Jim and I no longer have a Season Subscription to the SF Symphony. We now pick and choose our concerts, making it more pleasant to Jim, in particular, to assure not hearing "new" musical pieces, most of which he considers not musical.
At any rate, last night's concert featured Charles Dutoit as guest conductor. The featured piece was Holst's The Planets. The other piece was Walton's Violin Concerto with SF Symphony Concertmaster Alexander Branantschik as the violin soloist.
It was a wonderful concert and a great evening which we started with dinner at one of our favorites for pre-Symphony dining, Paul K.
The food at Paul K is Mediterranean with California influences. Owner Paul Kavouksosrian is Armenian.
The restaurant is small and crowded, with most tables in the front dining room which shares space with the bar. A smaller back area has a few more tables and maybe has a bit more space between tables. I am happy where ever I am seated. It's a lively friendly place.
Meals start with fresh warm pita bread and hummus and glass of cucumber water.
The menu features about a dozen Small Plates and half a dozen or so Entrées. Two Mezza (Mediterranean appetizer) platters are always featured; one is vegetarian.
Sometimes I make a meal of the Mezza. Other times, I have a few small plates.
Last night, we each ordered an Entrée and shared the Butter Lettuce Salad with blue cheese, dates, and hazelnuts to start.
Jim had the Grilled Half Chicken on a bed of White Beans, Clamshell Mushrooms, and Green Garlic.
My choice was the Atlantic Skate Wing with a mixture of Roasted Artichokes and Sunchokes. I have a "thing" for Skate Wing and always order it if it is on a menu. The vegetables that look like roasted potatoes in the photo are the sunchokes.
I've never eaten sunchokes and they were delicious...so delicious that I bought some today at my local Farmers' Market and am going to try roasting them myself.
For dessert, we shared the Chestnut Fritters which were served with homemade Maple Ice Cream.
A heavenly meal that sent us off happily to a lovely concert.
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