Category Archives: SF Bay Area

Kaiser Half Marathon 2012

Murphy Windmill Friend - Great Hwy and Lincoln

I have to admit being nervous for the Kaiser race. I think it might have been because this was my first “big” race of the season – I hadn’t run an official Half since last November’s Quarry Turkey race. Then, I had jumped from my longest training run of 9 miles to a 13.2+ mile race. I did decently, finishing at 2:11:27 (though I had secretly hoped to come in under or around 2:10).

I had signed up for Surf City initially, which fell on the same date as the Kaiser Half. Though what was distinctive about Surf City was that the website was up and fully-featured in October, and Kaiser’s remained blankly, enigmatically silent until sometime in the new year. So, chomping at the bit and wanting to have a goal to strive to match DD’s Marathon on March 4th, I signed up for what I thought was going to be my first Half in Southern California on Feb 5th, 2012.  And then Kaiser announced itself. Continue reading →

Share

A Trip to Napa

Gorgeous Wine Country

San Francisco’s proximity to the Napa Valley is another one of the zillion reasons as to why we love living in the SF Bay Area. However, DD did not choose his first marathon to run exclusively because it was in Napa. He chose it based on  a friend’s recommendation that it was a fast, downhill course, excellent for beginner marathoners – and it fell pretty much on a date ideal for his goal of completing a marathon before he turned the big 3-0.

Part of the training plan involved running part of the course before the Big Day (March 4th), so DD chose the weekend of his 18-miler, which also conveniently fell on the MLK Day holiday, to head up. For those of you curious about a marathon (or half) training plan, DD and I generally run at least 2 short runs during the work week (3-5 miles each), and make sure to never skip a long run on the weekends. Long runs start at 3 miles and increase by a mile or so a week. If you are marathoning, once you get up into the teens, you can drop down every other week until you reach 20 miles. After DD reaches his 20 miles, he starts a gradual 3-week taper period where weekly mileage gradually decreases to leave him in strong, tip-top shape for the main event. Continue reading →

Share

Blue Plate Redux

Blue Plate Entrance

One of my favourite restaurants in town, I’ve been going to Blue Plate since it opened in 1999 and began serving its wonderful, hearty neo-American fare with plays on old classics like Meatloaf and Fried Chicken. Today, it can still pack in a crowd, so that last-minute reservations on a Friday night yielded only a 9:15 opening, but we were able to get seated around 9 or so by arriving around 8:45 and waiting for a couple of the counter seats.

Continue reading →

Share

Wakuriya

DD pointing at some Monterey Pines

Ok, I’ll admit it, Wakuriya only hit our radar after it received its first Michelin star. I have a horrible fault of usually turning a blind eye (with a few exceptions) to anything south of San Francisco, preferring to focus on wine country or Oakland/ Berkeley instead. DD had tried to get reservations before, but had called too late for a birthday dinner.

We wish we had gotten to Wakuriya sooner. I’d go every month if we could.

Continue reading →

Share

flour+water Tomato Dinner

Plating in the Dough Room

flour+water had been popular right out of the gate, spurred by a buzz going even before it opened – with Chef Thomas McNaughton boasting a resume listing La Folie, Quince and Gary Danko; a number of stages at Michelin-starred establishments in Europe, including an artisinal pasta apprenticeship: “…basically Tom and a bunch of old ladies with rolling pins…” according to David White, one of the partners at f+w.

DD and I have been jonesing to go back to flour+water but trying to get a decent online reservation in advance lately has been quite difficult. On 98% of my attempts, I’ve usually encountered nothing earlier before 10pm. Once in a while, if I looked out far enough, I’d spot a listing for 9:15 or 9:30pm. For a Tuesday or Wednesday. Sheesh! They opened in May of 2009, and 2 months thereafter garnered 3 stars from The Chronicle’s Michael Bauer. Accolades followed from the other local food press, and soon there was even a blurb in the New York Times. The restaurant purportedly holds back 1/2 of their seats for walk-ins, but we’ve been hesitant to try this tactic, not being from the immediate neighbourhood.

Continue reading →

Share

Saison

Saison

Saison’s website proclaims that there is no dress code, and urges folks to “come as you are.” While the food is elevated, there’s a nice dichotomy between the white-tablecloth cuisine and the service and warmth of the staff. We had finally made it – after a couple of years and one pop-up when Chef Skenes was away.

How to describe Saison with words of praise that have already been said in a style far better than mine? DD and I had a wonderful meal here, full of beautiful and delicious moments.  Sometimes, it might be better to just let the food speak for itself.

Continue reading →

Share

Masala Dosa

Masala Dosa Interior

Along with a plethora Japanese restaurants, we also have a good number of Indian/ Pakistani eateries in my neighborhood. Curry Village’s arrival last year was the latest entry to the Inner Sunset, with stalwarts Naan ‘n Curry and Masala Indian Cuisine holding down in their location for many years. Masala Dosa replaced the Pakistani Tasty Curry on 9th that we never managed to visit; we had tried Curry Village once and found their dishes too sweet; Naan n’ Curry fell out of our favour in recent years.

But Masala Dosa seems like a great addition to our neighborhood, and our lunch there indicated that we’d be returning to it as our Indian place of choice in the future.

Continue reading →

Share

Sushi Kazu

Sushi Kazu Omakase

Sushi Kazu has got to be one of the more underrated sushi-yas in the tightly packed and well-curated commercial area that is the best part of my neighborhood in the Inner Sunset. Restaurants and shoppes are thickest between 6th and 10th on Irving, and in that radius there are no less than five sushi restaurants, and further down on Irving and 15th, there are exactly three Japanese restaurants (not necessarily sushi, though) located within one block. Continue reading →

Share

Halu

Halu Skewers

In the dark, walking on the sidewalk towards the restaurant, it can be easy to miss Halu’s door, if not for the small bench outside, groups of folks milling about, the shoji screens covering up part of the windows, and the numerous items plastered on the door and windows – most are old concert flyers and menu pages, advertising the bill of fare; others are clearly warning notices – unless you’re truly, awfully oblivious – you’d see that Halu definitely does not serve any sushi in any form, nohow, nowhere. “No Sushi Today (or Tomorrow),” the signs proclaim; and “Sushi Free Zone” just for good measure.

Halu’s popularity a good sign that the lack of sushi is clearly not a problem. Continue reading →

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Share