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.

Today is Day One for the iPhone 3G S

Last July I was in line, well before sunrise, to purchase the second generation of Apple's iPhone, the iPhone 3G.

Today, less than a year later, a faster more capable less expensive iPhone, the 3G S model, went on sale at Apple and AT&T stores at 7 a.m.

But, I wasn't there. Despite the nifty new features, I cannot justify replacing last year's model...at least not just yet. Yesterday, I was, however, among the first to install the latest iPhone upgrade which gives me some of the new features...search, cut & past, and voice recorder, to name a few. But, I will need the new model to take advantage of Voice Control, a camera with focus features, a camcorder, more memory, and a faster speed.

So, I went about my morning as usual, but by noon, I could not resist being part of the "action." I had to see what was going on at the Walnut Creek Apple Store. So off I went.

There was a line outside, but not a line around the block, as was the case last year.



For this iPhone, customers could reserve one in advance to assure getting one on Day One, thus the shorter lines. But, as is typically the case, there are always those who don't get their act together to reserve in advance, and so there were several hopeful customers, patiently waiting in line outside the store, on the chance that not all the iPhones were reserved.



Last year, Apple passed out bottles of water to keep those in line cool and hydrated. I am not sure about the water, but this time around, those in line were under the shelter of very nice black umbrellas, provided for use by the store.

At 12:20 p.m., over 5 hours after the store opened, an employee came out to announce that they were out of iPhones for today. This lucky customer clutched his bag a bit tighter as he left the store while the announcement of no more phones was being made.



It looked like they were taking the names of those who wanted to reserve one from the next shipment. And, those in line were invited to return tomorrow.




Of course, the City of Walnut Creek benefited by the release of the new iPhone by issuing parking tickets to the cars in front of the store that had exceeded the time on their parking meters, probably because their owners were inside making their purchase or were still in line and didn't want to risk losing their place.

I am already starting to save my pennies for next year's model.

MY NEW FAVORITE DAY OUTING

It was so much fun a month ago, I had to do it again!

Last week, Marcia was in town and we were looking for a place to meet in San Francisco. Remembering how much I enjoyed my recent walk in Crissy Field, followed by lunch at Green's, I suggested that's what we do.

Walking along the paths in Crissy Field, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge in one direction and views of the downtown San Francisco skyline in the other direction, I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world.



Crissy Field was originally an airfield in the U.S. Army's Presidio Base. It became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area when the Presidio was closed in the 1990s. In 2001, it reopened as a park with an expansive wildlife habitat, a tidal marsh, a beach, and a simply wonderful place to walk, run, and bicycle, while enjoying the outdoors and the spectacular views.




We started our walk from the Visitor Center and walked for an hour or so, well past the Warming Hut but not quite to Fort Point.



Both the Warming Hut and the Visitor Center have small cafés that serve beverages and light meals and snacks. The Warming Hut is a great place to stop for coffee or hot chocolate on a cool foggy San Francisco day.



Our next destination was Green's restaurant in Fort Mason. We could have walked to Fort Mason, but would have needed much more time than we had allowed; it's a pretty long walk, but all the paths are on flat ground and make for very easy walking.

If I haven't mentioned it in other posts, Green's, which opened in 1979, is San Francisco's first "gourmet" vegetarian restaurant. Actually, it is Green's that was the first high profile vegetarian restaurant in the United States. It's dining room is architecturally beautiful and looks out onto the Marina and the Golden Gate Bridge.





Initially, Green's operated under the auspices of the San Francisco Zen Center, with all the employees being Zen students. To this day, Green's continues to maintain a connection with the Zen center, but not exclusively. The Zen Center's Green Gulch Farms in Marin County continues to provide the restaurant with its organic produce. Even non-vegetarians enjoy the creative food at Green's so much, that they don't even notice that there no meat, fish or poultry is served.

Marcia had a Green Salad with Cheese.




My choice was the Grilled Vegetable Sandwich. Those tiny round objects in the garnish on my plate are the tiniest potatoes I have ever seen/eaten. Just looking at them, I thought they were olives.



I can't wait for my next visit to both of these places.

A TRUE SIGN OF SUMMER

It is not officially summer yet, but yesterday I harvested my first tomato of summer...yes, that's the red thing that J is trying to devour!

To celebrate, we had BLT's for dinner. Yum! There is nothing like fresh veggies from the garden!

Looking forward to a summer of Panzanella, Tomato and Basil Salads, and, of course, many more BLTs.