Anchor & Hope

A new fish house opened up recently close to my office in SoMa. Anchor & Hope is part of the Town Hall and Salt House group, two of my old favorites. I ate there for lunch last month with a co-worker. The space used to be a garage so the ceilings are very high and the room is open. The decor and details are super fun. They even had authentic Emeco Navy chairs. (These chairs have been made from recycled aluminum for over 60 years and they are practically indestructible.)

I'm torn on the food. I had an heirloom beet salad to start followed by a citrus glazed salmon and a strawberry crisp. The meal started off very well with the beet salad. The salmon was nothing special even though description on the menu made it sound interesting. Finishing with a strawberry crisp that was good, but again nothing special. That said, I tried some of my co-worker's fish and chips and it was phenomenal! The service was really good too.

In summary, they get points for the beet salad, fish and chips, service and atmosphere/decor. I'm definitely willing to try it again and get back to you.

(Picture from Jennifer Yin at sf.eater.com)

Super Versitle Modern Dining

I've been helping my friend Kim make the transition to modern design in her San Francisco loft. Here's what I picked out for the dining area. I've had my eye on this table for a couple years now and I'm so glad someone I know is actually getting it!

The Cross Extension Table designed by Matthew Hilton has two self storing leafs. Closed the table can comfortably seat 6-8. With each leaf, you can add two more people opening all the way to seat 12 guests. The leafs store in a felt lined compartment within the frame of the table that opens and closes very easily. It comes in the dark brown wenge finish shown above and a light oak. Kim's kitchen has dark wood cabinetry so the dark table helps divide the open great room and make a nice connection to the kitchen in an open floor plan.

The polypropylene Gas side chairs and armchairs are designed by Jesus Gasca. They are very lightweight, stackable and extremely comfortable. The chairs are available in several colors and materials including fabric and leather. We chose the white polypropylene for the cool opaque look it has and because it will be easy to clean up once her baby joins them at the table.

The dining area in the loft is situated under the staircase leading to the second level. This combination of furniture will open up the space with a table that isn't super wide but is still extendable to include several guests, two leaves that can be stored with the table instead of taking up precious closet space, chairs that have a low profile back, opaque look and can be stacked when not in use.

Wedding Shower Preview

Here's a preview of the wedding shower Katie and I threw for Stephanie. I need to get more pictures from my dad, because I certainly didn't have time to take very many! Our favor for the party, shown above, was an individual 5" lattice crust berry tart.

Opera in the Park

Last Friday I attended the free opera simulcast at AT&T park. It is things like this that make me love this city. Garlic fries and hot dogs with your culture? The weather even cooperated. It had to have still been 80 degrees outside at 11:00 PM.

When in Denver...

Rent a convertible (summer only, of course), stay at The Oxford Hotel in LoDo, eat breakfast at The Delectable Egg and visit the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA).

For my sister Jenny's wedding, we traveled to Denver for the weekend. The wedding was a couple hours away up in the mountains in front of a waterfall. The wedding was beautiful and we all had such a relaxing, fun time (once the bridal bouquet was finished!)

After the wedding we drove back to Denver and spent the next day strolling the streets of LoDo (Lower Downtown) which is the very charming, historical district of the city. In addition to the items mentioned above, we had lunch at Larimer square and visited the Museum of Nature and Science where we watched a beautiful IMAX film on Greece.

The picture above is a photograph of the roof top garden at the Museum of Contemporary Art. I love these planter boxes!

Weddings Part Une and Duex

I haven't been blogging much lately even though I have so much that I want to share. I've had not one, but two sisters get married in the past month. Being the crazy, take on too much person that I am, I decided to be responsible for custom letterpress invitaions, flower arrangements, a bridal bouquet, a dessert buffet, and an over the top shower between the two weddings. But that is just me.

All of this is hard enough to do from home where I know my resources and can do a lot of the work ahead of time. My sistuation was complicated by having to travel to Utah and Colorado for the events. In summary I didn't get much sleep, my husband has banned me from taking on projects, and I dropped a ton of money on shipping charges but wow that bridal shower was everything I ever dreamed a party should be!

Congratulations to Jenifer and Stephanie! You make beautiful brides!!

Letterpress Wedding Invitations

Several hours of preparation, 1,200+ impressions, 3 days off work, Jordan's incredible generosity, my husband's limitless patience and 600+ hand trimmed invitations later...

The Sentinel

I just got lunch from the new Dennis Leary (Canteen Restaurant) SoMa take-out counter, The Sentinel. It's a little dangerous that I can eat this well for lunch on a regular basis. In the past it was hard to do better than mass produced burritos and sandwiches unless you have 2 hours and $50 to spend on an everyday lunch. The lunches here range from $7.50 to $11. There are 4 sandwich/soup type items on the menu which changes daily and it is take out only. They also serve coffee and pastries in the morning. The coffee cake is on its way to becoming legendary.

Extra cool points go to The Sentinel because Dennis Leary actually prepared and handed me the food! (That is the guy you can see behind the counter.) How often do you go to a restaurant with a big name chef and know for sure that they actually had anything to do with the food preparation?

SoMa worker are in for a real treat. The bar for affordable, quick lunch has been raised very high indeed. The Sentinel is located at 37 New Montgomery across from The Palace Hotel.