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Monday, January 18, 2010

The Other City

One of the first things Sarah said to me when she met me at the airport in San Francisco was that in the Bay area, SF is "the city."  I think she knows me and my NYC-centric nature a little too well!  I got over being a New Yorker and actually did manage to refer to SF as "the city" once or twice.  (Don't worry, New York, you're still THE city in my eyes! <3)

But I had the most wonderful time in SF this weekend and absolutely cannot wait to come back.  Sarah was trying oh-so-hard to recruit me to move there, and I can't say that I'm not thinking about it.  I LOVED SF and think it's actually a great match for me.  We'll see... ;)

I know I'm skipping over a bunch of things I said I'd write about... like the cruise and a fabulous dinner party, but I'm still excited about San Francisco, so I want to get to it!

Starting with... Brenda's Soul Food!  It was recommended by two separate people, so I figured it had to be tried.  Alex and I braved the notoriously sketchy Tenderloin district for our first SF meal.  (Fine, our 2nd SF meal... we went to Whole Foods for dinner and snacks when we arrived on Thursday night, of course!)  It.was.AMAZING.  Everything was like buttah!  Would totally make Paula Deen proud.

Alex and I had gone for a nice hilly run in the morning (complete with a double Ghirardelli tasting), so I had worked up a pretty serious appetite.  It felt so good to run!  The weather was mild, and the marina was so pretty.  We did about 4 miles plus some hill-walking, and no knee aches!  Some shin splints from the hills, but nothing too bad.  Yay!

I ordered the goat cheese and shrimp omelet with grits and a biscuit.



And then I spent the rest of the day weekend talking about it.  The omelettey outside is hiding the good stuff, but there were shrimp, caramelized onions, and a ton of goat cheese inside, and it was covered with this bacon tomato relish amazingness.  The grits were SO creamy and rich, and the biscuit was, according to Alex, a southern girl at heart, the best biscuit she'd ever had.  The way it flaked!  Oh, SF was off to a good foodie start.



At every table there was a different type of homemade jam.  Ours was apricot or peach.  Not sure.  But it was incredible.  Juicy and fresh and chunks of real fruit.



I was told I had to get the chocolate beignets, but there was no way I could eat another bite.  So I got them to go!  I nuked one later that night for dessert.  Chocolate heaven.  Didn't get a pic because they were not as attractive a few hours later, but still so so tasty.  This place is a must-go.

After our amazing brunch/lunch, we headed over to the National rental car station and picked up a car for our adventure up to Sonoma County to meet the one and only Jenna!  The smell of beignets filled the car, which was both amazing and such a tease, but we made it up to Healdsburg with the help of Ursula, our bossy little GPS.  We met Jenna for some awesome fro yo in the adorable little town of Healdsburg.  I was taken back to my dreams of being a Murphy Goode employee... sigh.

Anyway, we had so much fun chatting with Jenna about boys, food, blogs, and life in Cali.  Thanks so much for meeting us, Jenna!



I thought I could use a little caffeine for the drive back, so we stopped in at the Flying Goat afterward for a lowfat latte.  SO strong, and SO good!  And so much prettier before I delved in.



It had been like a little fern or something.  Did the trick and kept me awake for the drive!  Phew.

After returning Ursula and the car, we headed over to another Jenna-rec: La Mediterranee.



Alex and I were so ready for some veggies.  We split a salmon kebab with amazing rice and a truly unique chicken lemon soup, and the Salad Mediterranee, which I am modeling for you.



Does it look like a giant mess of veggie salads and legumes?  Good, because it was.  And it was awesome.  We passed on dessert and then went home (Sarah's apt) for some tea and microwaved beignets.  Mmmmm...

In the interest of not having killer long posts, I'm going to split up the weekend into a few posts.  Check in soon!

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