my past few weekends have been optimized for parkmaxxing, where I’m spending roughly 5-6 hours each saturday and sunday lying in a park, sunning and gossiping. this lends itself perfectly to park food — sandwiches from rhea’s in dolores, coffee from jane in lafayette park, biscuits from home at ina coolbrith. one of my favorite san francisco facts is it’s the first city in america where all residents live within a 10 minute walk of a park, and i took full advantage of that this weekend.
on wednesday night i met a friend for a glass of wine at celeste, the newish wine bar that took over the west coast wines space in the marina and is a sister to key klub and bodega. i was nervous about getting a spot because this place is hot, but we snagged the last two seats at the bar and there were plenty of standing tables open around 7pm. my intention was just to have a glass of red and no food, but the menu was enticing and reminded me of a trendier, more edited version of the menu at kiki’s (a greek restaurant in dimes square). we got the labne with oranges and hot honey, the hummus that was topped with roasted eggplant and tomato, and a mushroom skewer. the dips were flavorful and fresh and came with SO MUCH pita, a rare appropriate dip to pita ratio. we also got the mushroom skewer which was just ok (four slices of trumpet mushroom, barely seasoned, i think it may have been one mushroom total). overall the food could have been a bit spicier, but maybe they are overcorrecting for the marina crowd. for wine i had the sangiovese which was delicious, and my friend got the same gamay from lo-fi wines that we had in los alamos a few weeks ago!
i had friends over for dinner twice this week and followed a similar formula both nights of rice bowls with lots of toppings and veggies. the first dinner was bibimbap, where i made crispy rice by cooking jasmine rice in my donabe then running a stream of oil around the edges of the rice and allowing it to cook, covered, on low heat for an additional 10 minutes. for toppings i made gochujaru butter corn, soft boiled eggs, onions sauteed with mirin, sesame garlic spinach, honey gochujang tofu, and my friend brought sauteed mushrooms and cucumber carrot salad. she also made the eric kim gochujang caramel cookies which were savory and spicy — i love that the base uses a snickerdoodle dough rather than simply a sugar cookie. the second dinner was far more haphazard but no less delicious, and also needed to be mostly gluten free and vegan for my guests. i made crispy tofu with hoisin, fresh veggies with peanut sauce, and nuac cham with cherry tomatoes and jalapenos. i also grabbed the trader joe’s beefless bulgogi on a whim, which tasted insanely meaty but not in a bad way? i marinated the leftover pieces in the nuoc cham and the sauce permeated well.
early saturday morning I had breakfast plans at zazie in cole valley; i hadn’t been there in years and especially not for brunch given the one hour plus wait they often have. i was chatting with a friend recently about how i very rarely go to brunch spots anymore as i’m totally over the lines and spectacle surrounding it, and the only real brunch i get is at mymy because it’s on my block and i know exactly when to go to avoid a line. zazie used to be a go to spot for me for a solo dinner - they had a three course prix fixe menu for under $40 that was aggressively vegetarian and included dessert (it looks like its $55 now). we beat the rush on saturday by getting there around 9:30am, though the back patio was already packed and a line was beginning to form. my friends got benedicts, i had the italie scramble with tomatoes and cream cheese, and we got the miracle pancakes with lemon curd and poppy seeds to share. zazie easily has the best home fries i have ever eaten in my life - they are crispy all over and come with whole roasted pieces of garlic. it’s funny because i always veer towards eating eastern food and often criticize the worshipping of western cuisine, but zazie makes me love french food. what they’re doing with herbs is something i have yet to learn and am now desperately seeking to. my only complaint is the food should have been hotter.
after breakfast we walked over to golden gate park and laid in the sun for a few hours before seeking out another snack. another san francisco fun fact, golden gate park is the largest urban park in the us, bigger than central park. de ja vu from a few letters ago but if i’m in ggp on a weekend i need to get an annie’s veggie dog with every topping possible. my friends agreed they were fantastic and none of us should overlook food from a tent in the park. we also braved the twirl & dip line for a vanilla and chocolate soft serve dipped in a tcho chocolate shell and topped with flaky salt (can an ice cream get more sf?). the shell didn’t harden enough (maybe the chocolate wasn’t tempered) but the ice cream was still very tasty and nostalgic. the feeling of passing a single cone of dripping ice cream between three people while walking through the park is unmatched.
on sunday morning i met a friend in alamo square for coffee and toasts from the mill. this is the coldest take of all time but oh do i love the mill. it’s become a go to weekday work spot for me in the past few months but it is also one of the lines i mind the least on weekends given how pleasant the people watching is. i always run into someone i know there that i haven’t seen in forever or meet someone new that i find out i have mutuals with. i tend to go for the avocado or cinnamon sugar toast but instead opted for the ricotta and jam and the egg in a hole. ricotta jam was nice but i wish it was made on sourdough rather than the denser, very healthy tasting slice that was used. the egg in a hole is brushed with GARLIC BUTTER? it’s a garlic bread egg in a hole. i need to recreate it immediately.
i will continue to spend my next few weekends in san francisco in as much sun as possible, so please send me your favorite park and outdoor spots to eat. i’ll probably go for a slice of golden boy pizza in washington square park next. for some non-food recommendations this week, a friend asked me to include some youtube videos i’ve been loving, so here goes:
i am obsessed with mike’s mic, i’ve watched his lost and gossip girl recap videos on repeat for the past few months, he’s hilarious and extremely online and i love every pop culture reference he makes. i watch a lot of long form youtube videos so his two plus hour videos are ideal.
my parents showed me this video about the number 37 that is absolutely fascinating. veritasium has great videos in general.
paige wassel is a designer that has greatly changed my home aesthetic and preferences, and i can’t wait to move into a new spot so i can try a new style. her home update videos in particular are my favorite.
also, i recorded my first podcast recently! thanks to ish and prescott for having me as a guest on seven hills supper club, their podcast about all things san francisco. very topically their next guest in the sf parks & rec director. i talk about my food journey, hosting supper clubs, emily mariko, sf and nyc pop-up culture, where some of my ideas have come from, and more.
thanks for reading, see you next week.