Anniversary treats

We spent our 30th anniversary in San Francisco with one truly great meal and a couple of new discoveries. The night was spent at the Clift which was too hip for our tastes. We got an upgrade to this oddly shaped studio with a small living room and then bedroom with another small room by its side. There are curtains and mirrors all over the place and "cool" but uncomofrtable furniture. The bed and sheets were very comfy tho. We had been to the old Clift and missed it. The Philippe Starck touch did not touch me.

But dinner at Ame in the St. Regis across from SFMOMA was sublime. I thought I would be disappointed after our great meal at Delfina but this was a totally different experience. I got the tasting menu, 5 courses for $85 with matching wines for $65-- worth every cent. Sheila got appetizers and dessert with 3 wines/sakes by the glass. First course was 3 sashimis--a fresh halibut crudo, a red ocean trout, and himachi. Each had its own tiny accompaniments. Sheila had Campechana, a ceviche-like assortment of seafood in an incredible tomato water gelee with hints of chile pepper. Sublime. My next course was a sweet corn soup with a lobster hushpuppy-- very fresh, inetense corn taste served with a lovely Foxen Chenin Blanc (I've got to buy some of that). Sheila then had ezo abalone with padrone peppers and mushrooms and other goodies--there were 5 small abalones, which I thougt wa spretty impressive for $17.
I then got the signature Broiled Sake Marinated Alaskan Black Cod and Shrimp Dumplings in Shiso Broth and it was fantastic. We had this years ago at Terra, their sister restaurant in St. Helena, and have fond memories now refreshed. Light with intense flavor served with a Volnay, surprisingly appropriate. My last entree was Kurabata pork chop with a foie gras sauce, very tender, very delicious. Sheila's last course was Chawan-Mushi, a Japanese custard with urchin and mushrooms and geoduck clam-- I believe one should never pass up an opportunity to try chawan-mushi-- texturally comforting but with wonderful flavors and this one is a must.
I had a peach hand pie with a vanilla shake for dessert and Sheila had green tea affogato poured over pistachio ice cream, both great. The affogato was refreshing and felt cleansing, a nice touch after an intense meal. The pie had a light, crispy buttery crust with many chunks of peach, yummy. My dessert wine was an Adelsheim late harvest Pinot Noir. Ahh, glorious dining and an apt celebration.

And speaking of peaches, the next morning we stopped by the Sentinel at 50 New Montgomery, a take-out counter run by Dennis Leary, owner-chef at Canteen, another great SF place. We had a terrific piece of cinamonny coffee cake while we waited for the peach muffins to come out of the oven. The lovely muffin was filled with chunks of fresh peach. Both were great comfort foods. We wanted to return for lunch but the line was too long and we had to get our car before I got a ticket. After breakfast we went to SFMOMA and really enjoyed the Avedon show. Also saw the Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams. I know we're supposed to idolize O'Keefe but I don't. But Adams is always great.

Here's my SF parking secret. If you're coming after 2 PM, drive to Glen Park and find a 4 hour space then take BART into town. $3.50 round trip is a lot cheaper than parking if you're going to Union Square area. Since we were staying the night, we had to get back by 1 PM to take advantage of the 4 hour morning parking. It worked out great with easy freeway access. This time I took Bosworth to Mission and we stopped for lunch at Joe's Cable Car for an excellent burger and patty melt. The burger is $9 and melt is $12 so it ain't cheap, but the burgers are fresh-ground and organic so they are special. And Joe is right there as he has been for 40 years. I was watching the in-house butcher cut up beautiful beef to be ground up for our enjoyment. Nice.