COMMUTING TO DAVIS

I am not exactly commuting the 50-60 miles to Davis, but recently it has started to feel like it.

Louie is back being a patient at the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital, this time for pain in walking up and down stairs and when he is curled up in his crate at night. While our local doctors have tried to treat it, as soon as he is off meds, his symptoms reappear. Based on our success a few years ago at UCD with his mysterious skin problems, we decided to return in hopes of finding a "cure" rather than a fix.

As of today, we have a diagnosis of Immune Mediated Polyarthritis. He is being check every two weeks for progress and it now seems that either he could go into a remission or he will remain on a maintenance dose of some medication for life...time will tell.

Since I like Davis so much, I am not minding being there often. My special friend, Mort, lives there and even without Mort, I simply love its college town atmosphere.

These are just a few of the places I've been in the past month or so.

This is the Veterinary Hospital.



Louie's first visit was at midday and we were not sure if we would get away to go downtown for lunch. We started our day with freshly-baked pastries from the Village Bakery which has lots of outdoor seating. The Bakery is known for its breads, pastries, and pizzas. A very good meal deal at the Bakery is a slice of pizza with salad for about $5!!! Mort tells me that on the days he "works" at the train station, Village Bakery gives him anything he wants to eat or drink...very nice community gesture, I say.



Back to chattering about lunch that day, I made sandwiches and brought them with me. When we finished with Louie's appointment, we found a shaded terrace with tables and chairs right across from the hospital building. Louie had his water and snacks and we had our sandwiches and fruit.



Then, not related to Louie and his medical condition, Babette was in town visiting her children who live in Sacramento, a few days after out first trip to the Veterinary Hospital. Over the years, Babette and I have decided that Davis is a good place for us to meet, even if Davis is closer to Sacramento than to where I am. This time, we had lunch at the Mustard Seed, on their lovely outdoor back patio.



Babette had a Roast Turkey (really turkey, freshly carved), Bacon, and Avocado Sandwich.



I had the Almond Curry Tuna Salad which was accompanied by slices of Almond Orange Bread.




We then walked around town, stopping at any and all stores that caught our attention, including The Artery and The Naturalist.

Today, I met Mort for lunch at Tucos.



I really think Mort should be the mayor of Davis, or at least its special ambassador. He seems to know all the businesses in town and all the "gossip" and inside information about them. And, when he is not dining or just being the man around town, he volunteers as a host at the Davis railroad station, making sure that any new arrivees are pointed in the right direction.

Tucos is around the corner from the Village Bakery on G street in a spot that I probably never would have found, were it not for Mort. I was later told by Louie's doctor that Tucos has wonderful wines, but this being lunch and me looking at a drive of at least an hour, there was no wine consumed.

Mort's choices were the Vuelve la Vida Venezuelan seafood cocktail- wild shrimp, clams, calamari , followed by Roasted Monterey Sardines with Piri Piri Sauce and greens.




I chose a Latin Combination Plate, with Arepas de Carne Mechada, shredded pasture-raised beef, sweet onion, crème Fraiche, as my main dish. It was garnished with greens, rice, and black beans and served with a glass of iced Mate tea.



It was not hard for Mort to convince me to share two desserts: Panna Cotta and Affogato.



I have since read up on Tucos and see that it has received national press attention. When food writer and healthful eating advocate Michael Pollan came to Davis to speak, it was Tucos where he chose to dine.

A note about the name Tucos; it comes from the owner's daughter, who mispronounced the Portuguese word for juice, "suco," as "tucos" when she was young.

During my recent visits, I've also had meals at Café Bernardo and at Pasta?. And, I found the perfect top to go with a new skirt at The Wardrobe.

Stay tuned, as I eat and shop my way through Davis for the rest of the summer into fall.