Around this time every year, there are fallen leaves everywhere especially where we are in Glen Park. Though the cold weather and the shorter days and longer nights have melancholic effects on me, I actually appreciate the change in the season and the change in the scenery.
Mijo and I usually go to the same places to eat which is ironic because we live in a city where it has more restaurants per capita than any other cities in the United States. Our favorite places are generally other people's favorites too, judging by the long queues. We do try out new restaurants during special occasions or during my once a month meet-up with my foodie friends Dinah and Karen or with my friend from church Brent and my college buddy Mike B. Last month was an exception because I've been to, not one, but several restaurants where I've not been before.
We saw the musical HAIR the other day, and are you ready for this????? There was nudity at the end of Act 1! Even though it was done in good taste where the entire tribe were bathed in ocean blue lights, I can still see their stuff hangin'. But I am not complaining because they were all beautiful and free and they're spreading their love. 
We love going to the Asian Art Museum's evening mixer which is locally called Matcha. Aside from the discounted museum tickets, we usually expect live performances that are culturally oriented, hands-on art activities and giveaways such as food, tea, and other souvenir items. The museum comes alive at night during Matcha making art even more enjoyable.
This view can be seen from the Domaine Carneros chateau's outdoor terrace. We got here by chance on our way to Sonoma for the big bottle sale at Chateau St. Jean for the bottles of wine I'll be bringing with me when I visit my mom and my siblings for Christmas.
I love our sleepy neighborhood Glen Park. I'd like to think it is San Francisco's hidden gem. If you want to witness SF locals in action, this is one of the places where it happens. I always chuckle when I see tourists by the Glen Park subway station totting cameras and spreading open their maps and looking like they're lost. 
I rarely blog about my shopping experiences but this one is worth mentioning because Brian of Kiehl's was absolutely helpful...
Portrait of Dora Maar 1937. 
I've seen this 30-foot sculpture a couple of years ago around Pier 14 on Embarcadero and I remember it was a bit of a challenge to take a decent photo where I can show the public art's scale. Now that it has been moved to Patricia's Green in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of the city, the scale not only can be captured easier but more picturesque views of the sculpture can be shot anywhere around the park. 
This massive public art is called Ecstasy and is a joint collaboration of artists Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito. It is made of reclaimed metals and other used materials. Though the color, the texture, and the metallic materials make it look very industrial, I like the fact that the artists added human attributes into the sculpture. The proportion is like that of a woman and the movement is of a dancer with her back bent and with arms half raised. As someone who is concerned about the environment, I am glad that it is made of used materials.
The sculpture can be found in Patricia's Green in the Hayes Valley neighborhood in San Francisco, Ca. To read more about the artists or how to support this public art, go to Black Rock Arts Foundation.
When I went to the Chocolate Festival for the first time last year, I overdosed on chocolates. I had this terrible headache the next day which is probably a hangover from the chocolate withdrawal. Instead of enjoying all the delicious confections, I ended up developing an extreme revulsion for them. I didn't eat, smell, or touch any form of chocolates in the next couple of months after the event. In fairness to the chocolates, they were blameless . I was the culprit and my mistake was that I didn't share.
For this year, I made sure I brought Mijo with me not only to avoid another overindulging fallout but also to split the glorious calories that go with the chocolates. For $20, you get a tasting passport containing 15 numbers. Each tasting corresponds to a number on the passport that gets crossed off after trying a sample. A sample maybe a slice, a small bar or an entire piece. It depends on the vendor. This year's was not as exciting as last year's because there were only a handful interesting chocolate vendors. The rest were bleh. I wonder where were the local confectioners like See's, Tcho, Cocoa Bella or Scharffen Berger? Or the local creameries like Mitchell's or Birite Ice cream? What about the liqueur producers from the nearby wineries? The organizers should get them on board next time if they want this event to matter.
Sterling Truffle Bar. A tasting is a slice of a truffle bar. There were three truffle tasting choices. Pinapple ginger macadamia nut, strawberry orange liqueur and double hazelnut caramel. I asked the vendor to select for me and they chose the Pineapple one. It was very good. Chocolate crust with fruity chewy soft and smooth filling. I am not sure if they only ship their products. You can find them at http://sterlingconfections.com/. My only regret is that I saved off the remaining tasting so I can try the other vendors which are so-so. I should have spent two or more tastings here!
Ciao Bella. This has a good bang for your buck. You get a whole cup of sorbet or gelato for a tasting. Not a meager teaspoon but the whole cup. We decided to get two tastings here - Mijo got a chocolate gelato while I chose the blood orange sorbet. Since we are splitting the spoils, I enjoyed sampling both flavors. The gelato's rich nutty chocolate flavor complements the tangy orange taste of the sorbet. Yumm! You can find one of their stores at the Ferry Building.
Kara's cupcake. For a tasting here, you get a whole mini-cupcake. We got two tastings here - one chocolate and one vanilla cupcake. The cupcakes were moist and tasty. The frosting added extra flavors and the sprinkles added extra texture. Everyone must have heard about how good the cupcakes were because their line was the longest that day. Kara's Cupcakes has several locations in the Bay Area.
An honorable mention goes to the Hot choco by Ghirardelli Chocolate.
On our way back to the city after visiting Mijo's daughters in St. Helena, we had originally planned to dropby Charles Krug Vineyards since it is just on highway 29 right after the turn from Deer Park Rd. Before we got to the vineyard's entrance, we noticed this huge stone mansion across the street. I checked the map and it says it is the Culinary Institute of America. I began to wonder if they have a restaurant? Afterall, culinary schools in the city like the California Culinary Academy, the Arts Institute, and the City College all have a restaurant or test kitchen where visitors can dine and our experience so far has been good. After quickly checking my handy Napa/Sonoma guide book (I always bring it everytime we go to the area) and Yelp, we decided we'll skip the wine tasting and head to the school's restaurant instead.
The restaurant's interior is cozy and welcoming. It has high ceilings, leather dining chairs, long dining tables. And while you're inside, you can hear the minute sound of silverwares and the people conversing over meals. Like in other culinary schools with restaurants, you could see the chefs working in one corner of the room. Had we been here for dinner, I would have preferred to dine inside the restaurant.
But how can you not sit outside with this perfect weather and this amazing view of the Charles Krug Vineyards across the street? So we decided to wait for an available table outside which was not bad at all. While their menu is decipherable, their wine list is not. Choosing wines here is like looking through an Ikea catalog. Lots of wine to choose from!
Mijo ordered the Prosciutto Wrapped Cod. The prosciutto was so crunchy it seemed like it is the cod's skin. The cod was cooked to perfection - juicy and flaky! It is served with broccolini, white bean relish, and Catalan vinaigrette.
This is probably the best tasting risotto I've had in years considering it is vegetarian. They must have used more than three mushrooms, or maybe truffle mushroom or truffle oil, because the first teaspoon was an explotion of flavors. This is served with asparagus, peas, mushrooms, squash, romano beans, house‐made ricotta cheese.
For the dessert, we followed our friendly server's advice and got the Sweet Finale consisting of small sweets prepared by their pastry chef. The serving was small but very satisfying.
I am carrying the escalation pager the entire week so I have been confined in the city for the Labor Day weekend. It would have been nice to go wine tasting or go camping in the mountains this long weekend but that is not the case. A consolation for staying in the city is the end-of-summer sale happening all over the place. Bargains galore! Most of the SF folks are out of town too so this means shorter queues in restaurants and cafes this weekend.
I took this opportunity to try out a new bakery on Valencia St. called Arizmendi Bakery Panaderia and Pizzeria. When we got inside, it took us a while to figure out what to get because there were a lot to choose from. The good thing about this bakery is that you get to pick the baked goods yourself because you are upclose to what you're getting. In other bakeries, the trays are all behind the register or inside a glass shelf so you order by telling your server what you want or by pointing to your selection.
I was standing on a dirt lot admiring the view of a picturesque Sonoma landscape dotted with vineyards and wineries. I feel truly blessed to live in a stunning city surrounded by the ocean, the bay, the hills, the mountains and of course, the wine regions. Though it is still summer, I can already feel the cool breeze coming from the coast. This is definitely Indian summer.
From one food festival to another, this summer has been all about eating in the city. I love summer in the city! The SF Street Food Festival is held in the Mission District and is organized by La Cocina, a non-profit incubator kitchen. They closed off four city blocks and a school ground so that over 70 food truck vendors can sell food.
The food sells from $3 to $8 depending on the serving. As always, we couldn't try all of the food that day. In fact, we've only tried around seven or eight vendors all in all because the lines were long. 
Vendor: Flour+Water
Vendor: Nom Nom Truck
Vendor: The Creme Brulee Cart
Vendor: Don Bugito
Foie Gras and Charcuterie and Cheese plate. As soon as our server placed these plates on the table, my heart started palpitating. Not because of the tasty goodness oozing out of these precious little things but because I knew they are loaded with cholesterol and fats and all the bad things our doctors tell us. Why is it that food that tastes good is usually bad for us? Luckily, there were three of us sharing and the serving of the fattened duck liver, the greasy cured meats and aged cheeses are small. The plates were perfect with the complimentary bread and butter. 
Almond Beignet. Ok this is fancy schmancy beignet but this is my favorite that night. The beignet is small and its chewy almond taste was perfect with the creamy milk sauce and the cherry preserves and it came in three. I am not sure if they did that purposely just because there were three of us and we told our server we were going to share? It was also at this time the good looking chef came by to check on us. Wow!
Baked Alaska. Monette ordered this one. It was on fire when it got served. That was a nice touch. It is icing over custard over ice cream over custard over ice cream which sits on a sauce made of liqueur. Though the liqueur was not potent, the taste was so strong that it felt like it left a burning sensation on my tongue. This was also good.
Lavender cocktail. I don't remember the exact name of this cocktail. Something like lavender ginset or ginlet. Anyway, it was sour but it is a good kind of sour with a hint of lavender. The mixologist, he was very friendly and attentive. Too bad I couldn't talk to him at one point because I was busy texting Karen and Monette to tell them I got there early.
Complimentary Dessert. I always like a place which gives freebies. The place consists of small slices of almond macaron, peanut bar, lemon bar, and some fancy cookies and pastries.
We got to the park exactly two hours before the free Latin music at the 9th Sunday of the Stern Grove Festival. Mijo, my friend from college Mike and I brought a picnic mat, some snacks, breads, cheeses and couple of bottles of wines to share. The weather cooperated because the summer fog retreated to the ocean so it was clear that afternoon.
There were plenty of culinary stars that day. Unfortunately, I only know a few names like Michael Chiarello, Tyler Florence and Chris Cosentino. But for Dinah and the rest of the foodies present that day? They know them all, and I am sure they know their signature dishes as well. I can't help but smile or sometimes roll my eyes everytime I hear side comments coming from all around me. I have to admit that most of the chefs are quite good looking. San Francisco may be a town where chefs are glorified like rock stars but for me, I'll just enjoy eating their food.
There were a lot of good food and good wine that day so it was really hard to narrow down my choices which three I should blog. Plus they were all different so it was a challenge to qualify which one is better. For example, a tuna dish from one featured restaurant will taste different from another tuna dish by a different featured restaurant because of the sauces, garnishing and presentation. I wish these chefs would seat down and plan among each other next year so there won't be repeats of ahi tunas? Anyway, what I did here is put together a short list of memorable dishes I sampled that day and the most delicious wine I tasted.
Dish: Chilled avocado and tomato gazpacho with cilantro and topped with crab meat
A great addition was the cooking demos by celebrity chefs. Toward the end of the tasting event, a Top Chef contestant Fabio Viviani was on stage where he demonstrated how to make gnocchi.