on the other side

Michael Mina

Last month I celebrated a friend's birthday at Michael Mina.  It's been on my list of 'must try places" for the last two years but has been slipping down the charts in favor of more affordable restaurants.  The benefits of eating with a large group (there were 12 of us) are the number of dishes that you can try. But large sittings generally mean larger bills. My grand total was $260, which was thankfully less than my meal at French Laundry. 

Located in the Westin St. Francis hotel across from Union Square, you can ride the hotel's glass elevator to the top floor and look over all of downtown.  Or well, at least one side of downtown.  The atmosphere at MM isn't as stuffy as French Laundry, in fact the noise level can get pretty high in the open areas.  Men aren't required to wear jackets but you can always find a few suits that have come in after work.  It's the type of place where men talk business, couples celebrate anniversaries, and girls get way too dolled up in organza skirts.

They serve a three course prix-fixe menu as well as a chef's selection tasting menu.  The tasting menu is easier for those that hate making decisions.  But when you're paying a hefty price for it, might as well do the work yourself.  Within each course there are several selections, of which you can choose only one.  Each selection has one core ingredient and is prepared in three different ways.  There are also "classics" to choose from, which are dishes that the chef is known for but those are only prepared in one way. 

Confused?  So was I.

For my first course, I chose the the Hudson Valley foie gras served hot to cold with huckleberry gastique, pickled strawberries, poached rhubarb and pistachio crumble.  It was amazing but there was so much of it.  I ate half and gave the rest to Katie who proceeded to wipe down two other plates of extra foie gras. 

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The dishes came out so slowly that by the time course number two arrived, most of us were kind of full.  Eep. This was disappointing since my trio of premium beef was so, so good and I couldn't really enjoy it.  The first preparation was grass-fed rib-eye in a sauce au povre with creamed spinach, second was American Kobe short-rib with horseradish whipped potatoes, and the last was Misami Kobe sirloin in a bordelaise sauce with marinated mushrooms.

Dessert wasn't really memorable except for the caramel flan and green tea bon bons served with toothpicks.  By the time the bill came, it was almost midnight and I was falling asleep at the table.  No better way to end the meal I suppose.

Show us a picture of the pet you'd most like to have in your life.

Puppy

I really love cats but if I were to have a dog, it would be this little guy.  I'm not really sure what breed he is but he's such a cutie.  I don't really have time to take care of pets except for maybe fish.  But this guy was so well behaved, I could have easily taken him home with me.  Except well, he belonged to some girl wearing Ugg boots and super tight jeans.  We were at  AIDS Walk San Francisco where Team Vox joined thousands of others to raise money for a worthy cause.  That was also where I saw mayor Gavin Newsom flirting with one of the news reporters.  But that's another story...

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I'm on my fourth cup of tea today trying to stay focused on the tasks at work.  The city is chilly and I want to go back to Mexico and continue drinking pina coladas by the pool.  Puerto Vallarta was wonderful.  We almost extended our stay another two days but the cost of changing flights was too much.  I'm already thinking of my next vacation to Mexico.  I'd like to stay in one of those beach bungalows down in Playa del Carmen.

The Buenaventura Hotel was in a great location just a few blocks from the Malecon, the main boardwalk in downtown Puerto Vallarta.  Locals and tourists fill the boardwalk in the evenings with food and drinks in hand.  We only ventured out twice and spent most of our days at the resort or on outdoor excursions.  All-inclusive is wonderful especially when it includes room service and pool snacks.  I basically spent every day stuffing my face.  The resort had three relatively large pools as well as a beach area with hammocks and bamboo umbrellas.  We made sure we saw the sunset sitting on the beach that first night.

zip lines

On Saturday we took a scenic drive down the southern coast of Banderos Bay past Playa Los Arcos to the Los Veranos ecologic preserve. We scheduled a canopy tour for that afternoon which included zip lining, swimming in the river, and playing with the monkeys.   Too bad I was in a lot of pain from my sunburn otherwise I would have enjoyed it more. The zip lining was great fun and not really as scary as I thought it was going to be.  

This was both good and bad since I was looking forward to being scared shitless.  Alas I only screamed out of happiness. They make you wear helmets and the harnesses are really sturdy, so it's safe even for kids.  The guides sometimes rode in tandem with people and let them hang upside down; otherwise they were pretty strict about what you could do on the cables.  There were a total of 14 cables, the longest cable is 400 meters long and the highest is 600 meters above a river gorge. 

We hung out by the pools on Sunday and went out on the town in the early evening.  Nick found a leather shop that made belts and huaraches sandals.  Huaraches are typically hand-made where the leather is worked and hand sewn, and all the stitching and weaving is done by hand.  They come in many styles and colors and I was thinking of getting a pair made but I really didn't want to go back to pick them up. 

On Monday we took a snorkeling and dolphin tour, though apparently there were no dolphins for us to see.  Not really sure how that worked but the tour itself was kind of hit and miss.  So yeah, no dolphins.  Two weeks ago we could have seen whales swimming north but it's a bit too late in the season for that. 

The tour took us out to Marietas Island, which wasn't really an island but a bird sanctuary.  Basically an island covered in bird shit and dotted with limestone caves.  Kind of disgusting up close and the water near the caves was foaming green bubbles. 

And snorkeling in the middle of the ocean?  Cold. Murky. Cold. We really couldn''t see any fish either.  When someone did spot a fish, we would all converge on the same area battling for a view of the fish.  Lame.  I probably saw a total of three fishes and some sprinkling of pink coral.  The only great part about the island was kayaking around the cove and in between the caves.  They let us do that for a total of 15 minutes. :P

After lunch they took us to a private beach for afternoon sun.  That part of the tour was great.  The beach was clean with warm water and lots of seaweed.  Nick and I collected shells for his fish tank.  And that was the end of our adventure touring.  I'm sure the Atlantic side of Mexico has much better snorkeling and diving excursions.  That's why I want to head there next.

For our last evening in Puerto Vallarta, we dined at the most wonderful restaurant.  It was located on a hill and four stories up so you could see the entire coastline.  We ate lots of seafood and had the most amazing paella.  Ah, my mouth is watering already.  I can't wait to go back and eat some more..

I leave for Puerto Vallarta this Thursday.  It was a great deal especially considering how expensive other locations such as Playa Del Carmen or Hawaii are right now.  I paid $800 for the flight plus five nights at a really nice hotel with an all-inclusive package.  All-inclusive food is usually just okay but getting the beverages and alcohol covered is where it's at.  Friends say Puerto Vallarta has a ton of great restaurants so we'll likely be eating out a couple of nights. Can't wait!  Checked the weather out last night and it was 80 degrees even at night.  Hurrah.  Kind of wish it was a longer vacation, just an extra day or two since my days are pretty action packed.  When I booked three weeks ago I was kind of afraid of sitting on the beach for five days with nothing to do.  Eeeek, what if I got bored??  There would be the usual tanning, building sand castles, playing frisbee and reading.  And Nick would be there so it's not like I wouldn't have conversation.  But what else? What else?!!  Food. Beer. And?

So I bought a travel guide (because as hard as I try I cannot travel without doing the homework first).  For a few extra dollars, we'll now be spending our days riding zip lines across the jungle, driving VW buggies to San Sebastian, snorkeling and kayaking around Marietes Island, and I left one day for hanging out on the beach and walking around town.  :D  Hopefully I'll come back with a little bit of color.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Elizabeth Gilbert

I am quite possibly the only person in my group of friends that doesn't love this book.  Anita pestered me all summer about it, rambling on and on about how spiritual and meaningful it would be for me. Isn't that what therapy and yoga are for?  For Christmas Cindy gave me a stack of books along the lines of "know yourself and love life".  Not sure if I need to be worried about my girlfriends or me here...

This book was the first in the pack and I just finished it last week.  Despite the rave reviews and the soft spot I have for stories on perseverance and the human soul, this book was disappointing and at times downright boring.  The only saving grace was probably the author's wit and humor but even that was lost in the lengthy descriptions of love and life gone bad. 

"Eat" was interesting enough as I could relate to the joys of food and even more so, the love of pasta.  But it took me two months to get through "Pray". Good lord, I was literally crawling through the deserts of India searching for inner peace with Elizabeth.  That many pages on praying and meditation?  Not so much.  Mom should hear me now.  "Love" moved a lot quicker and had the most interesting bits (and the sex with the Brazilian expat), though it was perhaps much more flighty than the rest of the book. 

But hey, maybe that's the read I was looking for.

Dark Vader Hell

Yes, I know...kind of leaves you speechless.

Originally taken by laceandflora on ffffound.