MacManiacs Reunion

For many years I had my own little computer group. We all met at Diablo Valley MacIntosh User Group (DVMUG), a user group of which I am still a member. What happened was that some of us stopped being Apple computer users and were no longer members of the user group. Since we all liked one another enough to want to still get together once a month, I became "president for life" of what we called the MacManiacs.

So, we started meeting at a restaurant once a month. Each month, one of us would choose the restaurant and pay for lunch. Our lunchtime talk ranged from technology to health to family to any subject that caught our fancy. We always had a good time and it kept our friendship alive.

Over time one member died, one left the club, another moved a bit further away. And so, the MacManiacs stopped meeting.

This December, when I got Werner's humorous newsy Christmas letter, I shared it with the other former club members and Mary Ann suggested that we all meet near Werner's home.

The last of the MacManiacs met today for lunch at Terra Mia in Livermore.

Terra Mia is a Southern Italian family-run restaurant in a strip mall about half way between downtown Livermore and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. It's a bit more elegant than many of the restaurants in the area and was the perfect place for a leisurely lunch.

The pasta and desserts are made in house from scratch. Many of the ingredients are either home grown or from local suppliers. We caught up and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

Jim and Mary Ann both ordered one of the day's specials, spinach pasta pouches filled with ricotta and chicken and garnished with Mortadella and a creamy sauce.



Mary Ann started her meal with a cup of Broccoli Soup. Jim had a Green Salad to start.

Werner ordered his "usual," the Capellini alla Napoletana (angel hair pasta with fresh tomato sauce and basil).



My choice was the Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich (chicken breast with roasted eggplant, melted mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce)



For dessert we shared a made-to-order Chocolate Soufflé.



At lunchtime, Terra Mia is not too busy, most likely because, with each dish prepared to order, it can take a few hours to have lunch here...not the typical quick lunch hour of those who work in nearby businesses. Werner says they are very busy at dinner time; reservations are advised.

At any rate, it was fun to be back together, to gossip, catch up, and even talk about bit about iPads, the cloud, and other techie subjects.

Until the next MacManiacs meeting.

Hosting Jarka; Day Three: Muir Woods, Sausalito, Beach Blanket Babylon

The third day of Jarka's visit was, by far, our busiest. We got started at 9 a.m., first picking up Mary Ann who joined us, and then heading to Muir Woods.



The weather was warm and clear everywhere we went.

It took about an hour to get to Muir Woods, the Bay Area's very own redwood forest. Mary Ann and I realized that we just don't come here often enough and vowed to return soon. Not only does one see giant Redwood trees close up in this National Park, but one also gets to observe the animals and birds that inhabit the woods and to see all kinds of plants and trees that grow here.

The known history of Muir Woods dates back to 1905 when local businessman William Kent and his wife Elizabeth Thacher Kent bought the land in this California coastal valley to protect its uncut redwoods. Muir Woods is a remnant of the ancient coast redwood forests that covered many northern California coastal valleys before the 1800s. To ensure the proection of their redwood forest, the Kents donated 295 acres of redwoods to the United States government. In 1908, more than 100 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed these woods a national monument and named it, at Mr. Kent's request, for conservationist John Muir.



The main trails are paved and there are miles of unpaved trails, some of which lead all the way to the coast.





Since my last visit several years ago, the main trails have been made even easier to navigate. There are lots of benches along the trail, providing resting spots. If you visit with someone who does not wish to walk/hike very far, be assured that they will be content sitting on a bench, with all of nature within their view.

I always marvel at how calm and quiet it is even steps into the woods...a big contrast to the busy parking areas and café and gift shop. Muir Woods is truly magic. Muir Woods is just 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.







We stayed in Muir Woods a few hours, long enough to walk the main trail check out the gift shop and café. Although we did not eat in the café, I made sure to check it out. They offer an interesting selection of sandwiches, salads, and soups, all freshly prepared. They serve hot and cold beverages and snacks, also. Prices in the café are reasonable and there is seating both inside and out on a redwood deck.

Our plan was to have lunch in Sausalito, outdoors overlooking the water, if possible. We parked and walked along the main drag, Bridgeway, and wound up having lunch at Piccolo which Mary Ann remembered as having seating on an outdoor deck that overlooked the water.



The fare at Piccolo is sandwiches and salads; we all ordered sandwiches and lingered awhile enjoying the view.





We spotted some sea lions who were frolicking in the water and caught sight of a yacht with its own helicopter on it which was anchored not far from where we were lunching. It belongs to Montana billionaire industrialist Dennis Washington, Forbes' #292 among the world's richest people. The yacht's name is The Attessa III and, at 225 feet, was the 71st largest yacht in the world in 2008. Guess he was visiting the Bay Area.





With our remaining time in Sausalito, we strolled up and down Bridgeway, browsing in shops and wandering along the Marina and through part of Sausalito's houseboat community.







By now it was about 4 p.m. and time for us to head into San Francisco.

We had tickets to the 6:30 p.m. performance of Beach Blanket Babylon.



Since seating is not reserved within the section where you have tickets, it is a good idea to be at Club Fugazi, where the show is performed, when the doors open, an hour before the show begins; people start lining up about half an hour before the doors open. So, we had a little over an hour to wander around North Beach and to have a coffee and a slice of Sacripantina cake at Stella Pastry & Café. We shared the cake, Stella's signature pastry, a multilayered cake made with a vanilla sponge cake, zabaione (a delicate custard made with egg yolks, sweet butter, marsala and sherry wine) cream, and rum.



We stopped at Biordi to look at their imported Italian ceramics



and went as far as Washington Square where we went into Saints Peter and Paul church.



A bit of trivia: Joe Dimaggio marred his first wife (Marilyn Monroe was his second and they married at City Hall) at this magnificent church.

This year marks Beach Blanket Babylon's 35th year and they have added to their usual fast-moving topical repertoire, a special tribute to their founder, Steve Silver, and to more "famous" characters such as Mr. Peanut.

My preference for seats is at the cabaret tables at the front of the hall. We arrived early enough to have a stage-side table...a first for me in the dozens of times I've seen the show over its 35 years. The seats were terrific except for the finale which is better viewed at least a few feet back from the stage. I must say there are no bad seats in Club Fugazi, even the upstairs balcony seats.



The show was over a little after 8 p.m. and we then headed to the corner of Green Street at Powell, half a block from Club Fugazi, for dinner at Capp's Corner, a family-style Italian restaurant that has been in San Francisco for as long as I can remember.



The dining room walls are covered with photos of famous people who have dined here, including Luciano Pavoratti and Joe Dimaggio.



The meal format is that you choose a main course and all meals are accompanied by a tureen of Minestrone soup and a large bowl of salad which are brought to your table to be shared family style.




Mary Ann's main course was Linguine with Clams and Mussels,



Jarka's choice was Veal Tortellini,



and I ordered the Calamari Steak.




The average price per person is about $20, not including drinks, tax, and tip. For what it's worth, Capp's Corner's wine list includes wines priced at low as $3 a glass...and these wines are not bad at all.

We returned home happy and tired after our busy fun day.

NORTH BEACH BY DAY

I spent today in North Beach, San Francisco's "Little Italy." I consider North Beach the most European neighborhood in San Francisco because it is a community of small shops, parks, restaurants, where the locals hang out, despite a continuous influx of tourists and visitors. Look up above the businesses that line Grant, Columbus, Stockton, and all their side streets, and, most likely, you will see one or two stories of apartments above these businesses. North Beach is walking distance to the Financial District and Chinatown to the south and to the waterfront to the north and east.



The neighborhood has two large churches, Saint Francis of Assisi.




and, overlooking Washington Square, Saints Peter and Paul



Coit Tower rises above North Beach on Telegraph Hill. Inside this 210-ft. Art Deco tower are murals by 26 different artists who were given commissions in 1934 under the Public Works of Art Project, part of the New Deal federal employment program. Coit Tower was built with funds from the estate of Lillie HItchcock Coit for the purpose of beautifying the city of San Francisco. The lobby murals are open to viewing by the public; those along the stairway are only accessible to private tours, including the free tour by the City Guides of San Francisco which is given every Saturday at 11 a.m.



One of the reasons for today's outing is that I have out-of-towners coming to visit this summer and am planning to take them to North Beach. Today was my "walk through" and also a bit of an "eat through." Despite hours of walking, I have a feeling I still managed to consume more calories than I burned off.

To get to the food part first, there are a seemingly endless number of restaurants and shops specializing in food. My choice for lunch was Giordano Bros., a bar and casual restaurant whose specialty is its All-In-One Sandwiches.



The owners are from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the All-In-One is a Pittsburgh sandwich made on two slices of thick Italian white bread, filled with your choice of meat along with Provolone Cheese, French Fries, and Olive Oil and Vinegar Coleslaw. Yes, the French Fries are actually in the sandwich! The only concession to eating this very big mouthful of food, is that they give you a fork to scoop up all that falls out of the sandwich. I was going to have either salami or coppa as my meat, but the counter man (you order at the counter and they bring it to you) suggested the Pastrami; I was happy.



Giordano Bros. is small and sort of a sports bar with several TVs showing sports all day long. Steelers fans must come here; there is a huge blowup Steelers player in one corner and photos on the walls. There is often live local music in the evenings. It's totally informal and these amazing sandwiches cost between $6.25 and $7.25.




People ask me how I find places like Giordano Bros. In this case, I read about them in the San Francisco Chronicle and saved the review for my next visit. I digress to say that if and when we no longer have printed newspapers, I am not sure I would find places like this. I wonder why the Pittsburgh All-In-One Sandwich, which Pittsburghians have been enjoying for over 70 years, has not caught on like the Phillie Cheesesteak Sandwich, from the same state. Could it be the French Fries?



My other eating was far more elegant: a stop at Stella Pastry & Cafe for a latte and a large slice of Sacripantina cake, before heading home.





The Sacripantina is Stella's signature pastry; they've been making it for over 40 years and have a patent on the name and the dome shape of the cake. It's a multilayered cake made with a vanilla sponge cake, zabaione (a delicate custard made with egg yolks, sweet butter, marsala and sherry wine) cream, and rum.

I checked out some of my other favorite bakeries:

Victoria Pastry (cakes and pastries; famous for the St. Honoré Cake),



Liguria (foccacia bread with different toppings),



and the Italian French Baking Co. (brick oven baked breads and breadsticks),



I made a special stop at Graffeo Coffee to buy some beans to take home.



Graffeo claims to the be the best coffee in the world. As far as my own world is concerned, I agree. We've been enjoying Graffeo coffee since long before Starbucks ever existed. They got their start in North Beach in 1935. My bag of freshly-roasted coffee beans filled my car with the aroma of coffee as I drove home.

I walked by several of my favorite restaurants, just to make sure they were still in business. These included Cafe Jacqueline (French not Italian, where the menu is soufflés),



Capp's Corner (family style Italian),



Washington Square Bar & Grill (open again and looking like the old Washbag of years past),



Stinking Rose (where there is garlic in everything, including the ice cream for dessert),



and Michelangelo (a cozy romantic Italian place).



As always, Mario's Cigar Factory was a buzz with customers enjoying a coffee and one of their tasty sandwiches.



I took the time to browse in four of my favorite North Beach shops:

First stop was at Biordi Art Imports, which, since 1946, has specialized in Italian Ceramic Art, dinnerware and decorative items. Biordi's customers come from around the world to purchase their Italian Majolica pottery.



Then, I visited Macchiarini Creative Design. Founded by Peter Macchiarini, who began making avant-garde jewelry in 1936, son Daniel Macchiarini, and granddaughter Emma Leona Macchiarini Mankin carry on the family jewelry making and metal art tradition. A visit to this gallery and studio is always memorable; it has some of the most beautiful and interesting modernist jewelry made in America.



Next was City Lights Books, the independent bookstore founded in 1953 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin. It is the writers, artists, and intellectuals who congregated at City Lights who became the Beat generation.

If you are looking for books by Ferlinghetti or Allen Ginsberg, or any other liberal thinkers, this is the place to come. It is always a treat to look through the books and I usually leave with a few new ones.



And, finally, I dropped in at Knitz & Leather, a boutique that features knit and leather clothing and accessories, all of which are made right here.



In my wanderings, I passed Lyle Tuttle Tattoos. Lyle Tuttle has been tattooing people in San Francisco since 1960. He is thought to be the person who brought tattooing into the main stream. His customers include many celebrities. His shop is now run by Tania NIxx.



There are not too many art galleries in North Beach. Today I finally got to visit one, the Paul Thiebaud Gallery, which I have wanted to visit for many years, but never got around to.



The gallery is a bit off the beaten path from the central part of North Beach. It features the work of American artists and sculptors, including the work of Thiebaud's father, Wayne Thiebaud, one of my favorite living American artists. The gallery is on Chestnut Street, between Columbus and Mason on a block that is mostly residential.

The gallery's current exhibit is Wayne Thiebaud's "Confection Memories." It shows through June 27, 2009.

My final stop was at the box office of Beach Blanket Bablyon, in Club Fugazi, to pick up tickets to a performance I will be attending this summer.




This lively cabaret show is celebrating its 35th year of performing in San Francisco. I don't know how many times I have seen the show, but every time, I am thoroughly entertained and leaving laughing. In the category of entertainment, I rank Beach Blanket Babylon as the most unique and memorable performance to experience in San Francisco.