Bamboo Restaurant

Tea Time was looking for a quick dinner on Polk Street before going to hear Roz Chast speak. We decided on Bamboo because in addition to the fast service, the food is excellent. They are now serving Japanese dishes in addition to their original Chinese cuisine, but we both decided on Chinese.

Simple but elegant place settings

 The condiments included a giant bottle of "Rooster Sauce." Tea Time is not fond of blisteringly hot food, but those who like it will be happy at Bamboo.

Our tea was served in this elegant teapot.

 J.K., who eats a lot of salad at home, chose Fresh Garden with Prawns. There are a lot of prawns hiding among those tender, fresh mixed vegetables.

 Angela opted for Honey Walnut Chicken.

This was more food than we could eat, so we packed up our leftovers and got to the Nourse Theater in plenty of time to find our seats and get settled before Ms. Chast started her presentation.

Meraki Market

Stanlee Gatti's Meraki Market is open at last. Located at 927 Post Street (Hyde), this upscale market has an amazing selection of top-quality groceries. The market is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, to provide you with prepared food, groceries, produce and housewares items.

The store boasts a wood-burning oven

The Market makes excellent use of a small space. These pictures show only some of the items available on the ground floor.

Bai Sparkling Antioxidant Infusion

Bai was at the Eat Real Festival in Oakland, handing out full-sized samples of their sparkling antioxidant infusion to the thirsty crowd. I had brought my trusty water bottle with me, so I saved my infusion to take home, where I could give it my full attention.

There are a few chemicals in there, but it's made with real juice, has no artificial sweeteners and has only 5 calories in the 11.5 ounce can.

  

And here it is, poured.

A lovely pink color, that tastes as good as it looks. Not too sweet, just right for a thirsty person.

Annual Party at the Internet Archive

Beth and I attended the Internet Archive's annual party. For the first time, the Archive sold tickets to the party, but it was well worth the $15 admission.

While waiting for the bus, I tried to take a picture of the bright pink sun, but it didn't show up on my phone's camera.

There were three taco trucks serving the crowd.

 

Three mild beef tacos

Two Spicy Beef Tacos

There was a DeLorean for photo ops and exhibits of the Archives projects.

We were given "passports" to collect stars for visiting the exhibits.

 

Around the corner, there were guacamole, chips, and vegetarian burritos.

Large Tub of Cups

Equally large tub of guacamole

Tray of Burritos wrapped in foil to keep them warm

 

There were also wine, beer and soft drinks available.

There was a brass band to entertain us.

After an excellent program on the Wayback Machine,which you can see here, there was ice cream for dessert and dancing for those who wanted to stay and socialize some more.

The evening's gift was a fashion "beanie" with the Archive's logo embroidered on it. When they said beanie, I was expecting an old-fashioned propeller beanie, but it was the current re-named watch cap which is much more useful in windy San Francisco.

Dream Chocolate at Octagon House

After 42 years in San Francisco, I finally got to tour Octagon House, on the corner of Union and Gough,  which is open only on the second Sunday and Second and Fourth Thursdays of the month for docent-led tours from 12:00 to 3:00. The docents are members of the National Society of  the Colonial Dames of America in California, which uses the house as  its headquarters as well as operating it as a museum. The docents all love the house and are amazingly well-informed and interesting. There is no set entrance fee but a $4 donation is recommended and well worth it.

There isn't an elaborate gift shop, but there are a few things for sale at the entrance. The chocolate bars are made by Dream Chocolate and are available in one ounce bars of dark or milk chocolate. Dream calls itself an artisan chocolate company, but does not appear to be a bean-to-bar outfit. They proclaim that their chocolate is European, but do not name the company they buy it from. They have a whole line in their own name and have many private label customers. These Octagon House bars are tasty and well worth the reasonable price, which I won't list because prices are always subject to change.

There is also a selection of TeaStation custom tea blends, formulated for Octagon House by Mill Valley's TeaFountain.

Clay Street Cheesesteaks

I'm never in the mood for a cheesesteak at lunch, because to get up to Broadway and back on my lunch hour and have time to eat would exhaust my hour and I'd have to stay late.  So, when I saw Clay Street Cheesesteaks open on Clay between Montgomery and Kearny, I knew I had to give them a try.

The cheesesteak is actually pretty good.  The artisanal bun is excellent, and the meat and cheese combined is everything you'd look for in a cheesesteak.

In 21st century fashion, you have a lot of choices; they don't just whip out the classic for you. Additionally, your cheesesteak can be chicken if you want.

However, it was just odd that onions come with but peppers have to be ordered as an addition.  What would they say in Philadelphia?

They don't sell chips, which is bizarre.  They do have fries, but those are mostly $4.50 with choice of toppings.  You can get a cheesesteak, fries and drink combo, but I didn't ask if that mean unsmothered fries.

So, it was a nice meal and good for a cheesesteak fix, but I must admit their concept of a cheesesteak joint completely throws me.

To Do Cafe and Seafood

My cousin Carol Ann down home posted on Facebook about her favorite restaurant, the To Do Cafe and Seafood.  She made it sound so good that I had to check it out when I was on the Northern Neck of Virginia for our family reunion.  I spent one day tooling around Richmond County, finding the location of my great-grandparents' house at Stony Hill and the Veterans Administration headstone (Rev War) for a great-great-great-great-grandfather.  That one's beneath two walnut trees behind a Budweiser warehouse.

From the county seat of Warsaw, the To Do was only seven miles away, so I crossed the Rappahannock into Tappahannock (try saying that six times fast), passed the highly touted Northern Neck Burgers, and made my way to the To Do Cafe.

 

Carol Ann did not steer me wrong.  For $18 I had a combination plate of a big ol' crab cake (all killer, no filler) and half a dozen fried oysters.  For sides, I had butter beans and onion rings, and they threw in a couple of hush puppies.  The onion rings were pedestrian, but everything else met my standards for sho 'nuff boss chow.

Oddly enough, one of the owners is a huge Oakland Raiders fan. It was a touch of home, while down home.

There's also a campaign 'round those parts to get people to do their fertilizing in the fall, rather than the spring, so the rains won't cause runoff into the river and interfere with crab mating season. Ergo, "Save the Crabs, Then Eat 'Em."

Ghirardelli Chocolate Manufactory

Arline and I went to Fisherman's Wharf for some for some serious souvenir shopping.  Lunch was hours ago and we were hungry again, so we stopped at Ghirardelli Square for ice cream. We went to the Original Chocolate Manufactory, and watched the chocolate-making machines (and inhaled the divine scent of the molten chocolate) while we waited for our orders.

Arlene chose a butterscotch sundae.

I couldn't resist an interesting take on an ice cream soda. Instead of chocolate syrup and seltzer, the "soda" part was cold cocoa.

After that, we didn't need dinner!