March 31, 2009

How to sum up last week? Well, it was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Let’s start with the good stuff, like the dinner at Ottimista Enoteca with Gemma, the visiting Piemontese chef. Her rabbit with peppers dish, and the dessert of meringata, an incredible bowl o’ crunchy meringue topped with fresh whipped cream and torrone crumbles, are still on my mind. Lovely company on the patio that night, good wines, a grand time.

And as I hoped, my mini-trip to Sonoma could not have come at a better moment. Let’s just say Campari, rosé, and sun block figured prominently. Saturday night I was back in the City celebrating whiskey, and then walked over to Boulevard for a stellar late-night dinner of appetizers. The menu has one of the larger lists of apps I have seen in a while (try 13). The entire meal was so on point, from the slow-roasted black cod with a square of pork belly to the quail wrapped in house-cured bacon, stuffed with duck Merguez and paired with tabbouleh-like quinoa. Most of the apps hover around $16—why not sit at the bar with a friend and eat your way through four starters together? It would be a total tour de flavor.

Sunday I had brunch with my mom at the new DOSA on Fillmore (just like her daughter, she is now a slave for pani puri!), and then we did a City Guides walking tour of Victorians around Pacific Heights. Have you ever taken one of these tours? I’ve done four now, and have totally loved them all. Best of all, it’s volunteer- and donation-based, so it’s easy on your pocket.

Now, for the sad news: my recovered photo library is like a game of 52 Card Pickup. I have thousands (and I means thousands, like 90,000) jpeg files to go through. Yes, I am so damned lucky that I am getting a lot of my data back, but dag, my photo library is now one big jumble of files, with no names, no dates, no folders, nada. Those are a lot of food and drink photos with no i.d., people. Try six years’ worth.

Suffice to say, there was no way to piece together some pictures for a review this week, so I am just submitting a bunch of mini updates of restaurants I have already written about. We’ll have to see what shape things are in for next week as well. I might have to start a photo game of “Name That Dish.” (No joke.)

Thanks to Erin who wrote a hardhat featuring RN74 this week, so you will have a few new pictures to look at.

In closing, let me put it to you this way: have a backup of your computer and any external hard drives, people. And then make a backup of the backups. I wish this was an April Fool’s Day joke on me, but alas, it’s too damned real. Le sigh. Obviously, I have a lot of B.S. filing to get to, so let’s get crackin’.

Mreow.

~Marcia (rhymes with Garcia)