Browse Tag: hog island

Birthday Weekend

On the weekend leading up to my birthday, the rest of my family came up to hang out and celebrate.  It’s always nice when Brother and I can celebrate out birthdays together.  This weekend was especially cool because it was my 40th.

IMG_0194IMG_0006They flew up on Saturday and they finally got to meet Peanut for the first time.

IMG_0010 For lunch, we walked over to Taco Bell Cantina.  It had just opened earlier this week and we ordered a feast on Mexican Pizzas, crunchy tacos, and bunch of random other stuff.  It had been a long time since I last had Taco Bell and it was delicious. 🙂

IMG_0296In the afternoon, we all went to the SF Zoo by train.  We had a couple meltdowns by Miss KK but it ended on a happy note. Phew.

IMG_4314For dinner, we went to Hog Island.  That too was a feast. I had the clam chowder and a couple raw oysters.

IMG_4306IMG_4313Brother ordered a few other things and the crudo was my favorite dish (pictured below).IMG_4310IMG_0012The waitress managed to get a pretty good photo of the whole group with the bridge in the background.  Jesse is missing because he was home sleeping with a case of jet lag.

IMG_0023The next day, we met up with Jason and Jia for brunch at Little Skillet/Victor Hall.  It was a great venue for our big group since we didn’t need a reservation and they have lots of big tables.  We took over the back table in the corner, which had lots of room for the strollers.  It’s crazy now with 3 infants and 2 little girls.

IMG_1175For dinner, we had reservations at House of Prime Rib.  I’d rather be at Lawry’s but this is the second best thing.

IMG_0067Despite the early reservation time, they still made us wait.  As a consolation, we got free desserts!  Dinner was a little hectic since Peanut was not in the mood to nap.

IMG_0051So, he sat in my lap for most of the meal.

IMG_0071On Monday, our actual birthday, we drove up to Napa for the day.

IMG_0096After lunch, we went to Sterling Vineyard and everyone enjoyed the gondola ride up.  IMG_0188This is one of our first family photos together.  Too bad Peanut was sleeping.

IMG_0196On the way to dinner, we stopped at Bouchon Bakery to pick up some treats.

IMG_0153Brother and I ordered like we were at Taco Bell again.

IMG_0172Dinner was at Ad Hoc and they were serving fried chicken that night.

IMG_1668We had a ton of food, which got packed up to go after dinner.

IMG_1666There was enough for us to have another feast the next day for lunch!

IMG_1667 IMG_1670 What a fun weekend and birthday with the family!!

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Hog Island is back!

IMG_3687Hog Island has been closed for a couple months now for an expansion.  They took over the space next door when it closed and renovated everything.  It’s now bigger, has an actual bar area, and has lots more seating.  We found it open this weekend and since it was their first weekend, they were still working out some kinks.  Luckily they still serve drinks while you wait but there was a little confusion about who to order from.

IMG_3690Once seated, we discovered a whole new menu with some favorites still on there.  We ordered a dozen kumamotos and clam chowder at first but they had run out of clams!!  Whaat!?  I was so disappointed.  So, we ordered a bunch of other stuff and they were all still very good.

Here’s what we ate:

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Smoked SurgeonIMG_3696

Seafood StewIMG_3698

Salad with pickled onions, fried shiitake, and soft-boiled eggIMG_3699

Mussels and fries

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Yum.  We’ll just have to come back again for the chowder very soon.

Black Friday

IMG_7371 1On Friday morning, Brother and I got up really early to go for another run.  IMG_7373 1It was nice to be out before the sun came up.  We finished three miles in time to then hop into the car and head over to Tartine.

IMG_7374 1 This is our version of standing in line for Black Friday.

IMG_7378 1We got there about 15 minutes before the doors opened and left with a butter crossaint, pan du chocolat, coconut macaroons, 2 morning buns, two slices of ham and cheese quiche, and a chocolate hazelnut tart.

IMG_7385 1Later that morning, we all packed up for a walk along Embarcadero to Hog Island Oyster Co.  There was a bit of a wait but it was just enough for us to to enjoy a glass of wine and to build up an appetite.  IMG_7398They gave us a big table for all 8 of us and we feasted on oysters and clam chowder. IMG_7402IMG_7403 1

What a tasty meal!!  Once that was all done, we took a walk to Union Square to do a little shopping.

IMG_8545Brother went back to Uniqlo to exchange something while Jes and I went to the Apple Store to get me a brand new Macbook Pro, which came with a $150 Apple Store gift card!!  Woot!  Merry Christmas to me!

DSC_4000 DSC_4005The afternoon was then spent at home resting and cleaning up.  Kumquat enjoyed hanging out with Cousin Alice and it was so cute to see how curious she is around her.

IMG_8948For dinner, we all piled into the SUV that Brother rented and went to R&G Lounge for some salt and pepper crab.  Daddy really enjoyed the crab and we were all wondering why we hadn’t yet taken him there after all these years.

Saturday

IMG_6398On Saturday morning, I went for a run and went to the Farmers’ Market with Kumquat.  It had been at least a month since I had gone and it was nice to be back.  Kumquat got to run around a bit and of course, tasted lots of fruit.  This picture looks like she has secret service watching after her.  After picking up some pluots, pears, and persimmons, we went to Hog Island for a tasty lunch.  IMG_6410Ah…what a delicious feast.  I had the gem lettuce salad, kumamoto oysters, baked oysters, and my favorite clam chowder.

IMG_6437 IMG_6440After Kumquat’s nap, we headed down to Redwood City to check out Jason and Jia’s new place.  We brought them a big box of fancy sparkling water and we said “cheers!”IMG_6433They moved last weekend and it’s a bigger, less expensive place with plenty of parking.  It looks like everyone has made themselves pretty comfy there already and I was a good lounge chair that evening.IMG_6461For dinner, we went to La Viga and they had pretty good seafood.  Kumquat seemed to enjoy the chips and habanero salsa.  I’m amazed that she can tolerate so much heat!  It’s the combination of Thai blood and her dad’s tastebuds I guess.

One Year Later

It’s been almost a year since we found out I was pregnant and I had to change what I ate and drank.  One of the things I missed was going to Hog Island Oyster Co. and having raw oysters paired with a nice glass of white wine.

So, today we walked to the Ferry Plaza and took Kumquat to one of my favorite places to eat.  She sat quietly in the corner while we had quite a feast.  Since Kumquat is taking a bottle this week, I was in the clear to have my glass of Riesling with my meal.

The meal started with a half-dozen raw Kumamoto oysters (yum) and four baked oysters (my first time!)  The raw ones were as tasty as I had remembered and the baked ones were actually pretty good.  Then again, they were prepared with bacon so how could it be bad?!

We also shared a frisee salad that was topped with the prettiest beets I’ve ever seen.  The color was a unique pink color that made me think it was raw hamachi at first!

Next was the ooey-gooey/crunchy grilled cheese sammich with the tastiest pickled radish on the side. And of course, we had my favorite clam chowder (pictured at the top of this post).  Aaaah…delicious!  By the way, there was a couple seated in front of us who each got a bowl, ate all the clams, and then left most of the broth (the best part) in the bowl!!!!  I died a little inside when I saw that.

Afterward we stopped at the Humphry Slocombe stand at the Farmers’ Market outside for a HUGE scoop of Secret Breakfast.  If you don’t know what it is, it’s bourbon ice cream with cornflakes hidden inside.  Man, it’s been WAY too long since I’ve had it.

OK. I’m ready.

After 3 weeks of maternity leave and a really lazy weekend, I can say that I’m ready to have this baby.  In fact, on Friday night, Jes and I stayed up to watch a 4-hour 2-disc DVD that his co-worker lent to us.  We hadn’t gone to any classes and this had everything we needed to know about childbirth and what to expect afterward.  She also went over the pros and cons of all the different drug options and it looks like I may not be a good candidate for an epidural.  It left me thinking that I need to be mentally prepared to go through with this naturally.  It’s like I had signed up for a marathon that I didn’t train for.  I guess we’ll have to see what happens.

On Saturday, we walked to the Ferry Plaza for lunch and had a feast at Hog Island Oyster Co.  It’s one of my favorite places to eat and I was so happy.  Jes had some raw oysters and we also each started with a salad.

Mine was the Little Gem Salad that had mandarin oranges, apples, and almonds.  The shaved cheese on top was a little weird at first sight but made a lot of sense when I tasted it.

Next was our clam chowder.  It’s never disappointing and went so perfectly with the roasted crab that came next.  When we were done with the crab, it looked like a massacre on the table.  It could have been the perfect meal but it was missing one thing: a nice glass of white wine.  🙂  Heh heh.  I only have to wait a couple more weeks!!!  Yippee!!

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