Take out dinner. Cheeseboard Pizza's pie of the day, salad, blue cheese, fresh figs, and a bottle of Columbia County Cabernet.
Digital photography fine points being discussed at the DeYoung cafe
Today we headed into SF to see the Turner exhibit at the DeYoung Museum. After seeing the recent movie, we were particularly interested to see this collection of his late work. We enjoyed the show and also the new DeYoung building which also has a ninth floor observation deck with beautiful vistas of Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, and the Mouth of the Bay.
Jo found a new photo gallery in San Francisco on the Embarcadero. It is quite large-- about 15 rooms of various sizes. It's free but you have to have an appointment. They have 3 two hour slots each day and only give 20 appointments for each slot. There was only one appointment available all week and I grabbed it.
The show was the work of one photographer, Paul Graham. It was conceptually intersting--- a lot about how we see --- and particularly how we tend to blind ourselves to the poor. But I didn't love the photos. It was amazing to be in the space though and I enjoyed some SF wandering and photoing afterward.
- Linda
This billboard caught my eye today.
For the afternoon, we all went our separate ways. I decided on a walk along the Marina and then a stroll around the neighborhood. The "tree art" is something some passing artist made with the skins and pits of mangos- culturally appropriate because there is a significant South Asian
community in this area.
Back in the 1970s before anyone had heard of California Cuisine or the Slow Food movement, Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley. Now the area has turned into a foodie Mecca with several restaurants and food shops and a farmer's market once a week. Today Jo and I went to one of the nearby places - Saul's Deli where they try to walk the line between maintaining the Jewish deli experience and following farm to table principles of fresh food, locally sourced (for a discussion of how complicated it is to maintain the balance, see this link: http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/a-summit-on-the-future-of-the-deli/?_r=0)
We sat down to corn beef on rye, salad, fresh babaganoush and peach pie. Unfortunately we were so enthused about our food that it was gone before we remembered to take a picture. But we did pause to take a snap of the pie which was excellent. Afterwards we hit one of the other pilgrimage spots - the Cheeseboard Cooperative where we sampled several beutiful cheeses including fresh cream cheese, Humboldt Fog, and a young Manchego. We also picked up some high quality olive oil and bread dor tomorrow's culinary adventures.
On the way home from dinner we took a stroll through our little neighborhood. I'm always struck by the extraordinary variety of plant life here. When my family first arrived here in the late 60s, my mother said she felt like she'd awoken in some fairytale where the magic seeds got out of control ( no not that kind).
Thank you to all concerned about our little morning wake up tremor, but we are completely fine, not scared, just taking in the full Californis experience. Today we went over to the nearby Fourth Street, an area that used to be an indstrial district, but has now been converted to shops, restaurants and galleries. We had breakfast at Cafe M followed by a wander through the shops. By then we were ready for more of our signature lounging. After restorative naps, we were ready to plan our next adventure. However we spent so long discussing options for dinner and entertainment that we ran out of steam. So we ended up back at the Casa Latina to sample more of their menu. Pictured are the pollo asado quesadilla and the fish tacos. Both excellent.
Well, we're getting the full Bay Area experience on this trip. No alarm clock needed today - got a jolt out of bed with a 4.0 earthquake. Not the long scary kind. Just a big jolt as if a truck had slammed into the house. Then done. Went through the old familar sequence, "What the .... .?" followed by "Oh, I know what that was". Jo and I met in the kitchen for a high five. Linda shuffled out if bed with a quizzical look on her face. All fine. Just a reminder that we're not in Brooklyn anymore.