Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Breakfast at home: oatmeal with fresh, diced nectarine and almond milk. Rode my bike to UCSF Laurel Heights. Jazzee work most of the day. Calendar management. Met 1-on-1 with Susie. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Followup with Kevin S about ISIS. Followup on a lot of web redesign asana tickets. Followup with Ian G about telephone issues. Began some new documentation in the SOP IT wiki about CASHNet. I can't remember what I had for lunch today. UC proposed IT accessibility meeting via webconf with Stephen L. Jazzee work. Late dinner at Artesano, a new restaurant in Laurel Village promising authentic South American flavors. They opened on July 12. I enjoy seeing a restaurant in its opening week. Ordering food is awkward because the large board menu prominent at the entrance makes it seem as though you order and pay then seat yourself and they deliver your food. However, after I spent several minutes deciding what to eat, when I ordered I was asked if I wanted for here or to go and I said for here. Then I was offered a seat and a menu. I accepted the seat but refused the menu (because by then I knew what I wanted) and placed my order. Several minutes later someone else attempted to take my order, then was stopped by the person who took my order, then he retook my order (just in case?). Awkward. I'd prefer if they chose one model over the other instead of leaving it ambiguous. I sat next to the fireplace which was likely much too hot for most people (but I did anyway). A pretty pot of flowers in front of me had wilted on the side closer to the fireplace. While waiting I was offered a very large jicama salad at no charge which I politely refused because it was too much to eat. It was unclear to me whether this was complimentary due to opening week or a kitchen error being turned into good. My order took a long time to come out, but props to the deliverator who apologized sincerely for the delay. (I find it common for deliverators to say nothing at all when this happens, so when an apology is given it's special, unfortunately.) My food had arrived, but I still had not received the beverage I had ordered: hot water. When I got the attention of a staff member, I changed my order to water no ice since the fireplace was so hot. Finally received my water. For the remainder of my meal staff seemed to behave as though it was a full service restaurant - awkward. The food was tasty. I ate a grilled fish sandwich with french fries and water. The kind of fish was unspecified, and I forgot to ask, but there's a lot of yellowtail elsewhere on the menu so that would be my guess. The sandwich included a pineapple salsa which was tasty, but the sandwich also had a strong French mustard flavor that overpowered all the other flavors. It was served on a ciabatta roll. The fries were perfectly crisp and flavorful and surprisingly long. $16.23 after a $1 tip. The price for this meal seems a little high compared to all of San Francisco and because, hey, it's just a fish sandwich and fries, but this is Laurel Heights where nearly all the other good dining options are annoyingly clustered at the high end, so they can probably get away with prices higher than the SF average. The front-of-house staff seems very eager to please but is not yet seasoned enough to provide more than average service. I saw one table go unwiped before new customers sat and wiped it themselves with new napkins from the dispenser on the table. Nonetheless, Artesano shows promise and will likely draw customers due to the area's thin dining options if not for the quality of the food and service. Interesting note: From the takeout menu Artesano appears to be a sister restaurant of nearby, successful Rigolo. Rode my bike home.