Sunday on the Delta
If you have a cool convertible, a cute blonde and the cutest little red dog ever, what better way to spend a sunny Sunday than motoring around the Delta looking for lunch?
The water levels are the highest I’ve ever seen, with the snow melt rushing down the rivers toward the ocean. The waters are right up to the top of the channel, swiftly flowing into the bay.
Wandering along Brannan Island Road, we ended up this time at Moore’s Riverboat Restaurant, in Isleton.
It’s a real riverboat, built in 1931 as a freighter moving bulk products from San Francisco to Sacramento. In the 60’s it was retired, then purchased and refitted as a restaurant by the family who still own and operate it.
I’ve never seen a window like this. The boat has lots of interesting architectural details.
There is a lovely outdoor deck, of course. We don’t eat anywhere these days unless we can eat outside and bring the dog. Or maybe the dog brings us. It’s hard to tell who owns whom.
The staff is friendly as all get out. They brought us a water dish, took our orders and disappeared.
Waiting for her burger.
We didn’t care. It was a beautiful day, about 83 degrees, gentle breeze, great views. interesting activity as boats came and went, grabbing a bit of lunch and the requisite beer before heading back out on the water.
Lunch got there eventually. Not too warm anymore, but still tasty. I had a grilled chicken wrap with both onion rings and cole slaw. Given that it was only $8, it was fantastic.
Gail had a burger which was just what you expect a burger to be. You can order a second patty for $1, which is a cheap lunch for the mutt. The fries were neither hot nor crispy, but that’s life. Claudia liked her burger, so that’s a good point.
One of the telling points in a restaurant is the quality of the tableware. Usually, hamburger joints have the cheapest stamped out flatware available. Moore’s actually uses some very interesting heavyweight item that you would expect in a fine dining establishment.
That’s a really heavy piece of silverware, and I think the handle is genuine silver.
Then I noticed something I have wondered about for years–the leftmost tine was wider than the rest, and came to a strange, curved point.
Why is this fork shaped like this?
I’ve seen this design before, and never understood it. Looking up forks has left me baffled. Do you know why this exists? What is the purpose of the leftmost tine? Little things like this make me crazy–I know somebody put time and effort into a particular design, undoubtedly for some grand purpose, and I cannot fathom it in the least. What’s going on here? I’m open to all suggestions.
After paying the minuscule bill we drove home all the way around Brannan Island, still puzzled by the mystery of the fork. I noticed that Moore’s has karaoke on Friday nights, so if we can raise a party we’ll go back. Anybody like to sing?
Totally Unauthorized 
Just so you don’t lose sleep tonight….Forks with a wide left tine and an optional notch, such as a salad fork, fish fork, dessert fork, and pastry fork, provide extra leverage when cutting food that normally does not require a knife.
It’s a fish fork. The wider tine makes it easier to separate the flesh from the bone.
Maybe it’s a fish fork for a right handed person. The point gets out the little bones.
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