Magic happens, club re-opens Tuesday morning!!!
The work party works. Jody Praklet, Lorin Waxman, Bruce Johnsonbaugh and Sharry Leet
That didn’t take long. Building management got the damaged walls boarded up, the torn electric circuits rewired and the biggest pieces of drywall removed. Inspections were made and structural integrity assured. Insurance companies were contacted, claims filed, papers filled in. The phones may or may not work, but Tuesday morning at 8:30, the club will be open.
Jody, Lorin and Sharry vacuum near the front door.
Things aren’t exactly back to normal but the game marches on. We can deal with a little disruption, with strange looking walls, as long as the move is called on time and the trumps break.
Ravi Bhalla sorts hundreds of jumbled bidding cards
Bonnie Johnson and Kathy Grey putting bidding boxes back together
Eventually, a contractor will rebuild the walls and the front door. It seems likely the carpeting will have to be replaced, at least in part. Everything will work, and you won’t be able to tell that there was ever a disaster.
You don’t often see skid marks on carpeting. Grant Robinson, Lorin, Bruce, and Larry Miller cleaning assiduously.
All the tables and chairs pushed to the side so the cleaning could be done.
This used to be a sliding glass door.
All’s well that ends well. Nobody was hurt, the club was only closed a couple of days and we’ll get new carpeting out of it. There may be some noise and dust during the rebuilding, but we can live with that.
The growing pile of debris outside.
Iris say to thank everyone for their help and their concern. All game go on at their regular time, we’re back in business.
Bridge club update
The damage is boarded up.
The car went in, the car tried to come out. The management company did a very professional job of closing off the room.
Iris hopes to re-open by Wednesday. This is a hope, not a promise. Stay tuned for all further developments.
What next, frogs?
Last Sunday the Diablo Valley Bridge club in Walnut Creek got flooded out, and was closed for 3 days. Little did we know that the inundation was merely the prelude to the big disaster.
Sitting at home this morning, contemplating taking a shower, I heard my phone ring. It was club owner Iris Libby, telling me that Judy Guillen had just driven her car into the club. Iris had been at a singing event in Livermore, Ron was preparing to run the game and had called her. She called me to grab my camera and get over there.
Silly me, I thought the “drove her car into the front door” meant she had tapped the front of the building and splintered a little wood. This is what I saw:
Judy’s Cadillac all the way into the club
First, the good news. Nobody was hurt, not even a scratch. Judy had gotten there early, as is her wont, and there was nobody else but Ron there. 30 minutes later this could have been a tragedy.
Firemen clearing out the damage to the front door so they could remove the car.
Somehow the car rammed into the building, took a left turn and start out the side door.
The first sliding glass door, where the car tried to exit.
Judy is fine, if still in a bit of shock.
Just sitting in Angie’s car waiting for the excitement to be over.
Iris arrived:
Wondering what else can happen.
The CHP and the fire department were there, and they drove the car out of the building. There was some damage to the big Caddy, but it was driveable enough to get it out.
Highway patrol backing the car out.
Friends gave Iris support:
Iris Libby and Barbara Hanson. Too much smiling. There may be something catty being said.
Gail wouldn’t miss something like this for the world:
Iris with Gail Giffen. That’s what friends are for.
The people who showed up for the game all said ooh and aah, took a couple of photos with their cell phones and raced off to Rossmoor, where they decided to open the game to everyone today. What else would you expect from bridgeplayers?
There is considerable damage to the front and side of the building, but it doesn’t appear to be structural. The management company will be boarding the place up immediately, and Iris may well be able to re-open in a couple of days, using the side doors.
Wood and glass and metal can all be replaced. Insurance will cover the damages and in a month or so you won’t be able to tell there was ever a problem. Nobody got hurt, and we’re all thankful. The club will re-open soon, you should probably check the club webpage for when.
Here are the rest of the photos. Just click on the first one to see the all larger.
Back to Morimoto
By Sunday, we had had more than enough of bridge, so we stayed home. And played bridge on Bridge Base. Hung out. Did nothing. Watched bridge on the Vugraph. By dinner time, I was ready for some adventure, so we headed up to Napa for some fine dining at Morimoto, the West Coast outlet of Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s world wide chain of eponymous restaurants. We were there a couple of years ago, and I’ve been itching to go back. Since we were going that way, we called our friend Sigrid Price to join us, which turned out to be quite serendipitous. More on that later.
Non-techy Gail using two iPhones at once in the car.
Gail was interested in the Reisinger finals, so as we drove she had my iPhone set to watch on Vugraph while she read a book on her iPhone between tricks. No grass grows under her feet.
Morimoto is right on the river in Napa, part of the downtown revitalization. The building is beautiful, with a restrained minimalism that is very Japanese yet retains great warmth. My only objection is the noise level. The designers clearly chose to have a loud facility–the bare concrete floors assure it. There are no tablecloths, the silver is heavy and rings loudly, the windows are undraped. Noise level is a design choice these days, and a loud restaurant is theorized to appeal more to the young and vigorous and make them spend more. Being neither young nor vigorous, I’d like to be able to hear the table discussion with less effort, but I’m not the target market.
The wine list is what you would expect of a top restaurant in the Napa Valley. Sigrid knows her way around Napa wines, and chose a bottle of Groth Sauvignon Blanc. She liked it, Gail liked it, I had iced tea.
We started with the edamame, which you would think would be a standard dish, since it is only steamed soy beans. You’d think wrong, since some cooks are better than others and the Morimoto chefs are superb. I don’t know how one person steams something better than other people steam it, but Morimoto does.
Hamachi tacos
The amuse bouche was a hamachi taco–tiny tacos formed from gyoza skins, filled with strips of yellowtail tuna, an intriguing fusion of Mexican and Japanese cuisine.
Calimari Salad
Merging a salad with calamari is a brilliant idea only Chef Morimoto could come up with. The calamari are tempura fried, so light and crispy they are a revelation–you’ve never had squid this good. The salad, lightly dressed and accompanied by “quinoa two ways” (what two ways I never discerned), goes perfectly with the calamari, making the whole greater than the sum of it’s excellent parts.
There is no photo, but my favorite dish was the rock shrimp tempura. Rock shrimp are more like tiny lobsters than shrimp, and Chef Morimoto serves them two ways–in a wasabi aioli, piquant without being too hot, and with a “spicy kochujan” sauce that was less spicy than the wasabi but still interesting. The shrimp are tempura fried to the point of being magic–crispy on the outside, warm and rich on the inside. Do not fail to order this dish.
Pork Gyoza
Gyoza are the Japanese version of pot stickers, only the skins are much thinner and less doughy than the Chinese original. The six pieces were cooked all together on one sheet of the wrapper, then inverted to make the presentation you see above. They are sitting on a thick tomato sauce and surrounded by bacon foam. Foam is a central item of the molecular gastronomy movement, a way of conveying a burst of flavor with virtually no weight or major impact. I’m not much of a fan of foam, but it does improve the presentation.
Abalone pot pie
I don’t think the pot pie has any culinary roots in Japan, but that is no impediment. This was my least favorite dish, and Sigrid’s first favorite. I guess she likes abalone more than I do. The crust was magnificent in any case, I’d just rather have chicken in my pot pies. Call me a rube if you must.
A simple barbecued eel roll and a piece of mentaiko sushi
It wouldn’t seem right not to have at least some sushi, so I ordered a barbecued eel rool, which was as close to perfection as you are going to get in this lifetime. We had one order of mentaiko, spicy cod roe, which we then spread on the eel roll for added flavor You just can’t get that sort of thing at the local sushi bar and should really try it when possible.
Duck fried rice
Even the side order of fried rice was designed with care, served with a perfect duck egg on top, to be broken and mixed in.
I mentioned that it was serendipitous to ask Sigrid–here’s why. Small plates are all the rage these days. You go somewhere and order 5 or 7 little plates of delicacies and share them. What we don’t understand is how often these plates come with 3 of the item. Most of the time, we go to restaurants in even numbers. Two people, four people, even six or eight people. Society comes in pairs. Dividing three pieces for 4 people is a pain. This time, though, all went well because we had Sigrid with us–everything divided perfectly. Good conversation and no abiding math problems, that’s serendipity.
Service is excellent, but don’t be in a hurry. Each course is brought in its own due time; they want you to enjoy slowly and consider your food. The well-trained staff will help you decide from among the many unique things on the menu and be quite capable about recommending the right wines. You have nothing to worry about–they are there to help you have an excellent experience, not laugh at the things you don’t know. Nobody will smirk if you want a fork instead of chopsticks, they just bring the fork.
Morimoto is a special restaurant, to be visited rarely and savored deeply. Although the flavors are delicate, the food is hearty and filling. Prices are high–probably the highest in the Napa Valley outside of The French Laundry. The 16 oz. rib eye steak is $75 and the 8 oz filet is $80. There is a chef’s tasting menu that starts at $120/person. We didn’t have any of those things, and it still wasn’t cheap.
We had no problem getting a Sunday night reservation, thanks to Opentable.com, but that isn’t always the case. Especially on the weekend don’t even think of going there without reserving first.
Morimoto is a great restaurant. Not good, great. Brilliant, innovative food served professionally in a beautiful room alongside a river in the Napa Valley. Hard to imagine anything else you would want except great company, and I had Gail and Sigrid. That’s a perfect night.
Flooded bridge club
Iris called me last night to say there would be no game today. Here’s why:
Notice everything is moved to the left of the club–the right side is very, very wet. Herb showed up to help out.
Our building is the lowest one in the complex, and the one ground drain isn’t sufficient to handle a large storm. This has happened before, though not as badly. It will happen again, if they don’t make some structural changes in the drain system.
There doesn’t appear to be any significant damage. The building maintenance crew got in after the rain stopped, extracted all the water they could, then set up large floor fans to complete the drying process. Getting everything back in place and ship shape will take until Wednesday, it now seems. Although she expects to be open, it might be wise to call before coming Wednesday morning .
Here are some more photos, click on one to see them all full size:
New York in Walnut Creek
Massimo Ristorante in Walnut Creek is one of our favorite places. We eat there often, not only because it is perfectly located across the street from the Lesher Center. The owner/host in his impeccable suit, the dark wood, low lighting and the man at the piano all combine to make me think of Manhattan every time–this place makes you feel sophisticated just by being there.
You feel warm and rich just being here.
There is another New York touch, too. The signature salad of Massimo is a Waldorf—apples, grapes and walnuts with a rich dressing. I have it every time.
Waldorf Salad
Getting photos is hard–the lighting is very dim. Probably not the best place to bring the little kids or grandkids, but wonderful for adults who savor a romantic atmosphere.
The Northern Italian menu has a decent selection of pastas, meats and fish, prepared with tomatoes, oregano, basil and expertise. I had fish:
Chilean Sea Bass, angel hair primavera and lemon beurre blanc
We’re quick to complain if the food isn’t hot when it gets to the table–not a problem here. The pan-seared bass arrived so hot it burned me, which isn’t a complaint. The angel hair pasta was excellent with the beurre blanc.
Gail wishes I would serve more veal at home, but how can I compete with this?
Veal Piccata
Veal, capers and lemon–Gail was in heaven. She asked to have the mashed potatoes instead of the linguine, and there was no problem. We’ve seen places that refuse to make alterations because they “would harm the integrity of the dish”, but have never been impressed by that argument. The customer is always right, and Massimo does everything they can to accommodate.
Service here is very professional. Nothing casual, no “Hi!! My name is Joe and I’ll be your server.” Sometimes the old-fashioned ways are the best. Massimo is successful because it provides a very good meal, with solid expert service, in a warm and inviting facility perfectly located. I don’t think you can ask for anything more.
If you get on their mailing list, they’ll send you a free dinner for your birthday. Of course, you have to remember to give them the coupon before you get out of the restaurant and back to your car. Don’t ask me how I know this.
He’s got your back
Going into the playing site
Last night, between rounds I was walking around and saw this guy sitting on a chair, talking on his phone. But something seemed strange. Firstly, he’s too big in the chest, too muscled, too young and vigorous to fit in with most bridge players. And he’s sitting almost in the door way, facing the room–that’s sort of strange. Then I notice that his eyes were always on the room, not looking lazily around they way most people do when they’re talking to someone who isnt’ there.
Walking around behind him, I checked out where he might be looking.
A very direct line of sight
Sure enough, I saw a tall redheaded man in a rust colored sweater, and the mystery was solved.
Bill Gates was playing, as he often does in the North American Swiss teams. The guy on the phone was part of his security team.
I’ve seen Gates at a number of tournaments. Playing in a world championship in Montreal some years ago I was right behind him and passing boards to him. He is a very modest man, and his security team reflects that–it becomes a game to try to figure out who they are. No big burly guys in suits surrounding Mr. G, he opts for people who blend in as unobtrusively as possible. I saw one guy in San Francisco; there were surely a couple more I couldn’t pick out of the crowd.
Here’s the good gossip—the phone the security man was using (or pretending to be using, to look less obvious) was an iPhone.
Prospects are dim, and that’s good
Never one to pass up a bad pun, the dim prospects of the title relate to dim sum, a style of Chinese dining where you don’t order off a menu but choose from already prepared dishes brought around on carts. It’s sort of like a cafeteria where the line comes to you.
We ate lunch at Yank Sing, often regarded as the apotheosis of dim sum in San Francisco. They have 2 locations downtown; we were at their flagship site in Rincon Center.
The art of dim sum–bite sized steamed dumplings to be shared at the table.
Yank Sing is a class act–tablecloths, napkins, waitstaff in uniforms. The room is large and airy, in the completely remodeled edifice that was once Rincon Annex Post Office. Tables are spaced widely enough to allow a flotilla of carts through, bringing all manner of delicacies to the customers in a relentless flow.
One of the high-stacked carts serving the customers.
The food is excellent–the only cavil I had was with the vast number of carts and trays ceaselessly coming up and offering yet another dish. In their quest to sell the largest number of dishes in the shortest amount of time and turn the table to new customers, the waitresses (and the cart pushers and tray carriers are all female) just swarmed the table, badgering us with delectables. I would have appreciated a more leisurely pace, the better to enjoy the food.
Peking duck–crispy duck, sliced scallions and steamed buns
I don’t know what these are, but they are sweet and I liked them.
The cart from whence the Peking duck is served.
The bill–as each dish is dropped off, a mark is made. They add it all up at the end.
There are a few dishes you have to order–we had the honey Sea Bass, which was an incredible preparation. I’d love to be able to cook a piece of fish that well.
Yank Sing isn’t cheap–the dishes run from $5 to $19, and you can find yourself with quite a few of them on the table. On the other hand, they validate the parking in the garage under the building, and that saves quite a bit in pricey San Francisco.
We certainly enjoyed our meal. The food is excellent and varied; it’s the Chinese version of tapas or small plates. The key to eating here is to be forceful about not being rushed, to take your time and savor the meal without being hurried. Do that, and your prospects of a fine meal are excellent indeed.
Treasure Island Flea Market
Looking for adventure, we ended up at the monthly flea market on Treasure Island. In one of those strange coincidences, I hadn’t been there in ages when we wandered over yesterday just to see the sights,, and then went back today for the market.
The center of Treasure Island is dominated by this 40 foot tall sculpture
The Flea Market is the last full weekend of every month. Treasure Island (TI) was created in the bay as a site for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. It was originally planned to be the site for an airport, but the Navy took it over for WWII, and then they built SFO in Burlingame.
I have a place in my yard for her, but she won’t fit on top of the car to take her home.
The entrance to the market
The entrance fee is a mere $3, and well worth the cost. Just inside the gate, we saw this man playing a barrel organ, sort of like a portable player piano–the music is coded into cardboard strips he loads into the instrument. He has an intriguing voice, and you can almost immediately feel like you are in old Paris.
Here’s his biggest fan:
You never know what you will find at a flea market. I was surprised to see this truck:
This truck has been in my driveway more than once
C&M is the company we rent tables and other party equipment from. It turned out that they sold this truck two years ago, and the people who bought it are named Carol and Marshall, so they didn’t repaint it. They sell clothes at flea markets.
This should be a warning to all flea market shoppers.
There is a lot of naked capitalism here–the prices are what you can negotiate and there aren’t any guarantees. Let the Jolly Roger be a warning–shopping here is very much dog eat dog and you’re on your own.
Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have fun:
Gail can’t resist trying on furs. She can resist buying them, though.
Pow-Wow the Indian Girl
Just looking at the mannequins is fun sometimes.
The people watching is spectacular. If you go up and talk to them, you meet some really interesting ones.
This is Lisa, and her little dog, Olive
I saw Lisa working a booth, and asked to take her photo while she was walking Olive. She got the pup as a rescue dog who only weighed 2 pounds–now she’s up to a fighting weight of 3 pounds.
Gail said I had to get a picture of these pants.
People are friendly. We got involved in urging this woman to buy this hat. Then we got involved in trying to get the price down–which is harder when you have been praising the item, and how it looks on the wearer, to the high heavens.
We all liked this hat.
I’m pretty sure she bought the hat; I don’t know how good a deal she got.
Walking around, you have to keep your eyes open for all the interesting things–and not just the oddities for sale, either:
The creativity that went into this trailer was reflected in the quality of the items she had for sale.
If you have a large group of people, you have to feed them. There was an area with food trucks set up, an array of cuisines from Indian to French to Thai to redneck. There were garlic noodles, there were burritos, there were hot mini-donuts. TI has 4 wineries (not that they grow the grapes there, they just make the wine) and there was wine tasting. Food trucks have become the new gourmet fad in San Francisco, the Treasure Island Flea Market is just reaping the benefits.
Elk? Wild Boar? You know where I am going to be eating.
I use the screen name “Chairman” on Bridge Base, so this truck seemed particularly apt:
This isn’t my food truck.
The weather was completely perfect, the crowds were friendly, parking was excellent. We had a great day and came home with a few putative bargains. I’ll do this again.
Sea Salt
UPDATE:
JoelT pointed out that the restaurant is closing, and Becky RH sent this clip along from Diablo Dish:
Looks like Sea Salt will have a new owner. According to an ABC license report, Haig and Cindy Krikorian, owners of the K2 restaurant group, are selling their popular Berkeley seafood restaurant to a Sung Su Han. This comes just a few weeks after the Krikorians sold off their T-Rex BBQ. According to the Scoop, Sea Salt would remain open at least until the deal was finalized.
I still like the place, but it looks like you only have a couple of weeks to try it. Owning a restaurant is tough, and the longevity of any particular place is questionable at best.
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How often in your life has everyone at the table ordered the same thing? In a good restaurant with decent variety on the menu? It had never happened to me before, until lunch yesterday.
We at at Sea Salt, on San Pablo Ave in Berkeley. Despite many temptations, five people out of five ordered the fish and chips. (Okay, there was a sixth person, but he just had a beer and a long fork to steal from the rest of us, so he really had the fish and chips too.)
First though, the young master had the beet salad.
Mixed baby beets, Laure Chenel Chevre, Arugula, Citrus Vinaigrette and Walnut Salt
Mother said I would learn to love beets. So far, she’s been wrong. Other people love them, I guess they won’t kill you like mushrooms will, but they are not for me. Still, it’s a pretty salad, I wonder what “walnut salt” is, I thought the goat cheese in salad fad had passed, I don’t have any more comments.
On to the fish and chips:
Not exactly like what you get in old England.
Very fresh cod is battered and fried. The “chips” are just standard (albeit excellent) french fries. Nothing particularly exceptional, just a common dish uncommonly well executed.
Cole slaw–creamy or vinegary? A debate more enduring than politics. I’m a creamy voter–if it doesn’t have mayo, it isn’t coleslaw. (Now I have another debate–cole slaw or coleslaw? Opinions wanted) Back to the first issue. Sea Salt serves what I consider to be a good shredded cabbage salad, with an Asian accented vinegar dressing. Call it what you will, you’ll like it.
Excellence resides in the details. The ketchup (or catsup? Lots of lexicographic issues today) here is special. Very few establishments care enough to pay attention to this most mundane of American condiments, but Sea Salt server “Thai curry ketchup”. It’s unlike anything you have experienced–a touch on the hot side for me, but exciting and different and darned near worth the trip by itself.
Susan and Karl thinking about our meal.
Sea Salt is part of the same restaurant group that owns Lalimes, so I’m not surprised that we like it. The food is not fancy or pretentious. Presentations are professional, supporting rather than overpowering the taste. Service is efficient and not obtrusive.
We’ve eaten here a number of times. There really are other things on the menu–in particular, try the Bacon, lettuce and trout sandwich. The room is open and airy, and there is a patio in the back for dining al fresco. As you would expect in Berkeley, the wine list is sufficient for wine snobs and the food is all as local and sustainable as possible. No moral issues are raised by eating here.
I like Sea Salt, you will too.
Totally Unauthorized 