DINNER BEFORE SF SYMPHONY

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.

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.

DINNER AND MTT

Saturday night we heard the San Francisco Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), play a wonderful program: Copeland's music from the film "Our Town," Berg's "Three Pieces for Orchestra" and Brahms Symphony No. 1.

San Francisco is so lucky to have MTT as its conductor and Saturday's performance was no exception to his excellence. Since the Berg piece was a bit complicated, and even shocking, MTT spent a few minutes before starting it, talking to the audience about its complexity and playing short examples to demonstrate his explanations. While the Berg was not my favorite, I certainly appreciated it as it was played, thanks to MTT's mini-lecture.

As we always do, we dined at one the nearby restaurants before the performance. This time it was Absinthe. I love the ambiance of Absinthe with its stylized French murals on the dining room walls.

We haven't been to Absinthe in over a year and were a bit surprised that the entrée prices have increased. Most entrées are about $30..higher than most restaurants in the neighborhood.

But, we did enjoy a pleasant meal and were seated at my favorite table, a corner booth in the main dining room that allows both of us to look out onto the dining room from our cozy corner.



I started with a cup of Squash Purée, a thick squash soup flavored with ginger and topped with toasted almonds and crème fraîche. Jim chose the French Onion Soup.




For entrées, we both ordered the Grilled Scallops...three grilled scallops on a bed of sunchoke purée, baby artichokes, fennel and wilted chard.



To end our meal, we shared a selection from the Cheese menu which offers about a dozen cheeses. Our choice was the Portuguese Toledo cheese which was accompanied by medjool dates and toasted raisin bread.




A nice San Francisco evening of food and culture.

Bay Area Heat Wave!

Today was my day to do my final update for the Where-To-Guide's annual Civic Center dining feature. Each year, in the September/October issue, I write short reviews of many of the restaurants near Davies Symphony Hall and the Opera House. My timing is for the beginning of the Opera and Symphony seasons.

Opening night for the San Francisco Symphony is September 3; for the San Francisco Opera, it is September 5.

I could not have picked a better day to do my walk-around. At mid-day, the temperature in San Francisco was in the low 80s. I loved it...didn't even need the sweater that I brought, just in case it was not as warm as I expected. Of course, back in the 'Creek, it is 103 degrees as I write this at 3 p.m.

By both the Opera House and Symphony Hall, tents were being put up. Presumably, these are where the dinners and parties before and after the opening nights will be held. Also going on this weekend in the Civic Center is Slow Food Nation 2008, a big food event, highlighting wonderful foods and drinks prepared with fresh, local, healthful ingredients...no fast food in this part of town or over at Fort Mason, the other venue for Slow Food Nation.

Something that has always intrigued me about warm days in San Francisco is that, while there are few days even in summer, when it is warm enough to go around without a light jacket, when the temperature rises, the streets are filled with people in the summery-est of clothing. Notice this woman crossing the street by the Opera House, with City Hall in the background:



Many of the Hayes Street restaurants now have sidewalk tables and today, they were the place to sit while having lunch. Note the sunbather in Octavia Park, eating his lunch at a table and catching some rays...kind of made me think of parks in Paris on warm days, when the world comes out to soak up some sun.



Since last year, there is lots of new housing in this area, known as Hayes Valley. To go along with it, many new shops and cafes. And many old favorites, such as Marlena's and Flipper's have spiffed up their Victorian facades.



Happy Summer Day!