BREAKFAST AT PASCAL

Had breakfast today at Pascal French Oven in Danville with Jeremy. Over yummy food, and enjoying weather a bit warmer than the past few days, we spent a few hours talking about computers, his web development projects and video work, summer plans, and life in general.



It's been awhile since I last ate at Pascal. Happily, I found it as good and friendly as I remembered. I had one of their memorable Orange Currant Scones. Jeremy indulged in the French Combo of Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms, French Toast, and Hash Brown Potatoes.



Pascal serves breakfast and lunch every day.

By the way, Jeremy's current big web project is a 'tweens web site called Girl Ambition. Take a look at it. You can try it out for free.

THIS WEEK'S CONTRA COSTA DINING, SO FAR

IL FORNAIO FOR THE REGIONAL MENU


Il Fornaio's monthly regional menu featured the Campania region (southern Italy) this month and was too temping to pass up. So, Wednesday night, Jim and I headed off to the Walnut Creek Il Fornaio.



We started with the Tegamino e Cozze, Fresh mussels on the half shell, baked with white wine, garlic, lemon, olive oil and bread crumbs. The serving of a dozen mussels was perfect to share...we sopped up all the juices with Il Fornaio's always-delicious bread. Unfortunately, I got so caught up in the meal that I forgot to take a picture of this yummy dish..I'd consider having it with a side salad as a meal.

But, the best was yet to come and I did remember to take pictures.





We both ordered the Scaluppine a Caprese, Thinly sliced veal with tomato fillets and fresh mozzarella. The vegetables were roasted Yukon Gold potatoes and Peas with Prosciutto. We both ate every bite of this dish.

Along with a few glasses of Chianti, this was a wonderful dinner.

Il Fornaio's special regional dinner menus are featured the first two weeks of each month, in addition to the regular menu, at all the Il Fornaio restaurants. Once you are on their mailing list, they send you a special passport twice a year. Each month, for 6 months, if you order from the Regional Menu, they stamp your passport and give you a special gift. This month the gift was a small bottle of lemon-infused olive oil.



ESIN




The next day, I met my friend Mary for lunch at the relatively-new Esin in Danville. Esin has been in Contra Costa County for many years and has many followers, but this location is far larger than the previous one.

The weather was warm enough for us to sit on the outdoor patio.

Mary had the Salmon Salad, one of the day's specials.



I chose the Grilled Chicken Salad.




While we did not "need" nor were really hungry for dessert, it is a high crime to not have one of Esin's freshly baked desserts when one dines here. So, we shared a generous slice of the day's Brown Butter Tart which was made with fresh apricots...the first of the season in this area. Unfortunately, we were so caught up in conversation and oohing and ahing over the tart that I forgot to take a picture. Trust me, you must eat dessert at Esin.

DOGGIE TREAT CALENDAR; THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT

High on my Holiday gift list are the pets in my life, both my own and those of friends and family.

Last year, I came up with Denning's Doggie Treat Calendar at Draeger's, a high-end grocery store with a Home/Gift department. Draeger's was founded in 1925 in San Francisco. Today, its four San Francisco Bay Area stores are located in San Mateo, Menlo Park, Blackhawk (Danville), and Los Altos.



This calendar was such a success as a doggie gift last year, that I just purchased several for Louie to hand out to his doggie friends for this Holiday Season.

The Doggie Treat Calendar is a doggie version of an Advent Calendar. It has 24 punch-out doors on a holiday scene with Santa delivering gifts to dogs of just about every variety. Behind each door is a healthful doggie holiday cookie. So, for each of the 24 days before Christmas, while you might be eating candy from your own Advent Calendar, your dog will be enjoying a daily treat.

This particular calendar is manufactured by Open Door Products in Corte Madera, Calfornia. The treats are from Simon and Huey's LLC-Dog Treats. At Dreager's the calendars sell for $12 each. They can also be ordered by the case of 12 directly from Open Door...price is less but you will have to pay for shipping.

I bought our calendars at the Draeger's at Blackhawk Plaza in Danville.

It has been a few months since I was last at Blackhawk Plaza and I was reminded of what a beautiful and bucolic place it is. Anchored by the Blackhawk Automotive Museum, Blackhawk Plaza has many shops and restaurants as well as a mulitplex cinema.




It's a great place for Holiday shopping or shopping any time of year. The Blackhawk Museum contains a unique exhibition of about 90 vintage cars that are displayed in two large galleries. The Museum also has an Automobile Reference Library and features other temporary exhibits, many of which are related to things automotive. Whenever my Dad visited me, a day at the Blackhawk Museum was a must-do on his list.

One of the new shops in Blackhawk Plaza is Anthropologie, a large store with clothing and accessories for women and a nice selection of gift and decorative items.



One more note about shopping at Draeger's: It's a great place for gifts as well as for all the foods and wines you might need for your holiday entertaining. If you don't have the time or inclination to cook, they feature a tempting selection of freshly-prepared dishes. As for gifts, their Home department features paper goods, China, Crystal, and other items that are as nice, if not nicer than those at fine gift shops. I may return to buy some of the Vietri Christmas plates and bowls that they are currently featuring. The added apoeal to shopping at Draeger's is that all their stores have plenty of free parking.

Happy Shopping!

Isaac Mizrahi Comes to Town

Designer Isaac Mizrahi made his San Francisco stop on his book tour for his new book How To Have Style in the sleepy suburb of Danville, close to where I live.

The event was planned by Rakestraw Books, a thriving independent bookstore in Danville. It was also a fundraiser in benefit of Wardrobe for Opportunity, an Oakland, California, based organization which provides its clients with clothing and accessories, head to toe outfits, for job interviews and, when the clients get jobs, with a week's worth of work outfits. Wardrobe serves both men and women.

As a fan on Isaac, I could not pass up the chance to meet him.

Many years ago I splurged on an Isaac Mizrahi jumper and still remember how elegant and fashionable I felt whenever I wore it. Most recently, I've been buying my Isaac Mizrahi clothing at Target...Isaac was the first "name" designer to make his clothing available at moderate prices.

At any rate, the event was at a local country club and started promptly at 7 p.m. with Isaac talking a bit about himself and his work. He answered audience questions and offered his advice on style. One of his words of wisdom was to treat yourself to a REALLY good haircut and color so you will know what your hair should look like when it is "right." When talking about his 8-year old Collie mix dog, Harry, he described Harry's energy by saying,"Harry is 8, which is the new 5." Lots of laughs from the audience.

After the formal part of the program, there was a receiving line and that's when I got to say hello, shake his hand, and even tell him about my "vintage" jumper.




The evening ended with a fashion show of Isaac's Target line, modeled by Wardrobe for Opportunity Clients.

A fun evening!