Bay Area Weekend
Friday Evening: Have a cocktail. You can make it at home, using spirits you purchased at the grocery store, or even the Rite Aid, believe it or not. Booze is readily available in this town, and it is reasonably priced. While California has the reputation as the ultimate nanny state, a socialist paradise, in many cases the opposite is actually true. Take the sale of alcohol. In so many states the government controls the sale of alcohol. This monopoly results in an expensive, limited variety that rivals the bakery shelves of the 1980's Soviet Union. Not so, California - alcohol can be sold practically anywhere. Need to stop at the drugstore for toothpaste and tampons? Pick up some tequila. Stopping at the Asian market for tofu and kimchee? Grab some soju and, what the heck, a bottle of good chardonnay.
You can, of course, go out for a drink. The price will be higher, but then so may the quality. The Bay Area has been part of the gourmet cocktail trend from the beginning, and even places in the suburbs feature their own mixologist, making premium cocktails using fancy mixers like home-made tonic an even specially-made ice.
The point is, have a drink. Relax. Get some rest.
Saturday Morning: Go to the farmers' market. Buy fresh stuff that was grown, raised, milked, or cultured within a 100 mile radius of where you live. We go to the big market held at the College of San Mateo. In the winter we buy citrus that screams California with every sweet, juicy bite. In the summer we buy fresh figs - eating one is a moving, sensual experience that leaves me speechless every time. Year-round we buy dates, and whatever vegetable is in season, planning our meals around what is good now. And every week I buy a shot of kraut juice. One of the vendors sells small-batch, organic sauerkraut (which is out-of-this-world good). They also sell shots of the juice. Packed with live cultures, it is purported to have multiple heath benefits. It also tastes fantastic - my favorite is the smoked Jalapeno.
Saturday afternoon: Make date bars with the dates you bought at the market. Eat half of the roasted chicken you picked up there too. Have a glass of pinot noir. Take a nap.
Or, head to the beach for a picnic. Take the blood oranges you bought at the market, and the date bars. Watch dogs jump around in the chilly surf as the light bounces off of everything. Work up an appetite by throwing the football with your spouse.
Saturday night: Go to any one of hundreds of great ethnic restaurants. Want a fantastic (and fancy) Indian meal? Go to Dosa, on Fillmore. Enjoy the lovely food, stylish setting and beautiful people.
After dinner, walk up and down Fillmore, stopping for a frozen yogurt at Fraiche, where they make it with high-end ingredients and fresh, organic fruit.
If you would rather go more casual, head to a taqueria, like El Grullense in Redwood City. Try a cabrito (goat) burrito. The rich, juicy meat will have been stewed for hours, the beans and rice will be flavorful without being salty, and the salsa will be fresh and smoky, adding enough heat to balance out the sweetness of the goat. It will make you cry tears of gratitude.
Sunday morning: Go out for dim sum. San Francisco and its surrounding area has a long history of Chinese culture and a large Chinese population. You can find good dim sum up and down the peninsula. Go early, to beat the crowds.
For those who don't know, dim sum is the original small plate experience. It is the Chinese tapas. Traditionally, women push carts through the restaurant, offering baskets full of dumplings filled with delicious varieties of pork or shrimp, or pork and shrimp, as well as other types of meat and even vegetables. You can also get chicken feet (Yum!) or turnip cakes, or congee. Try to go with friends, so you can sample a wide variety of dishes.
Sunday afternoon: By now you will have had a great weekend. You will be rested, sun-kissed, and well-fed. Try to keep that relaxed feeling as you finally deal with real life and get ready for the workweek ahead. Call your mother. Pay your bills and check your finances. Clean the bathroom. Run to the drugstore to pick up your prescription.
Oh, and while you are there, grab a bottle of gin, just because you can.
