Saturday, January 17, 2026
Clearly, the outstanding value of this trip to the Left Coast is the opportunity to spend time with my young bride, sharing experiences and testing her patience. As each day goes by, I am reminded how fortunate I am.
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Another example of my good fortune is the company of America’s Loveliest Nephrologist and the Oakland Heartthrob. They picked us up this morning for a visit to Sonoma County where they have plans to build a vacation home.
We had lunch at Salt & Stone, 9900 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood. It’s a big restaurant, combining farmhouse and Swiss chalet. We shared Burrata & Fried Flatbread, with “Oven Dried Tomatoes, Roasted Garlic, Kalamata Olives Frisée, Chive Oil & Chili Flakes,” absolutely delicious ($16). I washed it down with a raspberry lemonade mimosa, sufficiently alcoholic in spite of its fey name ($10).
My main course was Crab & Bay Shrimp Melt,
“Avocado, Tomato, Gruyere Gratin on Sliced Sourdough” with French fries ($26). Not up to the burrata.
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41.9 million people are a lot of people. That’s how many people live in Jakarta, Indonesia, making it the largest city in the world. It replaces Tokyo, now the third largest with a mere 33 million.
By the latest estimates, no state has as many people as Jakarta. California is the most populous with 39,896,400 people, Texas next with 32,416,699 + Ted Cruz.
Sunday, January 18, 2026
In these difficult times, with freedom on the line, stand up, choose your side and order a prune Danish.
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The Fab Four went to see Israeli comedian Yohay Sponder on his “Self-Loving Jew” tour. I found him funny mostly, but overly chauvinistic at times. He performed at the Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon Street, San Francisco, a beautiful landmark, originally built in 1915, known for its Greco-Roman rotunda. The 961 seat theater was nearly full, including many Israelis and no demonstrators.
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After the show, we went for dinner at Greens Restaurant, 2 Marina Boulevard, San Francisco, occupying a large building on the waterfront. It has a capacity of about 200 and it was near full. It is strictly vegetarian, but shhh, I had a lot to eat and I enjoyed it.
We shared a bunch of things: a Falafel Platter, “seasonal hummus, muhammara [dip based on roasted red peppers and walnuts], lemon labneh [strained yogurt)], crudite, house made pita, olives, marcona almonds, orange balsamic marinated beets” ($28); Fried Cauliflower, “remoulade, our ‘Bay’ seasoning, lemon ($23); Grilled Polenta, “blue cheese cream sauce, roasted wild mushrooms, carmelized onions, toasted walnuts, fried sage leaves ($23); Butternut Squash Pizza, “carmelized onions, Asiago cheese, fried sage, walnuts, Grana Padano (Italian cow’s milk cheese) ($28); Hodo Tofu Brochettes, “sweet potato, cremini mushrooms, cipollini onions, couscous & pomegranate salad, tahini garlic cashew cream, zhug sauce [chiles, cilantro, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and spices] ($34). No dessert.
Monday, January 19, 2026
Thursday, January 21, 2026
I have been driving a rental car around the Bay Area and have observed two very scary things. First, the roads are loaded with Teslas, so you can understand how that guy got very rich. Out here, gasoline is particularly expensive, $4-5 per gallon, making electric vehicles especially attractive. The other thing is the driverless taxi, the Waymo, owned by Google. They use electric Jaguars with an assortment of gadgets sticking out all over to calibrate the environment.
I’ve driven next to them, but not in them. From the outside they look fine, no obvious boneheaded moves. Could they cope with the chaos of New York streets? I may be too much of a homer to concede that our worst traffic isn’t the best worst traffic.
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We drove a conventional car the conventional way to Daly City, south of San Francisco, to meet Laurence and Mark for lunch at Kaan Kiin Brunch & Thai Eatery, 201 Southgate Avenue, which has drawn positive attention from Michelin. Problem? At lunch time, the brunch comes before the Thai. The joint turns into an all-American diner. The real thing is available only at dinner.
I ordered as ethnic as I could find, Bangkok Golden, “Thai street-style fluffy scramble eggs with Dungeness crab, shrimp, scallops, calamari, onion, bell pepper in house curry sauce served with jasmine rice and house salad” ($32). It was very good and generously portioned, but only modestly Thai.
Tuesday, January 20,2016
In anticipation of a good dinner, we sought a simple lunch at the Doyle Street Cafe, 5515 Doyle Street, Emeryville. However, the quality of the food and service are worth noting. The large, high ceiling space must have had an industrial purpose in the past. The neighborhood itself combines residential and industrial structures.
I ordered a Garden Salad, red onions, red bell pepper, roasted beets, avocado, cherry tomatoes, English cucumber, heart of palm, and mixed greens with balsamic dressing plus six grilled prawns (not shrimp, I don’t know why) ($26). The ingredients were very fresh and I got three refills of Coke Zero ($3.50) although the glass was crowded with ice.
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I first went to Scoma’s on Fisherman's Wharf about 50 years ago when I was living in Los Angeles. I have been there several more times over the years. Tonight, Andrea and Nate drove up from Los Altos to meet us there for dinner. While the distance from our hotel is 11 miles, it took us one hour and four minutes to get there during rush hour, theoretically against traffic.
While the company was first-rate, the dinner was disappointing. The sourdough bread was very good as was the bowl of clam chowder that I started with ($14). However, the fish and chips, on the menu as "crispy 'Firestone 805' beer batter, fresh Pacific cod," was only partially true. I can't confirm that they used Firestone 805 pale ale in the preparation, but the results were far from crispy, soggy in fact. The large portion of chips were conventional French fries. Of course, Scoma's has a large menu and I might have just landed on a weak spot. After all these years, it deserves another try.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
We had brunch at 900 Grayson, 900 Grayson Street, Berkeley, a simple, friendly, funky place, away from the busier, college-focused part of town. Our company was my grandnephew Tomas and his companion Lehna who live south of San Francisco. They met at UC Santa Cruz and are now in masters programs locally.
I had a buttermilk waffle covered by two pieces of fried chicken and Vermont maple syrup ($17). It was remarkably good.
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With a free afternoon, Madam and I went to the movies to see Marty Supreme. It’s an excellent movie, best described as frenetic. Most of us on Social Security will probably come away breathless.
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After the movie, we went to Shimizu Sushi Restaurant, 4290 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, in a neighborhood that (blessedly) had many small, owner-operated restaurants.
I started with Yaki Fry, four fabulously crunchy fried oysters, best I’ve ever had ($11.50). Then, a very fresh tasting, eight piece avocado and eel sushi roll ($11.50).
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By happy coincidence, walking back to the car, we had to pass Fentons Creamery, 4266 Piedmont Avenue, an ice cream parlor in business well over 100 years. We bought a hand-packed pint to take back to the hotel. It contained blueberry cheesecake and cream caramel almond crunch, some really good ice cream ($11).
What a day!
San Jose, California has a population of over one million people and five COSTCO stores. The plan to open a sixth has been challenged in court without success. https://share.google/
Objections included the prospective size of the store and its proximity to a high school. I understand especially the latter concern. Lots of kids would head to COSTCO to get those all-beef, quarter-pound hotdogs selling for $1.50 with unlimited soda instead of hiding under the bleachers on the athletic field smoking weed.
Thursday, January 22, 2026
With some idle time, we went to Gardensia, Archipelago Designs, 2820 8th Street, Berkeley. It describes itself as “Art and Accents from South-East Asia for Garden and Home,” but in reality it could call itself a museum and charge admission.
It has a fabulous collection of art and artifacts, originals and reproductions from that vast subcontinent. Sekti Artanegara, the proprietor, is very friendly and informative.
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Speaking of friendly, when we finished at Gardensia, we noticed that we were just around the corner from 900 Grayson, the friendly place where we had breakfast yesterday, in time for lunch. We both chose the Charlie, “Coriander Crusted Rare Ahi Tuna, House Pickled Ginger & Carrot Slaw, Wasabi Aioli, Acme Bun” ($16.50) with a side salad (she) or French fries (me). An excellent choice.
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Eating well has been a motif of our trip and tonight we went out with a bang. The Fab Four went to the legendary Chez Panisse, 1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley. We ate upstairs off the à la carte menu; downstairs is a price fixed, four course menu at $175 plus 10.25% tax and 17% service charge. The menus change daily.
The food was good, not great overall. We got two salads, Little Gem lettuce with crème fraîche dressing, tarragon, mint and radishes ($20); and radicchio salad with marinated beets, toasted walnuts and sherry vinaigrette ($21).
My main course was braised Moroccan-spiced lamb with couscous, cauliflower, harissa and chermoula (North African spice based on cilantro, parsley, and garlic) ($43). The portion was modest, the lamb very tender, the spices muted. Dessert was excellent, bittersweet chocolate custard with crème chantilly and bourbon-pecan cookies ($15).
Remembering David Goldfarb, we drank 2020 Cour-Cheverny, Romo, Domaine des Huards from the Loire Valley ($68). In all, memorable for the company and closing two wonderful weeks.
Friday, January 23, 2026
We ended the longer leg of our vacation and flew to Palm Springs for a few days visiting with Barbara and Bernie, cousins of cousins. They have lovely, art-filled home in Palm Desert with a casita (free-standing dwelling), just right for easterners avoiding the storm a bit longer.
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The four of us went to dinner at Pacifica Seafood Restaurant, 73505 El Paseo, Palm Desert, a big, sprawling space whose 365 seats were mostly occupied and being well served.
I had a very good seafood stew, a small lobster tail, shrimp, scallops, mussels, salmon and whitefish in a tomato broth ($49). The sourdough bread on the table was excellent as was the case at several restaurants in the Bay Area, less common in the East.
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Away from home, not getting a newspaper on your doorstep and facing unfamiliar news broadcasts, you can feel a temporary relief from the weight of the world. Maybe that guy isn’t the President. It can’t be that easy.
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