I ended up waking up at 8:30 this morning so I could get all of my crap done. Because my first lesson cancelled, I was able to give Midget a bath and wash my car windows, which was great. She wasn't all that happy about it, but she really needed a good scrub and with the still-warm weather, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.
Thankfully my last lesson changed his time to Tuesday, so I had time to get to Costco (my mom wanted me to go there to get OJ). I also filled up with gas, which needed to happen either today or tomorrow anyway. J was helping my dad paint when I got back, and we were talking for a bit, so I got out of there later than I wanted to.
Jim and I went to the SF Symphony for another Beethoven piano recital by Andras Schiff. Tonight's program was absolutely fantastic. He made the Moonlight Sonata brand new for me, and even the Pastoral Sonata was tolerable with his version. The JS Bach G Major French Suite as his encore was gorgeous (I want to get the score). And I was able to get his autograph after purchasing the CD (not the most pleasant guy, but he may have just been tired). I'm going to have to see all four recitals next season, no doubt about it.
For dinner, we had 5 pm reservations for Zuni Cafe, which is right on Market Street and pretty close to the symphony hall. We were so late for our dinner and I was freaking out. I know I overreacted, but I really wanted to go to this place. It was compounded frustration--we didn't go last week like I wanted to, we left late, hit traffic, drove around in circles, and because we were late, there was no way to order the roasted chicken, which was the whole reason I wanted to go there in the first place.
Zuni is famous for their chicken, and it takes an hour to prepare. Had we arrived right at 5 pm, we'd have been fine, but we were a half hour late. Anyway, they were super nice about our late arrival and still seated us immediately. The host took us up a flight of stairs and through a corridor, up a few more steps, past another dining nook, down a few steps, and into our dining area, which seated maybe 12 people. We sat overlooking the first level diners, which made for fabulous conversations. Thankfully we were in a pretty private area, so we were able to converse without being overheard.
There weren't too many vegetarian friendly options, but I knew that going in, so I wasn't surprised. We were brought freshly baked bread, which was sooo insanely good. Crusty on the outside and airy on the inside, I couldn't get enough of it. And strangely enough, the butter was amazing, too. It just seemed creamier and more flavorful than your average, everday butter. One of the busboys didn't even ask us if we wanted more bread and simply whisked out plate away, chopped up more bread, and brought it right back to us. Every dining nook has its own bread station and register, so we had a clear view of him slicing our bread (they bake probably 12" diameter rounds). We were pretty messy with the bread, due to the fact that they didn't give us bread plates.
Jim went with the soup and I got the ricotta gnocchi to start with. The iced tea was freshly brewed and tasted more herb-y instead of black. I ate a sip of soup just to try it, because it was chicken stock-based. It didn't have a strong chicken-y flavor to it, which was good for me. It came with a poached egg, which Jim ate (on top of his four that he had eaten for breakfast in an omelet). My gnocchi were very interesting. They had a very strong egg flavor to them, but were very tender and had a definite ricotta cheese texture. They pretty much melted in my mouth. They came in a light broth with I believe wilted curly parsley, which was a nice touch.
For our entrees, Jim got the yellowfin tuna. It came with roasted fingerling potatoes, which were totally nummy. Jim said the tuna was slightly raw on the inside. The description said medium rare, so I dunno. It was a very pretty presentation, though. I got the linguinette, which was fresh pasta tossed with lemon, cream, and parmesan cheese. Despite the cream, there wasn't a lot of sauce, so the dish itself tasted quite light and refreshing. Plus fresh pasta is super tender, and the linguinette itself was really thin and delicate, too. It was an
enjoyable dish.
Over dinner, we took total advantage of our aerial view of the restaurant and did an obscene amount of people watching. There was an older couple who had matching glasses and were pretty much clones of each other (they got the chicken, which was all carved up and prettily plated). There was a pair of guys that we guessing as to whether or not they were on a date. And then there was the trio of 2 guys and a girl, who we guessed to be a gay couple and their fat, ugly, single friend. It was all very fascinating. And plus we got to see the various foods people ordered. The oysters were definitely one of the more popular items. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am that Jim isn't too keen on oysters, because to me, they are as disgusting as crab, lobster, and shrimp. But with oysters comes the audio portion of the slurping. *shudder* The shoestring fries are piled high and are super thin, and I think I'd want to try them just to do it, but I've never been a big fan of the thin crispy strips. And I was also wishing I could try some of their salads. It's definitely more of a local spot than a touristy one, so it was nice.
Unfortunately we had no time for dessert, but none of them really jumped out at me. Part of the problem was that they were all French desserts and I didn't recognize any of them. "Vanille" and "Creme" and "granita" and "caramel" were words I recognized of course, but I couldn't pick out enough to tell what each dessert was (except for the granitas and sorbets).
As I said before, the concert was amazing. We were in the premier first tier, which didn't offer a great view of Schiff's hands, but the sound quality was excellent. He played Beethoven's sonatas 12-15. I wasn't overly familiar with 12 or 13, but I really enjoyed No. 13. Jim was nodding off during that one and I was a little perturbed, but he stayed awake during the last two.
I've been to probably dozens of concerts at the SF Symphony Hall. Some of them stick with me: Martha Argerich, Lang Lang, Andre Watts, Alicia de la Rocha, Itzhak Perlman. Add Andras Schiff to the list. For him to take such a familiar piece and for it to come across as unique was pure genius. Afterwards, I got his autograph on the CD I purchased, which ended up being a slightly underwhelming experience. I'm choosing to believe that he was just tired after his amazing performance.
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