Saturday, February 1, 2025
Washed dishes. Medium bowl of oatmeal with milk, flax meal, cacao nibs, toasted shaved coconut, sliced and toasted almonds, blueberries; hot water. Washed dishes. Updated medical alert sheets. Cleaned in the bathroom. Repaired the lamp on the right side of Patrick's desk. There was something wrong with the switch. Sometimes we would turn it and it wouldn't turn the light on or off. But turning it more caused it to finally work. I removed it from the wall and inspected it, but I could find nothing to fix, and the switch was not something one was meant to take apart. When I tried to reproduce the problem, I could not. I put it back on the wall, then tested it again, and it seemed fixed. Cause unknown. Resolution unknown. Updates for home devices and websites. Patrick and I met with our landlord to negotiate a buyout agreement. Walked and rode Muni with Patrick to dinner at Hayes Street Grill: we shared: grilled Ventura calamari with Iacopi butter beans and arugula; black lentil soup with straus creamery yogurt; grilled Massachusetts scallops with celery root and potato puree, spinach, brown butter, and crispy capers; ACME bread and butter. Iced tea for Patrick, hot water with lemon for me. Dessert: Dorie Greenspan's carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. All food and drink were delicious. The calamari and scallops were both tender and flavorful. Service was mostly good but odd in places. For example, we told our waiter that we were sharing everything. The soup and calamari arrived simultaneously, so we simply swapped plates after eating half. The scallops arrived on a single plate, and our waiter handed Patrick an empty, cold plate. We split the plate ourselves, surprised that we had to do so. Also, our waiter brought Patrick's iced tea but neglected to bring my hot water with lemon until I reminded him a while later. Before we ordered the cake, Patrick asked if it would be served refrigerated or room temperature, and the worker said room temperature, which is the best way to have cake, and that's the way it came. Service style was perfunctory; I don't recall even learning the server's name. The bill arrived with nothing said more than, "Here you go." (But the table next to us was sent off by a different worker with, "Enjoy your symphony performance!") We tipped about 20% anyway. Something about this place reminded me a bit of Tadich Grill; perhaps the paneling on the walls (I think it's similar?) or the clientele (essentially everyone older than us) or the service style. We had arrived 15 minutes early for a 7:00 p.m. reservation. The restaurant was packed but they were still able to seat us. By the time we left it was half-empty; the tide depends on shows and events in its theatre district neighborhood. Afterwards we walked to SFJAZZ in the light rain for a delightful one-hour performance by The Queen's Cartoonists. I unfortunately had not napped earlier in the day and had fallen sleepy partway through but recovered by the end. Rode Uber home. Snack for Patrick: a handful of tortilla chips. Patrick went to bed. Late snack for me only: french fries from frozen with ketchup.