Kim Won't Like It

Let's just get that out of the way. Kimster hates avocados. It's her only flaw. She's allowed to have one.
Moving on, unless you're Kimster, you're gonna love you some Roberto's Guacamole. JP bought some at Whole Foods and man, it rocks. Ingredients: avocado, roasted chiles, roasted tomatoes, red onion, roasted garlic (think they like roasting?), key lime juice, some spices and salt. I could have eaten the whole container myself, but exercised my usual ladylike constraint. Or maybe I was kind of full from dinner. Whatever.

Funky Friday

Still feeling funky, I made the executive decision to work a half-day, take BART to the Mission and steep my sinuses in a huge bowl of sweet and sour noodle soup at Herbivore.
This was a fabulous idea, and I feel better today. Maybe it was the magical soup with its essence of lime, its wealth of greenery (spinach, broccoli, green onion, cilantro), its slippery rice noodles and tofu. Some nice slices of whole-wheat toast, nestled beside the bowl, helped sop up the liquid. (Yeah, I like soggy things, we all have our weird tics, let's move on.) And the waitress was kind about bringing extra napkins, since long noodles + soup = dripping chin. Try this on a Friday; if you're feeling healthy, so much the better.

Cold Comfort

Am I getting a cold? Why do I have the chills? Where's my soup??
JP and I walked the few blocks to Eric's, so I could have some Chinese penicillin, i.e., vegetarian Hot & Sour. So soothing, a thickish broth laden with clouds of egg and bits of tofu, enoki threads floating on top. This was followed by a platter of diagonal-cut asparagus in a garlicky black bean sauce, with triangles of tofu added per my request. Eaten with brown rice, this was just exactly right for a soon-to-be raining night.

Soul on Ice

The charming Maria met me for coffee this morning at Blue Bottle, coffee mecca of the Ferry Building. Since it was warm, I was thinking iced latte. But luckily the waiter-dude helpfully steered me to the New Orleans iced coffee. I'm not exactly sure of the magical overnight steeping process, with chicory and a bit of organic brown sugar, but when combined with ice and milk it is truly an elixir of the gods. Said dude warned me it was very caffeinated...as if that would deter me! No, man, bring it on.
Side note: two women got in line behind me, and when one left to visit the restroom, she gave the other her order: nonfat iced white mocha. Oh, honey, let me point you toward the Starbucks...

The Raw and the Toasted

To some people, a sandwich is a sandwich. There are even folks - I've met them - who dislike sandwiches, find them boring. That's hard for me to understand, being a huge fan of bread, but I will say there's a big difference between your pedestrian, slapped-together sandwich and one in which the bread is toasted before assembly.
I have walked by Hadi's many times; never went in until today. Their claim to fame is gyros, and I don't eat meat. But they also do plenty of vegi items: falafel, garden burgers, and the avocado-hummus-cheese sandwich that cost me a whopping $5.50. Yes, they toasted the bread first. There was a nice spreading of avo and chickpea puree, Swiss cheese (they have other choices), sprouts, lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickles. Jalapenos if you must. Nice people behind the counter and a good selection of cold drinks. And hey, a block from my office! Hadi's, I see a future for the two of us. Keep the toaster warm for me.

East Bay Envy

That's what I've got. On one of the most beautiful nights in recent history, I took BART to North Berkeley to meet my ex-neighbor Andy for dinner. But first I got to admire his cute little house in Albany, with its built-ins and fireplace and deck-with-a-view. The walk to Solano, which must translate to 'street of many restaurants', made me want to move there. Ohhhh. Cute Craftsman cottages. Flowers and lawns. Absence of trash and noise...
We went to Fonda, the perfect place to spend a slow balmy evening. My cocktail, Seis de Mayo, was a big glass of rum, pineapple juice, ginger beer and bitters...Despite my lightweight rep, I drank the whole thing. Then we shared some lovely small plates: spinach salad with oranges, walnuts, red onion and goat cheese; scallop ceviche; tuna tartare with avocado; warm tortillas; and more spinach, sauteed with pinenuts, apples and raisins.
The stroll back to Andy's featured a sliver of moon and several cats lolling around in their spacious yards. Everything smelled of jasmine. Nope, I wouldn't mind living there someday.

Noodles for a Wet Noodle

OK, after an 80-minute massage in a darkened room by a Frenchman named Xavier - and a dreamy trip to the baths at the Kabuki Spa - a girl finds herself meltingly relaxed, cucumber-lotioned, and ready for lunch. That girl might want to walk around the corner to Suzu, where she'll most likely have to add her name to a list. But it's worth it; my Vegetable Udon was a huge bowl of broth, fresh-made ropes of noodles and squares of tofu, plus all sorts of veggies: cabbage, broccoli, carrot slivers, eggplant, kabocha squash. My pal Spunky gave it the thumbs-up as well, although she was so mellow she could barely lift her thumb.

Mao For Now

It's cold out. So cold it hailed all over me as I waited for the train. Wet, cold, hungry. In need of comfort and slippery noodles, I dialed Regent Thai and ordered the remedy for my ills: Pad Kee Mao. I got a nice big box full of wide rice noodles, plump shrimp, onions, peppers, carrots and lettuce, just the right degree of oily and spicy (for me, that means not so much). I slid my dinner into a bowl and dug in, safe in my cozy kitchen. Elements, you are no match for the Mao.

On The Town

I need to get out more.
Like Saturday, that was pretty great. Drinks at Smuggler's Cove with the lovely Elise. We were two complicated Jewish girls, both in need of a drink. That, my friend, they have in spades. You have to walk a bit afield of Hayes Valley proper, up Gough to McAllister, and the only clue there was a bar inside was the snappily-dressed doorman sitting outside. But there is in fact three floors of bar, and a nifty waterfall flowing down the wall to the basement. Elise and I enjoyed our rum drinks, mine the Millionaire Cocktail, which included many things I don't recall. That was a stiff drink, matey! But I know some apricot liqueur was involved.
Afterwards, we strolled to the Mission for burritos at Mariachi's on Valencia. Talk about yer vegi-friendly! How did I miss this place? My California burrito was full of grilled veggies, mango salsa, black beans and rice (brown by request, though they have Spanish and ginger varieties). JP joined us and I snagged a most righteous spicy shrimp off of his taco plate. Yep, rum drinks and burritos; Nosh is one classy broad.