AN EVENING AT S F SYMPHONY

We attended our last San Francisco Symphony performance for this season...Berg's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra and Schubert's Mass No. 6 in E-Flat Major, D.950. Gil Shaham was the guest violin soloist. MTT was conducting.

We started the evening with dinner at Hayes Street Grill.



We've been dining regularly at Hayes Street Grill since it opened in San Francisco 30 years ago. We've never been disappointed and whenever I am asked for a recommendation for a fish restaurant in San Francisco, I always recommend Hayes Street.

Through the years, they've kept the formula simple: several fresh grilled fish every day, served with a side of French Fries and your choice from about half a dozen sauces. Their menu also includes several other fish dishes, a nice selection of first courses, and desserts. It is at Hayes Street that I first tasted Crème Brûlée and it remains on the dessert menu to this day...try as I might, I cannot duplicate this dessert at home, but am happy to enjoy it at the restaurant.

So, we started with a shared Grilled Squid and Artichoke Salad.



Jim order Petrale Sole



and I chose Cataplana, a Portuguese Seafood Stew.



Both dishes were perfection. Even though J is watching his sugar consumption, he could not keep his eyes off the huge Hot Fudge Sundaes that kept passing by our table...while I prefer the Crème Brûlée for dessert, their sundae, made with housemade hot fudge is his weakness. He mentioned to our waiter how much he wishes he could have a sundae and the waiter took pity on him and made up a mini version for him.



Is this a happy man, or what?



Then, it was on to Davies Symphony Hall. The lobby was busy with music lovers enjoying drinks, light meals, and conversation.



At intermission, it was still light outside and I noticed how pretty City Hall across the street looked through the lobby windows.




As for the concert, I knew we were going to be musically challenged when MTT started the evening by talking about the Berg piece and its 12-tone scale. He played several examples and it all made sense, but once the piece started, I could not detect what he has described. The Schubert was more comprehensible and magnificent.

Lobster Rolls with HG

Got together with HG this week while she is home on Spring Break. I suggested that we lunch at the new Yankee Pier that opened in Lafayette CA in January.
I've been a fan of Yankee Pier since chef Bradley Ogden opened his first San Francisco Bay Area New England-style fish house, several years ago in Larkspur CA.
As a former New Englander, I cannot pass up the Lobster Roll...a marvelous lobster salad sandwich, made with freshly-boiled Maine Lobster. The cold salad mixture is simple...a bit of mayonnaise and chopped pickle. It is packed into a warm, just-griddled top-loading hot dog bun and served in a paper-lined basket with housemade potato chips and cole slaw. Every time I have one, I think I am back in Maine...what brings me back to reality is that the servers don't have New England accents!!!
t any rate, HG has never had a Lobster Roll and my enthusiasm convinced her that she, too, had to try one. She came to the restaurant thinking Fish and Chips...also a good choice...but was easily persuaded.

We finished off this lovely lunch with a shared order of warm fresh fruit Crisp topped with a scoop of Vanilla Bean ice cream.

In the rare instance that I don't order a Lobster Roll at Yankee Pier, I choose the Fried Ipswich Clams...another authentic New England dish.

The one down side to the Lobster Roll is its price...at $19.95, I only indulge occasionally.

Yankee Pier features a wide selection of fish, prepared numerous ways...also salads and even a burger, steak and chicken for non-fish eaters who get dragged here with people like me, who am always up for really good fresh fish.

During lunch the other day, the manager stopped by our table to chat. With this restaurant being just a few months old, he is still trying to figure out how much fish to order for each day...some days he does run out of items before the restaurant closes.

Other Yankee Pier locations are in Larkspur, San Jose at Santana Row, and in the United Terminal at San Francisco International Airport.

Dinner at Sea Salt in Berkeley

The owners of Lalime's in Berkeley, Haig and Cindy, Krikorian opened Sea Salt over two years ago, but tonight was my first time to dine here. The emphasis at Sea Salt is on fresh fish.
Located in a quiet part of San Pablo Avenue, the restaurant serves lunch weekdays, weekend brunch, and nightly dinner. The ambiance is casual, the food fresh; the menu changes daily.


To start, I ordered a salad of Roasted Baby Beets which was garnished with a tahini lemon vinaigrette, mint, yogurt and sumac. Jim's starter was a bowl of White Clam Chowder. My Beet dish could easily have been shared by two. Jim, the New England Clam Chowder expert in our family, declared his chowder to be as good at those served at his other favorite places Walnut Creek Yacht Club and Yankee Pier.
For our main courses, we both chose from the Smaller dish part of the menu. Jim's Steamed Prince Edward Island Mussels were served in a stainless steel bowl. There were at least two dozen mussels in a tasty broth with lots of toasted bread.
My Grilled California Squid

was served over Gigande Beans...delicious.
Only I ordered dessert, choosing one of the cheeses...Pantaleo, a goat cheese from Sardinia...It was served with two generous slices with toasted walnut bread, slices of poached pears, and toasted Marcona almonds...this serving also was large enough to share...Jim took a few tastes.Sweet desserts included a Meyer Lemon Tart and a Brownie Sundae.
Sea Salt is a very "Berkeley" restaurant in that most of the clientele seemed to come from the community...many most likely associated with the University.
The menu is small and I expect some less adventurous diners might feel intimidated by it and have a hard time deciding what and how to order. Even I was not ready to risk not liking the Torchon of Monkfish Liver, which our server described as a sort of foie gras of fish liver. Another time maybe. But the Seared Arctic Char, the Grilled Hawaiian Swordfish, and the Fish and Chips all were tempting offerings among the Larger dishes. I know my friend Mort will be delighted to know that they feature Fried Whole Smelts.