Sunday, April 10, 2005
It's Patrick's birthday today! We made aram sandwiches for Kristina's baby shower tomorrow. We drove to Golden Gate Park and got a hot dog and Icee snack at the boat house. The sky was mostly clear and the weather was warmish in the sun, cold in the shade. The water level of Stow Lake was currently too low for the paddle boats and rowboats to operate. For some reason, an elderly man sat with a handwritten sign which said as much at the boat house counter—we couldn't figure out why he had to hold the sign. (I thought he wanted to feel helpful.) We hiked to the top of Strawberry Hill, a small mountain in the middle of Stow Lake. The view was disappointing because of all the trees. Why doesn't someone chop them down to make paper? (Just kidding about the chopping but not kidding about the view.) The artificial waterfall wasn't running, either. If you're thinking about doing this same short hike, I recommend Buena Vista Park or Twin Peaks instead of Strawberry Hill. The other not-so-nice thing was that we smelled poop a whole lot while walking through GG Park. I could only hope that it was from a dog and not from human animals. After the park, we drove to Divisadero Car Wash, then we stopped in the Castro. Patrick wanted some new jeans but we went from shop to shop, saying hi to Adrian (we saw his new double-phoenix tattoo—cool! sexy!) and Jesse and Hussein. Stopped at Safeway on the way home. Snack: ham sandwich on a bagel from Safeway. I sang Happy Birthday for Patrick and we ate slices of the birthday cake we bought yesterday at Ambrosia. The cake is chocolate cake on the bottom layer (dark brown), chocolate mousse in the middle layer (light brown), and white chocolate mousse on the top layer (white). Deeeelicious! Patrick napped while I did laptop maintenance. Dinner at Aziza (415-752-2222, 5800 Geary Blvd) with Patrick. We really like this Moroccan restaurant whose dark but enchanting interiors reminded us of Tantra in Silverlake. (See 2002/08/01.) There is lots to like about Aziza: the staff is friendly, accommodating, and efficient. The seating (padded, colorful chairs and benches) is comfortable, even luxurious. The walls and ceiling are artful—painted tiles, patterned and stained woods, exposed wooden beams. After we ordered, the first item to arrive (not counting water glasses) was a pot of hot Moroccan mint tea (sweetened traditional moroccan tea, packed with fresh mint & a splash of orange blossom water), pre-sweetened but not too sweet—just the perfect amount. We also ordered a side of moroccan spiced mission almonds—these were coated in something sweet and slightly spicy; I was able to tolerate about a dozen given a proper pacing. They put a smile on our faces; maybe we are easily pleased, but it's not often we taste something so unique as these nuts. We also received a bowl of slightly sweet (honeyed?) anise bread encrusted with sesame seed as well as a small bowl of marinated olives and almonds. Our first course arrived: Patrick had tricolor, steamed Coke Farm beets with goat cheese pearls and balsamic vinaigrette, and I had seafood triangles (prawns & alaskan halibut tucked into phyllo, parslied couscous with pine nuts, saffron essence). Patrick wants me to mention specifically the artful arrangement of the beets dish. The plate was square with the beets and goat cheese in one corner and clover sprouts and dots of balsamic in the other then an empty space in the middle. "It was like looking at a piece of art," he says. We thought the tea was so good that we ordered a second pot. Main courses: Patrick had saffron-infused Hoffman Ranch cornish hen (capped with house-preserved meyer lemons, purple potato mash), and I had grilled Hoffman Ranch thyme chicken brochettes (with steamed saffron couscous and something they called "vegetable stew" but it's not a stew—it might be stewed vegetables, but it's not a stew). Patrick's braised cornish hen was pre-sliced and arranged like duck, and it tasted like duck, too, with a crispy skin and a rich, thick, flavorful sauce. My chicken brochettes were well marinated and grilled perfectly—they remained astoundingly juicy throughout. No dry corners or edges. Patrick had a glass of Cairanne (grenache / syrah / mourvèdre, domaine richaud, rhône, france, 2002) with the main course. We finished with the chocolate pot (suave chocolate & scharffen berger cocoa nibs, whipped cream—allow eight minutes), which arrived with a silver, festive, fourth-of-july sparkler and "Happy Birthday, Patrick!" handwritten in chocolate along the plate's edge—the hostess must have tipped off our server or the kitchen after Patrick mentioned offhandedly that it was his birthday while we were being seated. One thing I had never seen before: after our server took our leftovers to be wrapped, instead of returning with the leftovers she returned with a beautiful red mosaic glass paperweight in the shape of a heart. On the underside, it said something like, "We won't forget your leftovers." That's an elegance I had never seen before in all my experience of fine dining—very classy. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at Aziza and would definitely return. There are only a few recommendations I could make to improve the restaurant. Lighting in the rear room to the left (where we sat) is sometimes unacceptable. The table next to us, for instance, had one diner whose plate was perfectly lit, but the plate of the woman next to her (the same table) received only ambient light and no direct light. Just increase the number of halogen lamps on the wire track above. Maybe our server forgot, but no one crumbed our table. Very classy in every other way—tablecloths too—so why no crumbing? Our server forgot to bring Patrick's glass of wine with the main course, but a neighboring server and our hostess quickly repaired the problem enough for us to gladly overlook this small inconsistency. Other nice touches: mosaic glass candles throughout, the ceiling lamp in the bar throwing pretty light patterns on the dark ceiling, design elements from the wall tiles matched elsewhere in the room create a harmonious effect, luxurious draperies throughout, the bathroom was clean and tidy, all the staff we encountered seemed happy and unrushed, the music—mostly loungey electronica—was perfect and fitting for the environment. Our server, Jennifer, reminded me of Audrey Hepburn. If you can grant yourself a few hours to not worry about the forthcoming bill, it's very much a dining pleasure here. In fact, the euphoric mood seemed to touch everyone—we chatted briefly with neighboring tables on both sides of us. The booths in the front room seemed to me to be the best seats—the trio of candles atop each booth repeat to create a magical, romantic setting. The next best seating is the rear left which opens to the bar. Avoid the rear right room if possible—it's nice enough but slightly claustrophobic despite the large lit false window. Patrick says that room felt like a bar or a tavern—less formal. As we left, we were met with the remains of a bizarre San Francisco scene. I didn't understand the entire story, but for some reason police were attending to some incident and somehow a rubbernecking driver accidentally plowed into another car—how embarrassing. A man attacked another man with a crowbar; someone claimed that the victim had lost some teeth. Valet parking was $8. Our dinner bill was $101 after a $17 tip. Aziza offers a fixed price meal for $39 (minimum party of 8, all diners in your party must choose the fixed price meal), and Patrick thought it would be wonderful to bring 8 or 9 people to all get the prix fixe. Aziza has been open for about 3 years. Some of the dishes have an air of Savoury's Laguna Beach (chef Brad Toles; see 2002/08/03) but the flavor-combining craziness is tempered somewhat in comparison. One example from the dinner menu: kumquat-enriched niman ranch lamb shank, bergamot-infused dried fruits, cranberry couscous, grilled green onion. One example from the dessert menu: all grown up sorbets: rioja-raspberry, riesling-passion fruit, mint-cilantro.