Fueling up

Things have slowed down considerably after last week's Saturday chaos, and I actually got the majority of the day with Jim. After church, I assembled a package for my best friend M (just had her first daughter) and S, who is going to be coming back from Kuwait soon (crossing fingers). For M, I had a smut book for her and a long overdue Christmas present, books for each of her two boys, a jumper for the baby, and some of the cookies I baked last night. For S, it was Girl Scout cookies, Cadburry mini eggs, Cadburry cream eggs, and my cookies. We ran to the post office, mailed them off, and then headed off to Oakland for lunch at Wood Tavern.

Our second time there was just as good as the first, food quality-wise. We were promptly seated and ordered the same meals as last time. Jim ordered an iced tea and was mistakenly brought an Arnold Palmer, but the error was corrected pretty quickly. We worked our way through three servings of bread, which was so amazing, fresh and flavorful. There was only one type this time, though, a sourdough wheat. The only difference with our order was that Jim added bacon to his Niman Ranch burger that he got with cheddar cheese again.

My sandwich was just as yummy as before, although there was a little too much tapenade and I scraped some off. This time there was no hesitating before I dug into the coleslaw since I knew how good it was. Jim also macked on his burger and I helped him with his fries. We weren't fortunate enough to find free parking, so Jim had to run out and feed the meter during our lunch. We originally weren't going to eat dessert, but one look at our neighbors' warm chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream, and there was no passing that up. The cake was absolutely sinful, but it was sooo nummy. We ate the entire thing. Hazelnut ice cream toned down the richness factor, and so long as I didn't eat so much chocolate syrup, which was super decadent and a little too much for me.

We walked out of the restaurant absolutely stuffed and with the meter completely out of money again. The service wasn't so good this time, but it was passable. The hostess was very good, but our server not only mixed up the drink, but she also lagged with other stuff. She charged us for an Arnold Palmer, which I think she should have just comped us for the mix up, she was slow with the refills, she sent the check out before we even got dessert, and she was anything but attentive.

Spotty service aside, I really do like the place, and I think we'll try and make it an occasional lunch spot since it doesn't seem as though we'll be able to try dinner anytime in the near future because it is a) officially on the 2008 Top 100 list and b) super booked for reservations.

Our next stop was in Lafayette at the bike shop for tire tubes. Jim had a flat tire and wanted to make sure the other one was okay before our triathlon. He was very impressed with the guy who worked there for both his knowledge and his helpfulness. I think he'll be going there the next time he needs something for his bike. I saw a tricked out tricycle for $95--so cool looking! It had clear tires and the thing on the back (where another kid stands) was wood and had grippy pads to ensure that no 3 year old would fall off.

Afterwards, we went to Walnut Creek, where we walked around Broadway Plaza. We stopped into AT&T to check out Jim's company's discount, which disappointingly did not include the iPhone. We then went to Nordstrom, where I paid my bill, and then to Tiffany's for my fix, the Apple store to see about a discount, and then to Verizon. We ended up switching from Sprint to Verizon ad got their version of the iPhone, which is pretty cool in its own right. And with the company discount, we ended up spending $250 each for phone, car charger, silicone jacket, and Blue Tooth. Our plan is more expensive, but we get internet and text messaging, so it ought to be worth it.

We ended up being a little late for our 5 pm Prima Ristorante reservations, but that was fine. Like before, we got both 1000 Open Table points and the Passport discount. Jim got some gnocchi with lamb and pesto. I got tagliatelle with fava beans, peas, artichokes, and green olives. I left it up to the chef's discretion, which is why I ended up with a dish with both artichokes and green olives with pits. Oh well. It was a very, very light red tomato "sauce." I really liked Jim's gnocchi--I ate a couple that hadn't been tainted by the lamb, which topped the gnocchi. The pesto wasn't a a true pesto and was much lighter. The gnocchi were so silky and soft. Love. My tagliatelle was really good. The sauce had a bit of kick to it, and I liked the fava beans and peas. The olives were very olive-y, but aside from the pit issue, they weren't horrible. I actually liked them better than black olives.

Oh yeah, we also got an appetizer of crostane, which had fava beans, mint, and pecorino romano. I want to say that there was a hint of basil, too. It reminded me of Giada's sweet pea crostini recipe that I want to try. THe fava beans were slightly smashed and mixed with sauteed red onion, the mint added some freshness and lightened it up, and the pecorino just gave it a wonderful rich, buttery flavor. Add the fruity olive oil the bread had been drizzled in, and it was a really nice appetizer.

What I like about Prima is that they give you a really high quality olive oil. You can really taste the olive flavor in the oil. And their bread is pretty good, too.

This time we asked to be seated in the covered courtyard area instead of inside the main restaurant. It was such a beautiful day that we wanted to take advantage of the sun. The courtyard is more like a sunroom with tiled floors and plenty of windows that overlook North Main Street in downtown Walnut Creek. Jim was absolutely fascinated by the gigantic orange chopper parked across the street. I was mildly interested and then annoyed as the motorcycle gang decided to spend what seemed like an eternity revving their engines before finally leaving. Even Jim commented on the noise pollution.

For dessert, we went with our waitress' suggestion of the Profiteroles, which ended up only being one. It turned out to be a good thing, since neither one of us liked it. The profiterole tasted stale and chewy instead of light and flaky. The rose ice cream was different, but it was different in a good way. It was definitely a surprise to actually taste the rose flavor. We ended up leaving a piece of the pastry because it really wasn't good.

Thanks to the discount, the dinner pricetag was kept in control. I was a little appalled at how badly we ate the day before our triathlon. I mean, two desserts?! Granted, we ate tons of carbs, but it was just bad.