dessert for me was a summer pudding. I'd asked the server if it was a traditional summer pudding (i.e., made with bread) but she'd said no. I ordered it anyway and was very pleasantly surprised that it was indeed a real summer pudding. The server was happy to learn the difference (at least I think she was happy to know...).

I'm going to tag Therese for her lunch choices...partly because I don't remember them all but mostly because it's time to take another load over to the new house!

[therese]

More importantly, we managed to stave off heat exhaustion with a very chilly bottle of Grüner Veltliner.

←

Not only chilly, but an entire liter rather than a usual 750 mL bottle. I'd actually noticed this when we ordered, but Jen hadn't, so she got the thrill of realizing that we had another entire 250 mL of chilly white wine to go with our meal once the bottle arrived.

My lunch choice was vitello tonnato and what a good choice it was! The oh-so-finely-sliced and flavourful veal was served on top of levain from Berkeley's Acme Bread and topped with a perfectly balanced sauce. It was accompanied by a cold salad of wax and green beans and halved cherry tomatoes.

Here we illustrate we'd already known was a recurring theme: Jen and I were apparently separated at birth, being similar enough physically to be sisters, liking the same alcoholic beverages, and almost invariably honing in on the exact same dishes on any menu. Fortunately we were able to work things out, and she got the vitello tonnato (which not a traditional prep, so some day I'll have to make her my version) and I got something else.

Precisely what the something else was I'm having some trouble recalling, and whether that's due to the heat, the wine, or just my advanced years I can't really say. I do know that I got two starters, one being deviled eggs with crab and the other being sardines with something or other. They were both excellent, but I can't give you any more detail.

I'm also quite sure that I got dessert (because I always get dessert) but have absolutely no recall of the details. I do remember Jen's summer pudding, so perhaps Jen knows what I had for dessert.

[docsconz]

Extreme heat and wine - a deadly combination

[Jensen]

I'm also quite sure that I got dessert (because I always get dessert) but have absolutely no recall of the details. I do remember Jen's summer pudding, so perhaps Jen knows what I had for dessert.

←

I do remember! It was the Rhum Baba.

After lunch, we returned to the hotel for yet another attempt at cooling off before dinner. Our reservations for dinner were at Canteen and, after our phenomenal breakfast there on Saturday morning, we were very much looking forward to it.

We'd intended to have a cocktail at the Red Room, the lounge attached to the Commodore, but it was late in opening so we wandered down the street to another Joie de Vivre property, the Hotel Rex. The lounge was very hot and so we asked if we might have our cocktails in their restaurant, Café Andrée. As with the staff at the Commodore, the Hotel Rex people were more than happy to accommodate us.

We each had a house Cosmopolitan (a "Rex-mopolitan" maybe?) and then headed back up the street for dinner.

My entree was halibut served over something that escapes my memory with a green sauce under it and chimichurri sauce (I think) on top. Even if I can't remember the exact details, I do know that it was very tasty.

Dinner was accompanied by an icy rosé.

My dessert was vanilla souffle. I had to confess that I'd never had souffle before. I can't think of a better introduction to them than the one I had...it was really lovely.

[therese]

I do remember! It was the Rhum Baba.

←

Ah, yes, it's all coming back to me now. A single large baba. Very nice.

My dinner at Canteen was two starters: corn soup, following by lamb confit. My dessert was peach and polenta cake, which I liked, but would have preferred if the polenta part had been a tad less dry and the peach part a tad bit riper/softer.

Service at dinner pleasant and efficient, just like breakfast (but different staff).

Faced with the prospect of returning to our toasty room or sitting someplace public within arm's length of a breeze, we elected the latter and so did eventually get to check out Red Room. It's less intensely red inside than the picture suggests, and because it's small and has a large front door (which we sat right inside) open to the sidewalk it was reasonably cool later in the evening.

[therese]

Extreme heat and wine -  a deadly combination

←

And yet, weirdly enough, I didn't have even a twinge of a hangover (despite my comment about the curative properties salt cod hash upthread) the entire time I was there. My theory is that we were drinking so much water that we just flushed every last ketone away.

[docsconz]

Extreme heat and wine -  a deadly combination

←

And yet, weirdly enough, I didn't have even a twinge of a hangover (despite my comment about the curative properties salt cod hash upthread) the entire time I was there. My theory is that we were drinking so much water that we just flushed every last ketone away.

←

This is one of the reasons I take photos and post them in reports. They help me remember things that would otherwise have been long gone even when it isn't hot out.

[Jensen]

I'm happy to say that I never had a hangover all weekend either. We did take in a LOT of water though...

Sunday was another hot day in the city and, because of that, we nixed our plans of museum-hopping via public transit (see Therese's above comment re: the F line journey to the Ferry Building) in favour of a foot tour of Chinatown and more girl stuff (read: shopping).

As we strolled down the streets of Chinatown, a man came out of his shop, berating passersby to Come in! Sit down! This isn't a tea house, this is a tea BAR! We're mean here...

Of course, we went in and sat down at Vital Tea Leaf's tea bar.

The next hour or so was spent tasting many different teas, hearing about their "medicinal" properties, learning how to prepare tea, how to serve it, and more. I ended up buying two types of tea: Lichee Black and Wild Puer. The former should make some incredible iced tea and the latter is a delicious, earthy tea.

I've since read reviews that claim the shop is over-priced. However, I do know that the Lichee Black I purchased is of a much higher quality than the Lichee Black in my cupboard.

After our tea tasting, we moved on to dim sum at the New Asia Restaurant. What can I say? We ordered far too much food and ate way too much. My measure of a dim sum restaurant is the freshness of their har gow and the New Asia definitely measured up.

[therese]

Of course, we went in and sat down at Vital Tea Leaf's tea bar...I've since read reviews that claim the shop is over-priced. However, I do know that the Lichee Black I purchased is of a much higher quality than the Lichee Black in my cupboard.

←

Over-priced or not, the very pleasant wooden bar (with a rotating fan perched so that moved across us at frequent intervals) and multiple tiny cups of tea were a welcome respite from the heat. There is selling of the tea involved, but it's a pretty soft sell if you don't mind just smiling and nodding aimlessly while listening to a lecture on tea. And very pretty tea at that.

After our tea tasting, we moved on to dim sum at the New Asia Restaurant. What can I say? We ordered far too much food and ate way too much. My measure of a dim sum restaurant is the freshness of their har gow and the New Asia definitely measured up.

New Asia was recommended by the staff at Vital Tea. We were early, so no wait for our small party when we arrived , and we fortunately scored a table on the main level (rather than the mezzanine upstairs, where conditions were positively tropical).

Embarassing as it is, I think we should try and list the items we ordered.

Jen's mentioned har gow. I'll add gai lan, siu mai, dan tarts, and chestnut cake.

Jen?

[therese]

Cheong fan with shrimp

Char siu (served with a little dish of peanuts on the side)

Fish balls

Rice cake with vegetables (I've never seen these at dim sum---they're basically diagonal slices of mochi, and the brand I buy at home is Korean)

[Jensen]

I think you got everything but the chicken...steamed in a mild sauce. I've never had that dish before so I don't know the name of it but it was good.

[therese]

I think you got everything but the chicken...steamed in a mild sauce. I've never had that dish before so I don't know the name of it but it was good.

←

Hmm... Seems like there was something else, though what it could be I can't imagine. As it was we'd gotten a ridiculous amount of food.

We skipped lunch.

We'd planned on visiting the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design, but we'd walked by it earlier and noticed that the front door was open. So I called the museum to see whether or not it was air conditioned, and the young woman who answered the phone said that it wasn't. So then I asked how warm it was inside the museum and she replied "72 degrees." And since that was either a lie or the product of delusional thought, we instead spent the afternoon out of the sun, in our room, with cold wet wash clothes and the fan.

[therese]

So, refreshed from our afternoon naps, we ventured out for dinner. Jen had booked someplace nearby but had been having second thoughts, and then we thought perhaps Japanese but after our morning in Chinatown we decided that we wanted something not Asian, so I suggested a place I'd been previously with my husband, Ti Couz. It's a creperie located in the Mission, and I first went there probably 10 years ago, and apparently remains wildly popular.

We took a cab, arriving at about 7:00 to find a not-too-long wait list. We considered waiting for an outdoor table, but in the end scored a really great seats inside, at a table in the large bay window, so the best of the evening breeze (well, what there was of it) and the twee Breton-esque interior.

I have a weakness for savory buckwheat crepes and a weakness for French cidre sec, and Ti Couz offers both. Jen and I both started with a cold soup, mango gazpacho (which also included a fair amount of jicama and cilantro, so a touch of local color), and then I moved on to a crepe with ham, tomato, and egg. I took some time specifying that the egg be sunny side up, runny yolk, and it was about as close to same as you can get in the U.S. The ham was unfortunately directly from a deli pack, rounded square edges and all, but you can't have everything.

The dessert crepes are made with white wheat flour, and I asked for chestnut flambeed with Grand Marnier. The chestnut cream was extra sweet, and they forgot to flambee it, but I ate it anyway.

Cidre bouche to drink. Oh, I just remembered that we had a really great cocktail before dinner, a specialty made with blackberry puree, served up. Delicious.

[Jensen]

I built my crepe order by adding organic tomatoes to the smoked salmon crepe (which is served with creme fraiche and chopped scallions). In a word...yum!

My dessert crepe was the Belle Helene: pears, chocolate, and topped with ice cream. It was not quite as successful as the savoury crepe with the pears adding texture but no flavour. Of course, that didn't stop me from eating it all...

I've since learned that there is a creperie here in Sacto so I'm already trying to figure out ways to get there to try them out!

Our last meal in the city was another breakfast, again at Canteen. As Therese mentioned above, we seemed to consistently choose the same menu items but, for this meal, I declared that I didn't care if we ordered the same thing.

And so we did ... corned beef hash made with the usual ingredients and topped with three perfectly poached eggs. The corned beef was made in house and so mercifully lacked the shocking pink of "industrial" corned beef. It actually looked like beef and, for the first time in my life, I added just a wee sprinkle of salt to my hash.

For me, it was a great end to a fabulous weekend...

[Jensen]

I was able to experience a lot of "firsts" on this weekend in the city...

* my first souffle (what took me so long?)

* my first Cosmopolitan (a little sweet to become a new beverage of choice but a nice option as an aperitif)

* my first taste of buckwheat crepes (yum!)

* my first taste of French cider (having grown up drinking Canadian and English cider, the drier, more wine-like French cider was a real treat for me! Does anyone know if it's available in Sacramento...maybe Corti Bros?)

[therese]

For me, it was a great end to a fabulous weekend...

←

Ditto. Great weekend all around.

I did neglect to leave out the coffee place across the street from the hotel, Cafe Bean. We just had coffee (before heading out to Chinatown on Sunday AM), but there's some sort of Dutch influence (based on wall signs) that we didn't get a chance to investigate.