Posts Tagged ‘lisa crovo dion’

la dolce vida — gary danko and fleur de lys, san francisco

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

travel writing has it's perks. tonight dan and i will be guests at romantic fleur de lys, one of san francisco's top french restaurants.

i interviewed chef/owner hubert keller many years ago and still remember him telling me that his ideal day off is spent riding his motorcycle in west marin. random.

anyway, i'm seriously jazzed and not eating a morsel till I get there!

the last time I got thrown a bone like this was in july at gary danko.

i consider gd to be the gastronomic pinnacle of san francisco. we had five course meals with many delights including a lobster avocado salad with meyer lemon tarragon vinaigrette, the stellar cheese cart that is the stuff of danko legend, glazed oysters with caviar, and the most exquisite piece of fish dish i've ever tasted — branzini served with sorrel gnocchi, romano beans and fried capers. truly amazing. branzini is a european sea bass, btw, in case you wondered (i had to ask). every course was masterfully paired with wine.



lobster avocado salad with shaved fennel at gary danko.



i was disappointed with my dessert choice, but that was totally on me. ignoring the fact that i'm not a fan of apricots, i ordered the apricot tart with pistachio frangipane and pistachio ice cream. i was seduced by pistachio frangipane.

not to worry, they also served us a plate of petit fours, which were heavenly and this trio of yumminess



dessert porn.




after, we walked it off on polk street, stopping at cresta's, a favorite local hangout of ours in the days when we hung out. we visited with rory the bartender and a few familiar faces, then headed out to catch a taxi.

we were looking pretty good — dan in a coat and tie, me in a new clingy, gray dress that parker insisted i buy and high heeled boots.

a white limo pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride. i declined and said we were waiting for a taxi.

where are you going?"

"shrader and hayes"

"i'll take you there for twelve bucks"

done.



this beats the pants off yellow cab.





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first week at preschool, laurel hill nursery school, sf

Monday, August 23rd, 2010


completely against his wishes, roman began school last wednesday.

for the past few weeks, i've been talking enthusiastically about laurel hill, reminding him of the children he knew there and how cool the bike deck is and the outdoor train and the playhouse and his teacher tim in blue room.

it didn't fly.

"hey nino, do you want to go to laurel hill? you can bring snacks and drive little cars and climb the dome!!!"

"no."

"but you like it there, you had so much fun when we picked up parker!!"

after a while i began to feel cheap. like a used car salesman.

"i want to say wit you, mama."

as it is a co-op, he started on my first work day. he played and seemed to have a good time but he kept me in his periphery at all times. when i had to work in the kitchen, a no kids' zone, he totally lost it and i had to trade duties with somebody.

i picked up a shift for another mom and worked the next day also, to help ease the transition. this time he was on me like velcro.

then came the day of reckoning.

on friday, he was to be picked up by my friend catherine with son francis in tow, (who was adapting marvelously to preschool, i might add), to work her co-op shift that morning. a former school teacher, she came prepared. at 8:25 she arrived armed with chocolate milk and a little black harley-davidson motorcyle. roman is a total freak for motorcyles and can readily spot a harley down the block from his carseat. (and, yes, that does freak me out a little.)

in the morning he expressed his reluctance.

"one more kissy, mama," he pleaded as eased him out the door, my heart dissolving. "mama, one more kissy. one more kissy, mama," he said over and over in his deep, throaty voice that was cracking like my heart.

if i didn't have my cleaning lady arriving at 8:30, there is no question that i would have kept him home, perhaps forever. but i had to let magdelena in and walk the girls to kindergarten around the corner.

cramming him into the carseat i felt like meryl making sophie's choice. i shoved, cajoled and ultimately strapped him in, red-faced, arch-backed and  bucking.

but just as i pulled away and closed the door, he realized what he had. chocolate milk and a harley. sweet! he pulled it together.

three hours and two reassuring text messages later, catherine's black volvo wagon pulled into our driveway. i was sitting on the stoop.

i walked around to open his door. his face was beaming.

"mama, i had a good time at school. cath-in gayme a holley!"


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first day of kindergarten at new traditions, san francisco, ca

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010





mrs. brown's k/1 class, new traditions, san francisco.



i call her my small companion. i call her lots of things — my assistant, my sous-chef, my buddy, my servant, my baby girl. but mostly she's my small companion.

she comes with me everywhere — the chiropractor, trader joe's, the toilet. she begs to sleep in my bed, makes books for me, writes me poems, draws me stacks of pictures.

we watch project runway and american idol together, have slumber parties together upstairs in my office, and eat pop chips at "our table" at the royal gourmet cafe on geary. we adore each other.

that is not to say that she isn't a feisty, sassy, independent lass, which she totally is.

today, i walked my small companion, my baby girl, to her first day of school. it really hit my last night when i was filling out the forms and packing her new little lunch bag that we bought during our extravagant shopping spree last month. i felt a loneliness that only she can fill, even though she was sleeping peacefully down the hall.

wearing a new purple dress, red trench, black leggings and boots, she was escorted by her dad, brother, and me to her new school a block away.  we stopped first at sacred grounds, our local coffee shop where we met up with her friend una and dad richard, and quinn with mommy allison. they have known each other since the "music together" debacle in '06. it is so cool that they are in kindergarten together. the same class, no less. they've known each other for as long as they can remember.

we crossed over to the school, took photos, then delivered the trio to mrs. brown's kindergarten class in room #1. parker was quiet, almost solemn though she has shown no sign of nerves in the past six months. she put her arms around my legs in a defiant, possessive way for a moment, then found her spot in the classroom and never looked back.




parker's first day of kindergarten, new traditions, sf.





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in praise of two-year-olds

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

let's face it, two-year-olds get a bad rap. i happen to think it is a bit unjustified.

ok, the tantrums like the one roman pitched outside on the crowded sidewalk in front of bi-rite creamery – prostrate on a filthy doorstep with both legs flailing because his sister asked to taste his ice cream – are a particularly uncomfortable for all involved, but i assert that the cuteness factor can nearly cancel out the badness. maybe with the exception of cat torture.

but i just love this phase. specifically, i get a kick out of the language development. parker virtually emerged from the womb articulate and conversant. so, with roman (who refers to himself as a "little dude"), it is so funny and adorable to witness his communication gaffes as he tries to master language.

up until a month ago he would say "key-cuz" instead of "because," and to the stifled laughter of adults, he still refers to things that are crunchy as "cuntz," and to clocks as cocks. he named his favorite stuffed toy, a monster, "cheese."

this morning he was in rare form. apparently, dan left out a swag bag from the doug stanhope party at the montreal just for laughs festival. roman, an early riser who often entertains himself solo with matchbox cars and the fisher-price town salvaged from my childhood, rose at 5:30am and found the goody bag and my "good" scissors.

he was particularly animated when he woke me by drooling into my mouth. when i got into the front room, there were bits of shreddings over the couch. among the detritus were, slivers of band-aids, a packet of blistex, a bright orange condom, and an empty sample pack of jolt "caffeine energy" gum. he had eaten it. two pieces of caffeine gum. and he was totally hilarious.

ok, bad parenting aside, you have to laugh at that shit.



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slivers of summer

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

i've been solo with the kids for nearly two weeks, but my reinforcement arrives tonight! praise, jah!

with the exception of the teasing and torment that exists between a five-year-old girl and her two-year-old brother, we've had a good time. well, that, and bedtime. which completely sucks. still.

parker had lango spanish immersion camp all week over in noe valley, which is much sunnier than the panhandle where we live, so we spent a lot of time in the the southern part of the city. we met nairem for a"pignic" (a parker term) at dolores beach one hot, sunny afternoon, then went to bi-rite creamery for ice cream and tartine for coffee. lango was cool, i'd sign her up again, and i hope to enroll her during the school year. we've been successful with our summer camp choices, which according to what i've heard, is kinda rare...

another day, we wandered down valencia street, stopping for baby burritos at el toro. it takes a good thirty minutes to get down a city block with roman but people were so friendly, everyone marveling at his white blonde curls and baby blues. the new trees planted along valencia by the friends of the urban forest are surrounded by groovy brass grates with little dia de las muertas-inspired dancing skeletons welded into the design. very charming. very mission. near the roxie theater, roman was hit and knocked down by an errant skateboarder who scooped him up and put him back on his feet, apologizing profusely.

***

we went to the san francisco zoo one foggy afternoon and were mesmerized by the old, clearly pissed off but truly magnificent lion. we were able to get up close to him, incarcerated behind iron bars in the dank lion house. he lumbered up to the bars roared twice, unhinging his massive jaw and letting out the most amazing sound that vibrated and reverberated across the empty building. roman was totally blown away. i felt profound awe and sadness.

***

i took parker school shopping after camp last friday. she will be a styly little kindergartner shod in high black boots and brown uggs, and decked in  short dresses with tights, an orange hoodie, black skinny jeans, a red trench, and a paisley skirt. i'm quite sure i'll cry.

***

we've had a lot of visitors including megan, angela and layne, and uncle funny who picked up noodles from the citrus club. we also went to a couple of fun parties including a woo-woo barbecue in san rafael. the woo-woos are members of our burning man party crew from back in the day – some of us have kids and mortgages now, some i haven't laid eyes on in years. it was a great reunion. yesterday there was a star wars-themed birthday party for one of the pre-k crew at parkside square park in the outer sunset and today, deirdre and faichra hosted a lavish party at their beautiful home in the richmond. i met one of the owners of the uber-swank bourbon & branch, his lovely wife and baby jack there.

***

we hung out at the library and checked out mary poppins, the lion the witch and the wardrobe, the secret garden (really sweet film), and an annoying elmo flick. we made french toast with strawberries and whipped cream and delicious basil pesto.

good times, great summer days with my babies, but now this mama is ready for a break!


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