Culinary Muse

A Trip to the Country

It is astonishing to realize how quickly we San Franciscans can travel from our bustling urban environment to bucolic countryside. With a car, a full tank of gas and a designated driver we can eat and drink away a day or two at great wineries in beautiful settings and avoid the weekend crowds.  Here are the highlights of a recent mid-week trip to the Russian River Valley and Point Reyes.

 Roshambo, named after the game Rock Paper Scissors, is a winery for the 21^st Century.  It is sleek and modern with a jaw dropping view of the Russian River and Dry Creek Valleys.  Good wine, fun art, terrific tasting room staff. I especially like the part of their brochure where they explain that the gallery, tasting room and commercial kitchen are available for private parties – “everything but weddings”. These people are not stupid. We bought four bottles of wine and headed west on Westside Road.

Why I bought the $6 eggs

I envied those chickens. What a great place to live! The first time I saw their happy chicken faces was in May.  D and I were driving out to McClure's Beach in Point Reyes - one of my favorite places on earth, next to San Francisco, Paris and Big Sur.  The beach is at the end of Pierce Point Road - the very last beach at the end of the line.  Signs along the road read 'A Ranch, B Ranch, H Ranch'.  All of them original and historic ranches from the 1800's.  Beautiful grazing land, lots of cows, a few steers and, wait, are those chickens?  Fluffy white puffs with red heads strolling along the wide-open landscape.  My immediate thought was 'why aren't they flying away?".  We pulled the car over and got out.  Near the chickens were Darth Vader like huts.  For the shepherds?   Searching my back file of somewhat limited chicken knowledge I was trying to recall how the chickens in my grandmother's yard in Oakland, California had lived.  Seems to me they had a coop.  I don't remember any chickens free ranging it in Oakland.  And then I remembered her chicken's eggs. Those amazing eggs with the orange yolks.  Fresh eggs with firm whites. Eggs of substance.  You could eat just one of those eggs and be satisfied. 

Summer Vacation Starts Today!

Crissy Field and San Francisco Bay were eerily empty this morning.  There were hardly any sailboats on the bay and just a few surfers trying to catch a swell under the bridge.  I hadn’t realized how many of the morning walkers must be Moms (and Dads) who squeeze in a walk between dropping the kids off at school and work or shopping or whatever parents do in the 21^st century in order to keep their families healthy and happy.  Frankly, I don’t know how my ‘Mom’ friends do it.  Between baseball games and homework and ballet lessons and yoga lessons I am exhausted just thinking about it.  I hope that they are getting to relax this week.  No carpools.  No uniforms to press.  No lost homework to find.  But, there is still dinner to prepare.  Forget the pizza.  Here are a couple healthier alternatives:

Swanky Night on the Town, 1950s Style

What’s the best way to extend the excitement of a day of vintage shopping at the ART DECO AND MODERNISM show this weekend? A glamorous night on the town, 1950s style!

From cocktails on the top of posh Nob Hill to dinner at an elegant restaurant at the foot of Russian Hill, it is still possible to have a swanky 1950s era evening out in this city that prides itself on innovative cuisine.

Dry martinis are served ice cold. Salty cocktail nuts (no peanuts, thank you) are served from small silver nut bowls. The bartender knows your name and your ‘usual’.

Resembling a scene out of Vertigo, The Big Four cocktail lounge in the Huntington Hotel is one of the last places in San Francisco where well-dressed men still wear jackets with ties and chic women can wear mink coats. The private men’s club feeling here is helped along by dark wood paneling, deep green leather banquettes and a roaring fireplace.