Oh glorious 3 day weekends, what lovely little gifts you are. A long weekend, followed by a short week: what a fantastic notion! If only every week could be a 4 day week. Anyway, this past weekend was a phenomenal celebration of food here in San Francisco–Slow Food Nation. According to the festival’s site, it was the largest celebration of food in American history and while I partook in wandering Saturday’s open air market in Civic Center, I spent the majority of my weekend taking advantage of amazing weather and lounging on the beach. That said, I ate a delicious sandwich from Mario Batali’s father’s Seattle deli, tried some heirloom apples and grapes, tasted jalapeno sauerkraut, a range of cheeses and a new brand of never-before-tried kombucha. Overall, it was a lovely way to spend my Saturday. I was impressed by the variety of heirloom offerings (I had never heard of heirloom melons and rice!), but was unimpressed by the prices. Despite the decent tags on strawberries and apples, I was not ready and willing to spend $15 on goat cheese. Speaking of which, you MUST try Trader Joe’s goat cheese brie. It is a luscious and creamy and an absolute bargain. Can’t wait to make an open faced sandwich with, what else, figs of course.
My foodie weekend continued at two new restaurant destinations: Limon’s new Rotisserie and Aperto in Potrero Hill. I had first visited the original Limon a few years ago at its Valencia post and was very excited to give this new South Van Ness spot a go. My hopes and dreams were very much fulfilled! Great cozy atmosphere, amazing roast chicken, perfect ceviche and delicious sides such as sweet potato mash with hangar steak and yuca fries. Even the bread comes with two delicious dipping sauces. And the sangria! A pitcher of it sealed the deal for me. I will definitely be going back.
Also took advantage of having a Zipcar and hit up a neighborhood I’ve never found myself in (Potrero Hill) to check out cozy little Italian trattoria, Aperto. The space was very romantic and inviting (yellow awning!) and as I watched the surrounding tables’ portions come out, I was blown away by the size to price ratio (great deal!) We split the watermelon salad with pistachios, pickled onions, cucumbers and toasted riccota salata, which was absolutely delicious and refreshing with a glass of pinot grigio. I also had the night’s fish special–halibut with mushrooms, artichokes and tomatoes. The halibut was perfectly cooked and tender. Overall, the meal was quite good, but not necessary something I’d go back for. Not sure what it was, but I feel like something was missing (certainly not fresh focaccia). But, I don’t know. It was just…good. But it definitely didn’t elicit the same kinds of emotions I had after leaving Limon the previous night. I didn’t feel the need to linger for dessert and zipped off to Bi-Rite to get my fill of Mexican Chocolate ice cream.
Yesterday, we headed out to Bodega Bay and enjoyed a leisurely hike between 2 nestled beaches and laid out on the blackish sand for a few hours before hiking back and heading back to the city. Back when I lived in sunny San Diego, I remember lounging on the beach for hours with my sociology readers at hand. I rarely get out to the beach here and having the sun blast on my face, sunglasses smeared with sunblock lotion was just so refreshing. I kept having these moments of deja vu of pulling out of the parking lot at La Jolla Shores, early evening sun creating a shadow on the car seats, wind blowing through my frizzy hair. I’m more than looking forward to catching up with friends this weekend in San Diego and rekindling that good old feeling.
