Thursday, July 11, 2002
Patrick and Tina and Nicki ate at Cafe de la Presse: cafe au laits all around, 3 madeleines, 1 croque madame, 1 vegetable crepe, 1 order of crab cakes—total $49.86 (before tip). I went to the CSC meeting. Made a minor change to curriculum for Cindy. On rebus, I uninstalled sendmail. I installed qmail. Patrick went to Jumpin Java to write. Tina and Nicki met with Teresa Di Falco to Citizen Cake where they met Elizabeth Faulkner, the pastry chef. Nicki and Tina strolled through the Fillmore. Tina, Nicki, Patrick, Brandon, and I met for dinner at One Market. Nicki works at One Market in pastry, so we got half off our meal's entrees! Yeah! DRINKS: Tina had a chocolate martini ($5.50) but couldn't finish it, so Patrick did. Brandon had a Manhattan ($7.75). Nicki had a Lemon Drop ($6.75). I had a Smith & Wesson ($6.00). WINE: Brickhouse pinot noir ($82.00). PRE-STARTERS: Everyone had the chilled cucumber-mint soup with house-cured sturgeon and American sturgeon caviar cream ($10.75). No one had ordered soup, so this was a nice surprise from the kitchen. STARTERS: Tina had steamed Delta asparagus and sweet Maine crabmeat hollandaise with lemon and crispy spring onion "blossom" ($13.50). Brandon had Bradley's caesar salad of whole leaf romaine and parmesan croutons ($8.75). Nicki had shaved fois gras and hazelnut salad on a duck liver brioche with frisee, red oak and cherry-port syrup ($14.50). I had crispy John Dory fish "fingers" and kennebec fries tossed in malt vinegar with braised peas and tartar sauce ($11.50). Patrick had Petrale sole souffle with a lemon-caper butter and organic mache ($12.25). WINE: Phelps syrah ($75.00). ENTREES: Tina had Atlantic skate wing crisped in brown butter and thyme over a creamy lobster risotto with English peas and lobster-tarragon sauce ($26.75). Brandon had oven-roasted Liberty duck breast on a ragout of sweet peas, pearl onions, and duck confit "hash" with English bread sauce and shallot-cherry marmalade ($26.50). Nicki had saffron braised spring leek and new potato "tian" with a lightly smoked sheep's milk cheese, almonds, and piperade ($19.75). I had grilled Nebraska prime strip steak on a watercress coulis with potato-gruyere croquettes and glazed pearl onions ($33.75). Patrick had morel-crusted Copper River salmon with sweet onion-mascarpone soubise and marble potatoes ($28.25). Shannie K and her boyfriend David joined us just as we began dessert. DESSERTS: Cherry Cheesecake Napoleon (sauteed spring cherries, port-red wine sauce, frozen tart cherry spoom) $9.00. Market Fruit Sorbets with Almond Tuile $8.00. Strawberry Profiteroles (strawberry lavender honey sauce, strawberry mascarpone ice cream) $9.00. Chocolate Toffee Almond Crunch Cake (sour cream fudge icing, caramel ice cream) $9.00. Creme Brulee Tasting (trio of vanilla bean, grand marnier, and pistachio with petite cookies) $8.75. Chocolate Dessert Tasting (Scharffen Berger baked chocolate mousse with milk chocolate sabayon, white chocolate semifreddo with honey lemon cream and pistachios, chocolate truffle tart with carmelized bananas and vanilla ice cream) $11.00. CHEFS: Adrian Hoffman, Bradley Ogden. PASTRY CHEF: Patti Dellamonica-Bauler. Everyone shared everything. It was an orgy of feasting, with forks and plates and small perfect bites being passed back and forth. My favorites: the fish fingers, the crabmeat hollandaise, the Copper River salmon (whose light and crunchy crust enticed blissful eye-rolling) and the crunch cake. Patrick's favorites: the fois gras, the fish fingers, the Copper River salmon, the crunch cake. After dinner, we had drinks at The Cosmopolitan Club. The place was plush, but unexciting—it seemed everyone was at the Giants game which we saw finishing on the overhead television sets. We had originally intended to also go to Farallon for another round of desserts, but no one could muster the will, as our stomachs were already quite satisfied and would be for at least the next several hours. Tina and Patrick and I eventually got home an hour later on MUNI and laughed at the message Daniel had left on my answering machine.