What Did You Eat?

Aioli Bodega Espanola

Years ago, when we first moved to Davis, I was disappointed in the lack of good restaurants.  This is a small town, but we have a major university here, so I always thought we should have a wider variety of places to eat. But, things have changed and now our town has Nepalese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Afghan, Czech, Greek, Mexican, Italian, and Austrian restaurants to choose from.  And most of them are quite good.  One of my favorite places to eat in Sacramento is a wonderful Spanish restaurant named Aioli, so I was extremely happy to see they recently opened a branch in Downtown Davis, at the site formerly occupied by Cafe California.  Yesterday, Roxie and I went there to eat lunch and I was pleased to see that the Davis Aioli is just as good as the one in Sacramento.

Spataro

On Sunday, instead of watching the Super Bowl and stuffing myself with chips and guacamole (not a bad thing), I saw Little Shop Of Horrors with Helene and Nancy. Afterwords we wandered around downtown Sacramento, like an episode of Seinfeld, trying to find a place to dine. We discovered that most restaurants weren't serving dinner yet, and it would be two hours until our restaurants of choice opened for evening meals. And I was in the throes of fasting hypoglycemia, due to my clever policy of avoiding breakfast or lunch if I'm going to a restaurant for dinner.   To my mind, this justifies eating like a pig at the restaurant.  Kids, don't try this at home!  Sadly, this system doesn't work very well for me anymore.  I was famished, dizzy and not a lot of fun to be around.  Nancy is a doctor and she kept admonishing me about my eating regimen.  I guess this means I need to be more sensible in the way I eat?

We wound up eating at Spataro, which I give good marks for serving dinner at 4:30.  All it took was two pieces of their excellent focaccia and I was able to talk coherently again.  None of us had eaten at Spataro's, so we didn't know what to expect. I had high hopes because it's operated by the owners of Paragary, one of my favorite restaurants.

New Year's Eve dinner at Biba

The weather has been foul here in Northern California, but we had a small break on New Year's Eve. Hurray!!  Nancy, Bob, Craig and I drove to Sacramento for a late night dinner at Biba, and we didn't risk life and limb driving in pounding rain and 30 mile an hour winds. The night was clear and warm.  We arrived early and were whisked off to our table, where we were surrounded with balloons.

Before we arrived at the restaurant, Nancy agreed to act as Bread Police and prevent me from eating the wonderful focaccia and grissini bread sticks that are usually heaped in baskets on the table.  I vowed to only have one grissini. To my disappointment, the bread basket contained neither, just some typical  baguette slices. So, I  wasn't tempted at all.

SHARE and sushi

On Sunday Helene and I shopped at the annual SHARE Institute Open House. SHARE, founded by Dr. Soheir Stolba and Shaku Shankar, is a non-profit organization doing wonderful work to help improve the lives of people locally and abroad.  I can't show the items I bought, as they are gifts for certain people who read this blog (well, they claim they read it).  The volunteers at SHARE work very hard on these events and it's inspiring to see their efforts. Proceeds from the Open House provide money for the projects SHARE funds to help people struggling to survive in very difficult circumstances.  To learn more about SHARE, go to their website .

After shopping at the Open House, Helene and I had lunch at Mikuni, the most popular sushi restaurant in Sacramento.

Birthday dinner at Biba's restaurant

I enjoyed terrific restaurant meals this past week, dining at the French Laundry last Sunday and Biba on Friday.  Biba has been rated the best restaurant in Sacramento since the day she opened for business.  And that's a story in itself.  There weren't many  premium places to eat in Sacramento at that time.  And there was speculation that she was foolish to spend so much money on her restaurant.  But, the place is now an institution, mainly because the food is so consistantly good.  It's always an event for me to go there.  Even though I'm Irish-American, her Italian food speaks to the very core of my being and I spend much of the meal making little whimpering noises.  Whimpering with delight, of course.

   

Lunch at the French Laundry

This Sunday I had lunch at my favorite restaurant, the French Laundry, with Nancy and her husband Craig.  Any meal there is an event, but this was the first time I was able to get a reservation for lunch.  I've had dinner there twice, late in the evening.  I looked forward to lunch and strolling around Yountville, the town where the restaurant is located. 

The above photo is the French Laundry garden located across the street from the restaurant. I have a small garden in my back yard and I wish mine looked as well tended as this.   Like everything else connected with this restaurant, superb attention is paid to even the smallest details--including absolutely spotless weeding around the plants.

 

Fun With Carbs And Caffeine

Friday, I had a cup of Joe and some pastry with my friend Nancy and her family at our favorite coffee house and bakery, Konditorei.  This was right on the heels of a new longitudinal study of nurses, showing that drinking coffee is just the ticket for keeping your blood pressure low. And here they thought it might be the reverse.  So, we all felt rather virtuous as we quaffed our lattes.  Now, as for the issue of the pastry, they are Austrian pastries and I'm sure that makes them very healthy. Look at the mango in my crepe. Antioxidants.   

I ordered my double shot latte, armed with the knowledge that I was taking care of my blood pressure.   This is my mango, poppy seed crepe with vanilla bean anglaise sauce. I don't care if it was healthy or not--it was delicious.

Nancy's fruit coffee cake.  She also had a huge latte, as well. 

Nancy's daughter, the lovely Lizzie, attacking a jelly filled doughnut!

Lizzie also had this enormous glass of hot chocolate. I'm not sure if there are any longitudinal studies on hot chocolate.  But, I think I remember reading that chocolate is good for you.  Or maybe I dreamed it.

Nancy's husband, Craig, ordered a prune danish.