Ad Hoc + Redd

As mentioned yesterday, the final day of our vacation was spent in Napa to visit D’s parents.  D’s brother and sister were also there, so it was a family reunion of sorts.

After church on Sunday morning we stopped in a park in Yountville before going to Ad Hoc for brunch. 

Last time we really enjoyed Addendum, so we were looking forward to this adjacent restaurant.

The menu is pre fixe and the menu changes all of the time.  I was hoping that day wasn’t the fried chicken and waffles since we already had tried the fried chicken.  Luckily, it was hangar steak and eggs.

Too bad I didn’t take a picture of the menu, because I can’t remember most of the detailed description of all of the courses.  The food is served family-style and everything tasted so fresh and delicious.  This was a garlic bread-crostini type of thing with charred scallion butter.

I believe this was an endive salad with some sort of smoked fish.

The hangar steak and eggs.  There was also a side of crispy potatoes.

 

For dessert: plums with crème fraiche and coconut rochers (macaroons). 

The kids were able to order a kid’s meal of pancakes and bacon for $5, so they shared one meal and had a little of our food as well.

The pancakes were served with more of the crème fraiche.  The bacon seemed dry and overcooked, which is strange considering the restaurant’s mascot is a pig. 

Yountville was really crowded and parking was difficult.  While waiting for D to get the car, we waited in the little wooded area behind Ad Hoc.

The kids had lots of fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Then it was time for dinner at Redd Wood.

Interesting décor.  It is an upscale Italian restaurant, so we had pasta and pizza.  Our waiter was quite chatty and jealous that n was sleeping during the beginning of dinner because his two year old son doesn’t take naps.

It was nice to get away one last time before summer ends.  Can’t believe tomorrow is September and school is starting next week!

Cable Car, Exploratorium and San Tung

During my three years of living in SF, I never rode the cable car.  After waiting about an hour to board, my anticipation was high.  I was imagining D hanging off the side and feeling the wind in my face, the kids squealing in delight.  Unfortunately, because we had strollers and because I misunderstood the conductor’s directions, we were relegated to standing up in the inside of the crowded car—definitely not the ideal.  (Turns out that you have to store strollers in the back, but we were still free to sit on the outside.)

View from the top of Lombard.

n actually fell asleep.

Next we drove to the Exploratorium.  We were able to use our Discovery Science Center passes to get in for free ($25 value for adults!)

Yes, this was our third museum visit of our trip!  It is definitely the largest children’s museum I have been to.  There were tons of hands-on experiments/things to play with.

Just outside the Exploratorium is the Palace of Fine Arts.  Next year, the Exploratorium is moving to one of the piers.  Their current location will be difficult to top, though.

In addition, the museum is right across the street from Crissy Field. 

Seeing the Golden Gate bridge never gets old.

Next up was dinner at San Tung in the Sunset District.  We have become quite reliant on our GPS, but this time she let us down, leading us on a circuitous route that seemed like forever.  We did pass some nice views, however. 

Once we arrived, hungry and somewhat cranky, we found out that there was already a sign-in list, and it was not even 5 p.m.!

We had to wait, but cut our wait somewhat by agreeing to sit at a large circular “Chinese restaurant” table with another party. 

Of course we had to order the famous dry-fried chicken wings.  They look spicy, but k and n were able to eat them, no problem.

We also ordered chicken chow mein, potstickers (which turned out to be ginormous, but not very flavorful), and green beans (which turned out to be quite tasty—a little sweet and a little tangy).  D added the restaurant to this Chinese food category, mostly based on the chicken wings!  Our final adventure of the day was trying to leave SF to go to D’s parents’ house in Napa.  This could be deemed the high point of our stress level during the entire vacation.  D and I were reminded why, although visiting SF is fun, we would never want to live there.  Let’s just say I have never been so relieved to be on a freeway!

SF: Saturday Morning Stroll

After checking out of our hotel, we walked to the Ferry Building for the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market. 

This gem is another addition that came along after I left SF.  We headed straight toward Cowgirl Creamery, because 1. I had neglected to have the kids drink milk for the past day! and 2. I wanted to try their famous Mt. Tam cheese.  D ordered one chocolate milk from Sidekick, their take away café while I ducked into the retail shop to buy a quarter pound of Mt. Tam.  There were some serious cheeseheads.  I overheard one guy order “the largest container, full to bursting” of x type of cheese and a worker explain that he tries not to buy too many clothes so he can buy more cheese.  Interesting. 

Pick up a pain epi from Acme bread right next door, and you’re good to go.  D noted this breakfast was the equivalent of the baguettes and butter he enjoyed so much in Paris.  Bon appetit!

This was our view during our al fresco breakfast.  Nice and overcast, just the way I like it.

Although we had a Blue Bottle coffee the night before, D had to order a latte from an actual Blue Bottle shop to make sure he had an authentic Blue Bottle experience. 

D added some brown sugar to the latte.  It really does deserve its high reputation!  Added that one to the List.

We debated about whether to get the porchetta sandwich from Roli Roti at around 9:45 a.m.  Just seemed wrong.  However, I’m glad we did because due to all of our walking we ended up not eating a real lunch and didn’t grab a snack until after 2 p.m.! 

Don’t let all the micro greens fool you—there is some serious pork happening in there.  Another one to add to the List!

We ended up walking from the Ferry Building to Pier 39 to Ghiradelli Square. 

While we were walking around Pier 39, D saw one of the Japanese executives from his work who was on vacation with his wife.  D talked to him a little bit and we marveled at the chances of bumping into each other so far away from home.

Alcatraz shrouded in fog.

 

Boudin Bakery had a window where you could interact with the bakers.

I was able to put a stamp in my passport for the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

Ghiradelli was a bit of a disppointment—too bad they moved the actual factory. 

D and I had a “study date” here on this lawn back in our undergrad days. Who knew that we would return with our two kids some 14 years later?