A Perfect San Francisco Day of Culture, Entertainment, & Food

Saturday, I continued celebrating my birthday, this time with Mary Ann, who took me to see Billy Elliot and for dinner afterwards in San Francisco.

Our day was, in my estimation, a perfect day in downtown San Francisco.

Two San Francisco museums have been paying tribute to Gertrude Stein this summer. Both museum's exhibits close on September 6, 2011. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) exhibit, "The Steins Collect," is an extensive exhibit of the art that Gertrude Stein and her family acquired while living in Paris. It's such a huge exhibit, that, when I saw it earlier this summer, I came out exhausted from the sheer volume of works by Matisse, Picasso, and other Parisian Avant-Garde. At the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the exhibit, "Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories," is about the life of Gertrude Stein, starting with her early days in the United States and continuing in Paris. These two exhibits complement one another.

Before I went to the SFMOMA exhibit, I had tried to take in the Jewish Museum exhibit but did not have enough time to get through the complete exhibit. I wanted to view the rest of it and Mary Ann was interested in seeing it for the first time, so we started our day at the Contemporary Jewish Museum which, itself. is an architectural attraction with waterfalls and a large plaza in front.



It is on the site of a former Pacific Gas & Electric Power Substation, designed by Willis Polk and built in 1907.
The facade of the substation, facing Mission Street, has been preserved and is the main entrance to the museum.



However, the interior of the museum and the remainder of the exterior is extremely modern and somewhat abstract, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. One corner of the Jewish is a huge, off-kilter blue metallic steel "box" that houses the gift shop and the Yud gallery. To the west, the "Jukebox" Marriott hotel looms over the museum.



Getting to the Jewish at about 11:30, we were just in time to join the 11:30 docent tour of the Gertrude Stein exhibit. I got new insights into the portion of the exhibit that I'd already viewed and we both learned a great deal about Stein's life and work.

We next stopped for a quick lunch at 'wichcraft. 'Wichcraft is chef Tom Colicchio's sandwich restaurant, the casual member of his Craft family of restaurants in New York. There are other 'wichcrafts in Las Vegas and New York City. I often stop here for lunch or an early dinner when I am downtown shopping or museum-going.

Mary Ann had the Frittata sandwich



and I had the warm pressed Zucchini and tomato sandwich.



All sandwiches are served with a bag of potato chips and are reasonably priced at between $6 and $10. 'Wichcraft also offers creative meal-sized salads and freshly-made soups. Because it is on Mission Street on the back side of the Westfield San Francisco Centre shopping center, only those "in the know" know where to find it. It's a great alternative to the San Francisco Centre's hectic food courts.

From there, we walked to the Orpheum Theatre which is a few long blocks away on Market Street. If we had gone directly to the theatre without making our downtown stops, we would have taken BART to the Civic Center stop which is right in front of the theatre.

Billy Elliot's run in San Francisco was cut short by a few weeks because of lagging ticket sales. We were among those whose tickets had to be changed to an earlier date. Although Billy Elliot's run in San Francisco is now over, we, and everyone else we know who saw the show, cannot understand why it was not a smash hit. In fact, it is currently running in Toronto where it has been extended because it is such a success. At any rate, we loved this creative and touching musical...outstanding choreography, dancing, singing, acting...

After the show, we had dinner at Passion Café on 6th Street, in a not very pleasant part of downtown. This is a part of San Francisco which is said to be "evolving" but it is going to take some time before that will happen. I did notice a few other new restaurants on Market Street between 5th and 8th...Show Dogs and Original Joe's... but change happens slowly in this part of town.

Passion Café is a few blocks from the Orpheum Theatre and just a few doors down 6th Street across Market Street from the Golden Gate Theatre.



While I would not walk in this area by myself after dark, I'd say that before or after theatre there is enough foot traffic to feel secure. Also, the restaurant partially validates parking at the Priority Parking lot across Sixth Street. The café is open every day except Monday, from 9 a.m., serving breakfast pastries, lunch, dinner, weekday happy hour, and weekend brunch.

At any rate, Passion Café offered a free glass of wine to Billy Elliot attendees and Mary Ann thought the restaurant sounded interesting enough to try. I was game.

Our dinner turned out to be the most authentic French meal I've had in San Francisco, or anywhere in the Bay Area, in years. I felt like I was sitting in a Parisian Bistro. Passion Café serves the classic French bistro food that I most enjoy of all French cuisine.

Waiters were running up and down the stairs from the basement, where we guess the kitchen is, carrying trays of food. Our waiter spoke French to us. And the food was reasonably-priced and superb.

Mary Ann ordered the three-course $28.50 fixed-price dinner which includes choices for each course. I ordered à la carte and shared her first course and dessert.

We started with the Country-style Pâté.



The presentation was as beautiful as the pâté was delicious...on the plate was a radish salad, cornichons, pickled onions, and toasted bread croutons dabbed with a bit of olive spread.

Mary Ann's main course was Salmon with a cream sauce and pesto, served with a cucumber and apple salad and herbed rice.



My main course was the Bouchée à la Reine aux Fruits de Mer, a seafood Vol au Vent (Puff pastry shell filled with sauteed seafood and a white wine herb sauce). It was served with herbed rice and sauteed mushrooms.



I'm fairly certain I've never had this dish in the United States, but know I've enjoyed it in France.

Our dessert was a slice of Tarte Tatin, a classic French caramelized apple tarte. I was so excited about eating the Tarte Tatin that I forget to photograph it...my apologies.

After our dinner in the front dining room, we further explored Passion Café's rooftop outdoor dining area. This would be a lovely place to sit for lunch or happy hour on a warm San Francisco day. Inside, on the bar, where we were admiring the whole Tarte Tatin, I spotted the colorful French Macarons, meringue sandwich cookies that have become popular in the Bay Area. I bought one in each flavor to take home...strawberry (pink), pistachio (green), and chocolate (brownish). When I asked who supplied their macarons, I was told that their in-house baker makes them.

Thus, ended our lovely San Francisco day.

Tales of The City in San Francisco

I came to San Francisco in the early 1970s. So did writer Armistead Maupin.

In 1976, he was writing for the San Francisco Chronicle and began a series of columns on San Francisco life called "Tales of the City."

I, and all of my friends were regular readers/followers of his columns...it didn't matter if we were gay or straight; we lived here and in one way or another, we related to the experiences and adventures of his characters, all of whom were modeled after Maupin's life in San Francisco.

Two years or so later, "Tales of the City" was compiled into a book. There were sequels to the book as well. And, "Tales" was a television series as well, I think on PBS.

And now, "Tales" is being performed as a play by San Francisco's ACT (American Conservatory Theater).

Harriet and I went to see it yesterday, and it is WONDERFUL and, for us, nostalgic too. I am sure it will move on to New York and who knows where else. But, for now, San Francisco is the only place to see it. It is three hours long and what an amazing three hours this it.

We went to a matinee and afterwards, had an early dinner at the nearby Daily Grill, one of my favorites for reasonably-priced meals in downtown San Francisco...we both had the Chicken Pot Pie, after sharing a Caesar Salad. And, yes, we both ate just about all of our pies!!!



A perfect afternoon for good, longtime friends.

Wrapping up Las Vegas

Our last evening in Las Vegas was our most memorable.

We first had an early dinner at the Carnegie Deli in the Mirage.

Remembering the last time we ate at the Carnegie Deli, we knew that their sandwiches are larger than most "normal" people can consume. We ordered just a simple Corned Beef on Rye (not one of their fancy combination sandwiches) and willingly paid the extra $3 to share it.



But, we still wound up with more food than we could eat. We wanted at least one side dish and asked our server how big the portions were. She said that the sides are served in the same size dish as the one in which the complementary pickles are served. Looking at the reasonably-sized pickle dish on the table, we decided to order two sides: Potato Salad and Cole Slaw. Surprise! The sides may be served in the smallish dish, but the serving is piled dangerously high vertically in those dishes!



After our meal, I wanted something sweet for dessert. I thought I was "safe" ordering a Chocolate Chip cookie, but, again, another surprise...the order of Chocolate Chip cookies includes two of the biggest cookies I've ever seen. Jim and I managed to eat most of one and took the second one home to California with us.



After dinner, we went to see "Love," the Cirque du Soleil show about the Beatles that is playing permanently at the Mirage. The figure in the front is me, trying to be part of the wall outside of the theatre.



I've seen many Cirque du Soleil performances, both the traveling shows that come to San Francisco every two years and another of the Cirque's permanent shows in Las Vegas. "Love" is the best of the best...fast paced, lively, clever!! I was so hyped up from the energy of the show, it took me a long time to calm down enough to fall asleep that night.

After breakfast at the Bellagio buffet, we spent most of our last morning, wandering around City Center.



The following photos are the best way to get an impression of what City Center is all about...it's a huge complex of hotels, shops, restaurants.



The architecture is confusing and striking. Some of the hotels are the Aria, Vdara, Cosmopolitan, and the Mandarin Oriental. The yellow buildings are the Veer, which are condos to purchase and/or apartments to rent.





Our favorite hotel in City Center is the Mandarin Oriental. It's lobby is on its 23rd floor and has this fabulous view.



For me, the most interesting part of City Center is the public art by famous artists.



And, one last photo of the Jean Philippe Patisserie in the Bellagio. Colored marshmallows are what cover this train in the middle.

PARROT HEADS MEET UP AGAIN

Jimmy Buffett came through town this past weekend for his annual show in the Bay Area. This year's tour is called "Under The Big Top"

As always Jimmy was in great form, even though it was drizzling through part of the show (not on Jimmy though, but certainly on us) and it was cold enough out that Jimmy was wearing jeans rather than his usual shorts...the man is no fool at 62, almost 63!

And, the Giants won on Saturday night, too...right before the concert started. In fact, Jimmy came out on stage in a Giants Jacket to tell us the good news.


So for three glorious hours, we enjoyed an ever-entertaining show, with little time in our seats...After all, you have to be up dancing with everyone else.

This year, Ruth and I had new additions to our usual getups of hula skirts, Margaritaville tee shirts, and a variety of jewelry: We had new Parrothead hats!





Chris and Rob, who went with us this year, dressed a bit more conservatively, but did not seem too embarrassed to be with us.



While there were other Parrot and Shark heads in the crowd, we only saw two others with hats like ours...oh, and it kept our heads warm too!



Here's a closer look at the amazing Parrot Head!



Looking forward to next time, Jimmy!

FOUR DAYS IN LAS VEGAS 2009: DAY THREE

Picking up with my tale of our four days in Las Vegas at the end of June, we started our third day with some time at the Bellagio pools.



Since I like to swim laps, I needed to be at the pools at 8 a.m. when they open. This pool is the best pool for lap swimming and early in the morning it is not packed with adults and kids simply hanging out in the middle of the pool. Some afternoons I actually encountered groups gathered around rafts on which perched their cocktails, in the middle of the pool.

Later in the morning, we head off to M & M World, four stories of all things M & M.



On the way, we walked past the City Center project, which is well under way.



We always head for the top floor of M & M World first, and then work our way down. The top floor features the M & M race car and much of the merchandise is racing themed.





There is stuff to buy on every floor and judging from the number of people making large purchases, it seems the word of an economic downturn have not reached Las Vegas.

There is a very nice view of New York New York hotel and its Coney Island roller coaster from the upper floors of M & M World.



On the third floor is a small M & M museum and a theatre that shows an M & M movie in 3-D. The current movie is "I Lost my M in Vegas."



The second floor features dispensers of M & Ms in every imaginable color. You can create your own mixture or purchase mixtures in a variety of bags and decorative containers. Since Fourth of July was coming up, I bought a red, white, and blue mixture to bring as a hostess gift to our friends with whom we were spending the Fourth.

The first floor has more souvenir items...lots of jewelry and keychains...the kinds of things that you can buy quickly to take home as souvenirs.

By the time we left M & M World we were ready for lunch. Wanting to eat lightly, because we had a special afternoon treat planned, we stopped at the Earl of Sandwich in Planet Hollywood.



Earl of Sandwich is a quick food place that is way above the average...large fresh sandwiches, salads, and soup, all at very reasonable prices, It is right inside the entrance to the hotel's Miracle Mile Shops, the south entrance, which is closest to M & M World. We both had tuna salads.



Back at the Bellagio, we checked out Jean Philippe, which sells French pastries, chocolates, crêpes, and light meals.



Knowing that we would be indulging in more food shortly, Jim had to be content to just look at the pastries.



The special treat of our afternoon was Afternoon Tea at Petrossian, also in the Bellagio. Jim has never had a formal afternoon tea but proposed it to celebrate a project I have been working on that relates to tea.








The table was set with fine China and Linen. We were served scones with lemon curd, clotted cream, whipped cream, and jams and jellies. We had several tea sandwiches. And, finished up with a selection of sweets. We each chose a variety of tea, and had our own tea pot of that tea. We relaxed over tea for several hours.

Having enjoyed our tea until about 5 p.m., we did not plan any dinner.

For the evening's entertainment, we partook of some of the free shows that go on outside the hotels.

We walked North on the Strip, enjoying the warm night and views of the hotels along the way.

I am not sure I have ever walked along the sidewalk in front of the Mirage, or not for a long time. I was delighted to discover an enormous sculptural tribute to Sigfried & Roy.



Also, I got to see the Venetian from the other side of the street...usually I am right in front of it.





Our first destination was the Pirate show at Treasure Island.




We then moved next door to the Mirage which has erupting volcanoes...we were on the back side of the volocano, close to the hotel entrance, but still saw a lot of fire and felt a lot of heat.




We took in the night lights and ducked into the Forum at Caesar's to cool off.





Back at the Bellagio, we made one final stop...at Café Gelato for a nightcap of Gelato.