San Francisco: a Foodie Heaven

The Bay Area has been such a great place to eat and drink this summer. The food is of such high quality; it’s so satisfying and fresh! This post will be all about eating and drinking (I swear I do some other stuff, too…).

Last Thursday (7/14) I met one of my friends from Harvard at Bar Adagio in San Francisco for their monthly Cocktail College. A promoter from VeeV (a young company that makes the first acai berry spirits and is the only carbon neutral spirits company) presented their product, which is like vodka but smoother and slightly fruity. Then the mixologist from Bar Adagio demonstrated how to make three cocktails, and afterwards we all got to learn how to make them ourselves. I made the plum first by shaking up an egg white (which made the drink frothy) and then mixing it with VeeV, allspice (cloves) simple syrup and plums. It was sweet and delicious, although it was a little bit cloying to drink during a warm summer day. It would be a great springtime drink I think. My favorite drink of the day was “the Watering Hole.” I made it by muddling (i.e. lightly smushing to release the flavors) basil leaves and a small piece of jalepeno. Then I added fresh watermelon juice (which was so delicious, I wanted to just drink a glass of it alone) and VeeV. At first it was way too spicy, but more basil and watermelon juice fixed that and it ended up being a complex and flavorful cocktail that was perfectly refreshing. Yum!

With our Watering Hole concoctions

My friend also brought her friend (who goes to Columbia), and she is working in sustainability, too. It was really fun to get to talk to her.

On Saturday my friend Steph (who is VP of the Seneca) arrived. She stayed with me for a few days so she could gather some information from UC Berkeley’s archives for her senior thesis. We met in downtown Berkeley at the Saturday farmers’ market to pick up some produce to bring to Polly and Alex’s house for our big lobster roll celebration in honor of their birthdays. We met Polly in San Rafael and stopped at Whole Foods to get some last minute ingredients. We were famished, though, and got distracted by delicious samples rosemary ciabatta.

Polly and I put together a delicious menu, and everyone pitched in to get the food ready.

Menu:

Farmers’ Market Heirloom Tomatoes and Avocado

With Black Pepper and Olive Oil Drizzle

Mussels Steamed With Diced Tomatoes and Spices

Crostini With Artichoke Dip

Asian-Inspired Cabbage Slaw With Mint and Cilantro

Open Face Lobster Rolls

(Fresh Maine Lobster From the Sterns)

Mayonnaise Version; Butter Version

Chocolate Soufflé Cake From Tartine’s

Served With Farmers’ Market Strawberries

Drinks:

Beers, Wines

Alisa, Willem and Guus also joined us. Guus was adorable! He took a while to warm up to me, but Steph was the baby whisperer.

We ended up having way more food than we could possibly eat, but everything was so delicious! Good food and good company.

After dinner, we played Dixit (a game too complicated to describe, but is basically a pictoral version of Apples to Apples). The best part of the game was when Steph called the category “Pippa Middleton” and all of the men had NO IDEA what that meant. I’m not surprised they hadn’t watched the Royal Wedding, but I would have thought you would have had to been living under a rock not to hear that name over the past months.

Finally it was time to head home (it was, after all, WAY past Guus’s bedtime). Alisa and Willem dropped us off in the city, and we took the BART back to Berkeley. Of course we had to make a pit stop at Jupiter, the favored bar of the summer, on our way home, but we ended up being too tired (or more like too full!) to really consume anything else.

On Sunday I showed Steph around Berkeley and the campus. It was a hot day by Bay Area summer standards (not so much compared to the heat wave sweeping the East Coast, though) so we stopped at CREAM (STANDS FOR WHAT?) and shared a gourmet ice cream cookie sandwich. The cookies were so fresh they were still hot and gooey, and they made the ice cream soft and extra creamy as it melted. Definitely a worthwhile indulgence.

Later on we walked down to Whole Foods, which was fitting because I often talk to her on the phone when I’m grocery shopping there and get caught up on our respective summers. It’s been so nice to have her here in the flesh instead!

We got all the necessary ingredients to make some crostini from Bon Apetit’s crostini article. We made bruschetta using beautiful cherry tomatoes in every color: red, orange, yellow, and purple. We ate them while they were still warm, heaped over a piece of toast with goat cheese. It was so delicious!

The other ones we made were: (1) fig spread with goat cheese and prosciutto, and (2) goat cheese and fresh farmers’ market peaches.

To get more veggies, we roasted some zucchini and now Steph understands why I’m obsessed with Pensey’s Spices’ Sandwich Sprinkle.

When we were (finally) done eating, we sat around talking about how much we were dreading going back to eating college food. It’s been so great to cook for myself and eat whatever I want, whenever I am hungry for it. I am really really REALLY not looking forward to my return to HUDS (Harvard University Dining Services). Plus, I’ll really miss all the great produce and restaurants out here.