Great Restaurants, part two: Memorial Day Weekend

In addition to the glorius Chez Panisse, we have been to an incredible number of good Bay Area restaurants in the past month.

First up was Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay where we celebrated Kelly's birthday. The meal started with oysters on the half shell, now that I had learned they are really quite the treat. We had an assortment which gave us a chance to discover that we really all prefer the small ones. Kelly, Cynthia, Marina, Laura and I were all brave enough to eat more than one. Sascha was brave enough to sit at the same table while we were slurping them down.

The list of varieties:
Steamboat WA
Kumamoto OR
Marin Miyagi CA
Malpeque PEI
Beausoleil NB
Fanny Bay BC

I think the Kumamota were our favorites.

The following day Michael and I headed off to Big Sur for my birthday-present weekend from Laura. On the way to Treebones we stopped at Nepenthe in Big Sur. Check out the stories and folktales on their website. Truly Nepenthe is in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. We basked in the sun, looking at the coast line and trying to keep the ravens and jays from eating all the french fries. It's hard to do a food review of a hamburger, but their burger, called ambrosia, was quite fine. And they served a huge half order of fries. Our Nepenthe pictures can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/judy.mowrey/Nepenthe.

Our destination was Treebones Resort, also in Big Sur, but further south, out of the really wooded area. For those familiar with the Central California coast, Treebones is south of Limekiln State Park and the stop in the road called Lucia. The entire resort is constructed of yurts. The lodge is a series of connected wooden yurts, the owners also live in a wood structure, and the guesthouse where we stayed is made of wood. The rest of the yurts are canvas sided with a central skylight. Breakfast was served every morning in the lodge and consisted of homemade granola and waffles. On Monday evening we ate in the lodge as well. They have a limited menu and require orders to be placed between 4 and 7 pm. We opted to try the chicken tagine. It was excellent, flavorful and very very tender chicken, with apricots and almonds, and served with couscous and a salad.
My pictures can be found at picasaweb as well. Michael still needs to upload his photos from the hike he went on.

Still to come:
South in San Francisco (part of the Dine About Town program)
The Ritz Carlton in San Francisco for High Tea

There is still one more birthday event, not a restaurant but a show---Spam-a-lot in San Francisco.

What a way to celebrate!