Monday, September 24, 2018

Breakfast at home with Patrick: brioche toast with butter; yogurt with fresh raspberries, nuts, and other fixins; 8 ounces of orange juice. Walked and rode Muni to UCSF Laurel Heights. Sprint standup. Finished revising build experience explore artwork for Cindy. Followup with OSACA purchases for Zoraida. Styling work all day: people listings and microsites identity retheme, working with James who has just returned from two weeks of vacation in Europe to prep people listings to go live. Lunch at desk: leftovers, water. Met Patrick for couples counseling. We rode UberX to the Castro. Dinner at Anchor Oyster Bar (415-431-3990, 579 Castro Street) with Patrick: cup of clam chowder and crab cakes entreee for Patrick, prawn cocktail and corvina sea bass with grilled vegetables special for me. To drink, two glasses of rose each. We sat at the bar and enjoyed chatting now and then with a 25-year regular of the restaurant who was finishing an off-menu panko-encrusted petrale sole and a glass of wine. At the end of our meal we expressed interest in a white cote du rhone (we had only ever seen red before) and, with our permission, were immediately served complimentary tastings. It was delicious, and we liked it better than the rose we had ordered. We hadn't been here since 2014, I think mostly because the long lines scare us away, but it seems true that if you arrive early at or close to when they open you can get in pretty easily. As with our last visit, the prices seem extraordinarly high, but I feel that it's worth it nonetheless for what seems to be very reliably perfect seafood experiences and friendly and attentive service. $120.27 before a $25 tip. Afterwards we bought wine and bourbon from Castro Valley Wine Company then rode UberX home.