Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Usual oatmeal breakfast. Continue reinstalling applications. Met briefly with Cindy about the diversity project. Office holiday luncheon at Zuni (415-552-2522, 1658 Market St, San Francisco). We had arrived early, so we waited in Caffee Trieste across the street for about half an hour. I had creamy potato and sage soup, beef tagine, and hot water. All the food I had was delicious, and I believed with one exception everyone was pleased with their food. Lucia's pizza was disappointingly soggy in the middle, and there were a number of other small problems (both front- and back-of-house) which I made no mention of while dining in keeping with the festive spirit of the season. However, for the record: At 11:25 AM the staff at Zuni made us wait five minutes—in the rain—before letting us in when they officially opened at 11:30 AM. This seemed rude, as the large windows make it pretty obvious we are standing right outside the door, but I should have known, given their extremely rigid reservations policy of not accepting reservations more than exactly 1 month in advance. 1 month and 1 day? Call back tomorrow when we open. In any case, there is no foyer, and the awnings outside are not sufficient to protect you from rain—just fyi. In other words, if you arrive early, you will suffer—there is no comfortable place to wait. If you arrive late, you will suffer—they may give your table to someone else. If you arrive exactly on time, you will be received with pleasure, and no suffering is necessary. My fork had a bit of dried food on it and after I requested a new fork the water server left behind the dried-food-fork and gave me a clean salad fork. I just wiped the dried food off with my napkin after he disappeared. For the second course, our food did not arrive at the same time. 2 pizzas arrived first, several minutes passed (and our waitperson seemed to have disappeared), then 5 other dishes arrived, and then a long time—perhaps 5 minutes or more—passed before Lucia's soggy pizza arrived. When the second courses first arrived, the deliverator did not know who ordered the 2 pizzas she was carrying—she had to ask us who ordered it before setting it down. When my pot of hot water became empty, no one offered to refill it. When I requested for it to be filled, I received a glass of cold water instead. When I got up to go to the restroom, my cloth napkin was not refolded and placed back on my chair as I had expected. Despite these minor disappointments, I still had an enjoyable time. Earlier today Joel had told me, essentially, that Zuni wasn't anything special, and when he said that I had thought differently, but now I think I'd have to agree especially considering my experience 1 month and 2 days ago making our Zuni reservation. From what I could tell with this lunch menu, the food is still mostly excellent, but I think there are much better overall dining experiences elsewhere. Zuni has a lot of work to do if they are to regain my trust. Shopping, partly with Scott at Macy's. I picked up some socks. Looked at H and M boys but there was nothing new. I guess I need to get in the habit of returning only once every 6 months. Doctor appt. Dinner at home with Patrick: chicken korma with steamed rice. For dessert: marionberry pie with whipped cream. Processed photos, chatted online with BK lateish, and he made me laugh a lot—I used LOL a lot and meant it.