Chez Noir, Carmel, California

I picked this out for the big splash dinner on my recent trip to the north end of the central California coast (spoiler alert--I prefer the sourthern end of the central coast--the north is just a little bit rich for my taste), and it did not disappoint. Unbeknownst to me, one of my dining companions doesn't care for high end dining. It often makes her feel belittled, which is not the look I was going for--and luckily, that did not happen here. The restaurant is actually on the first floor of the Craftsman-style house that chef Jonny Black and his wife, Monique Black, who manages the front of the house,live in. They make you feel as if you're being invited into their own home because it is their home.

The cooking draws upon French bistro fare and showcases the bounty of the California coast, with seafood, like spot-on sea bass and swoon-worthy abalone, making a big impression. If selecting from the many delectable dishes proves too difficult, opt for a set menu offering a tour of the greatest hits. For me, the abalone was unforgetable, the very best I have ever had, and I would go back to have it again and again. It is something to dream about. The next best was the agnolotti--which was on the vegetarian option side of the fixed price menu, and did not disappoint. And make sure you do not skip the the ethereal vanilla-scented canelés with an ideal balance of crisp caramelized exterior and creamy, custardy interior--better than most I had in Bordeaux!

Morro Bay, California

I had an arduous birthday in 2023, when my friend and I bakes all the cakes for one of my sons wedding, all while my spouse was gone for the week attending a professional meeting. My friends, who truly does the lion's share of the baking and all the cake frosting and assembly, was laid up a bit with an ankle injury, so I was the legs of the operation. It was so grueling! I was walking 20,000 steps a day and I never left the property. The great news is that we finished the cakes, we didn't even want for freezer space, and the cakes at the wedding were truly fantastic!The bad news is that I was in a really bad mood about my extreme lack of a celebration.

Never fear! I spent the whole month of May this year making up for it, and one of those trips was to fabulous Morro Bay, with the same friend and her spouse so that the three of us could spend some times taking leisurely walks and bird watching. It is a spectacularly beautiful place that hosts a great bird festival in February, but is replete with shore birds year round. It was such a relaxing long weekend, and I would go back in a second.

San Diego Bird Festival

There I was, in the middle of an atmospheric river-something that sounds so lovely and is really a climate catastrophe, trying my hand at birding for the first time. The women who invited me, very good life long friends, called and said maybe I shouldn't come, that birds don't care for high wind and torrential rain, but I had committed. I was doing what Mel Brooks reccommended, I was trying out potential post-retirement hobbies while I was still active enough and with a full time salary to support me, and birding held a lot of appeal for me. It got you outdoors, looking for things in all sorts of natural places, and learning more about them. Despite the weather we saw a couple hundred different kinds of birds over the course of three days. I discovered that birders are generally very kind and willing to share what they know. I found out that with a good pair of binoculars I, too, could spot birds and in the end, I decided I would happily do this all over again.

Dragon Beaux, San Francisco

We love the Hong Kong Lounge II, also a dim sum restaurant and also on Geary St, but it was time for a change.
The problem with 2 people and a dim sum menu is that there just really are not enough people to truly do justice to the menu, and while we had some delicious food, we made a couple of bone head choices and  definitely feel like we could do better next time around.
This is a place with great atmosphere, with many of the tables set up for eight, and many of those were populated by families having an early Saturday lunch.  I do recommend earlier rather than later with dim sum, but we were flying in, so had to wait a bit.  We shared a table with another couple, but did not share food, and they were newbies as well, so friendly company, but no help.  The portions are larger than some other dim sum, so plan accordingly.

Fire Up Close

On a recent trip to Northern California, we happened upon a wild fire that was not yet under any sort of control, including not having yet closed the road, despite the fire being on the highway.  It was an up close and personal exposure to what Californians as well as Australians are experiencing on an all too regular basis in the era of rising carbon dioxide levels and the consequent changes in climate.
Our future is here and from the looks of it, will continue to get worse.  In the midst of this, I notice that those on the denying side of the aisle seem to gain satisfaction and perhaps even glee from posting divisive memes on social media.  It is of no comfort that they are wrong and will know so soon enough.
So like it or not, on this day when we remember Pearl Harbor and the war we entered that was all about hatred, racial and otherwise, we are continuing to have difficulty focusing on what matters.  We either have to ignore big oil and get our act together to save the country and the planet, or suffer the consequences, says this boomer.

The Annex Kitchen, Fresno, CA

I recently had the pleasure of eating in this restaurant, which is the best bold American food that I have eaten in Fresno (I have to exclude Mexican food, because there is a lot of excellent versions of a wide range of Mexican food in the Central Valley).
I had the squid ink pasta with seafood sauce that was perfect.  The pasta was cooked the way I like it, which is 1/2 minute beyond when it still has some rawness in the middle. and the sauce had small pieces of seafood, so you didn't need to cut anything up.  My table mates both had the butternut squash agnolotti, which was also delicious.  We shared some appetizers, of which my favorite was the herb and cheese filled ariancini, because I do not make them at home and I love them, but the cauliflower was excellent, as was the bread and the butter lettuce salad.  I definitely had the feeling that this is the sort of restaurant that if you went back and had a completely different dinner it would still be excellent.

Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego

 Art has so many permutations.  I love to see things that I could not do or make or even think of.  I love the highly detailed art of the Dutch Renaissance.  The blurry Impressionist works really move me.  I can sit in that room in the MOMA in New York that has the Monet triptych for hours.  Contemporary art museums have more art that I can relate to, that I could actually see making.  Assembling objects artfully, or telling a story visually, using intermedia to make a political and social point artistically, all of that I can personally relate to.

Here is the thing.  I like two things that may be on the extreme ends of the Bell curve when it comes to museums of these sort.  The first is that I love the whimsy, and both of these pieces pictured have some of that quality.  Then I also love the intermedia of art to make political statements more powerfully than with words alone.  There was an exhibit by the daughter of a Black Panther that was very thought provoking, using photography, FOIA documents she obtained related to her father, and objects to create a story. 

San Diego Public Art Surprises

On a recent trip I realized that I had sold San Diego short.  I am not a beach person.  I like a bucolic water view almost as much as the next person, but it doesn't send me.  So I had somewhat low expectations of my time in the self proclaimed America's Finest City.
The airport in San Diego is so close to the downtown area that you can easily walk there.  Landing is a bit disconcerting, because I swore I could wave at people in their offices in skyscrapers we passed.  Stepping off the plane after a surprisingly pleasant flight, I was greeted by this sculpture entitled Figure of Speech, a whole series of rolled tongues that was both beautiful and it made me laugh.

Next stop was a walk around the Gaslamp district, which is near the waterfront.  I love the late nineteenth century architecture, which is both surprising in a California town and reminiscent of my own house.  There was a lot of street art in this neighborhood and I would definitely recommend spending an afternoon walking along the waterfront then venturing inland to see what is on offer.

Juniper and Ivy, San Diego

 We ate at this great restaurant in San Diego on a recent trip.  This is my birthday dinner for this year, and it was all kinds of wonderful.  The first thing, which is less important to me, is that it is a beautifully designed and laid out restaurant. We had a cozy corner table that was just perfect, and there were all sorts of other options for special seating.  The wait staff was also very pleasant.  Also not high on my priorities, but a nice addition to a memorable evening.

 Then there is the food.  Which was just flat out wow.  They had a couple dozen dishes on the menu and the majority of them were tiny or small plates, ranging in price from a few dollars up to fifteen and twenty dollars.  That may sound like a lot, but think of it this way--the quality of the preparation and the inspiration of the dishes is like a high end fixed price meal, but you get to choose each of the courses, and in the end we spent about $100 for two.  Not an everyday meal by any means, but we felt like we got a deal.  We cook, and we would never accomplished this at home.

The best dish was a huge portion of a beef crudo on toast cut into four portions, each topped with a perfectly poached quail egg.  I am not a beef eater, and I do not care for it raw, but I have to admit, this was delicious.  The pictured dishes are cod and shrimp poached in a richly flavored broth, with cherry tomatoes.  It was perfectly cooked and had such balanced flavors.  Next down is abalone with an avocado gazpacho and an olive, pine nut, and herb side salad.  Abalone is always kind of a crap shoot and this was delicious.  The surprise dish was a sous vide chicken with a mole made with carrots and topped with Mexican pickled carrots and fresh thinly mandalined carrot, so basically carrots three ways and super moist chicken.  Really delicious, and the one dish that we might actually be able to replicate at home.

Walking in the Mission

On a recent trip to San Francisco we stayed at this wonderful bead and breakfast in the Mission.  Breakfast is not a great meal to have included for us, so we skipped that part two out of three days, but the location was terrific.  There are so many beautiful pre-1906 Earthquake houses that still stand, in various states of repair, throughout the neighborhood.
There are several reasons to stay a bit more off the beaten track if you don't need to get to the Convention Center every day.  The first for me is that there are great restaurants in the neighborhood.  I don't mind walking during the day to get where I want to be,but I prefer to eat nearby.  There are a couple of BART stops, so it is as easy to get around as from other locations from that point of view. The Mission is also just funkier.  If you prefer corporate, this is not the place for you.  But if you like a dive burrito place and an independent art gallery on your block, the Mission is perfect.  It is also relatively flat (for San Francisco), so you don't have to strategize your hills when on foot.  It is also just plain fun in a great city full of fun neighborhoods.