Back to Walking

Now that the weather is getting better (meaning, warmer), I've been trying to get some activity going. Walking had been something I did, if I can find the time. And time, or lack of it, has always been the best excuse if we have been remiss. I know I do. For quite sometime, I have been contemplating on getting into cycling. I did attend a road cycling class last month, but I've been dragging at actually starting it. For now, I need to get my blood pumping a bit, so I've started walking again. And now, I do it with my wife and son (he does because he hates being left alone in the house).

I started last Monday. It was a short one. We had a late start, and the sun was setting pretty fast. We walked around the neighborhood, and we managed to squeeze in 20 minutes, give or take a few. Besides, I was also trying to "break in" myself and taking it a little easy since I have not done it for quite a while.

I skipped Tuesday because my son had volleyball practice. On Wednesday, I was set to make up for the prior day. By the time we all got settled, it was almost 6:30pm. By then, we would probably have under an hour before it got dark. So, off we went around our neighborhood, with my wife leading us. Before the walk, I downloaded a free application for the iphone, called  RunKeeper, to track our activity. As part of our route, we went to Mission San Jose High School and did laps around the track oval. That evening, we walked 2.08 miles in 40 minutes. Not a fast pace, but a steady one.

Thursday, we set out again. This time I suggested we take a different route, minus the twist and turns within the neighborhood. The initial route I envisioned would have probably taken us close to 1.5 hours. But halfway through it, we came across a pathway alongside a small creek that ran right next to Mission San Jose High School. It had a slight elevation, which gave the heart a little extra workout. That walk was 2.34 miles in 45 minutes.

Not a bad start. I just hope I can sustain it and make it more regular.

The Slanted Door: A First Look

Niman Ranch Beef Sirloin

The Ferry Building is known for its marketplace. Located at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco, it houses small and large shops that offer a variety of products, from artisan cheeses and breads to newly-caught seafood and cured meats, as well as restaurants and cafes that serve fresh and organic ingredients. One of these restaurants is The Slanted Door (SD).

During our recent trip to the city, we found ourselves at the Ferry Building way past lunch time. Hungry and tired from all the walking (from Union Square), we decided to try The Slanted Door. Being a very popular restaurant, especially on a weekend, we didn't have to wait long to be seated. And we had a table by the window.

Being our first time, we had to go through the menu a couple of times over before we eventually decided on what we wanted. We ordered 4 viands -- niman ranch beef sirloin, lemongrass chicken, caramelized wild catfish claypot, and catalan farm spicy broccoli, plus a couple of servings of steaming jasmine rice.

Lemongrass Chicken

The beef sirloin was cut in bite-size strips and prepared with braised leeks, ginger, and red chili. It wasn't spicy, but it had just the right amount of saltiness. The chicken had the distinct flavor of lemongrass, as in any other Vietnamese dish with this ingredient, and was cooked with red onions, jalapeno, roasted chili paste, and roasted peanuts, for some added texture. I found this dish a little bit salty and the lemongrass was quite prominent.

Catalan Farm Spicy Broccoli

One of our favorites was the catfish, which was prepared with cilantro, ginger, and Thai chili, and served in a claypot. The sauce was light and quite sweet, which created a nice balance with the saltiness of the 2 meat dishes. And like any other catfish dish, it is always never enough, unless they serve the whole fish. For greens, the broccoli, with braised tofu and beech mushrooms, was a decent choice. I wasn't sure if this veggie dish was suppose to be a neutralizer, but it a bit bland.

Caramelized Wild Catfish Claypot

For dessert, we had SD's version of doughnuts. However, they weren't anything like a traditional doughnut (with a hole), but they looked more like smaller, irregularly-shaped beignets. The doughnuts were light and airy and it came in 6 pieces, and was served with a butterscoth dipping sauce on the side. We also tried an unusual dessert -- a lemongrass cotton candy. The taste of the lemongrass was not overpowering. Just a hint of it. You probably wouldn't guess it had lemongrass if you weren't told. And the quality of the cotton candy was also excellent. It didn't readily melt in your fingers as you pulled it. I found it very refreshing.

Aside from the meats and fishes, SD also serves a variety of appetizers, rolls, salads, and noodles. They have a full bar and serves a variety of drinks from juices and spitzers to craft beers and signature cocktails. They also have quite an extensive wine list from all over the world.

Lemongrass Cotton Candy

Overall, The Slanted Door was OK. Wasn't fantastic, but OK. It was a bit pricey for the kind of dishes we got. The basic Asian flavor was there, and you can probably distinguish it as Vietnamese if you are very familiar with the combination of ingredients.

SD is a Vietnamese restaurant, with a modern spin. If you are looking for authentic, home-cooked Vietnamese cuisine, this is not the place. Certainly, you can find other places, especially in East and South San Jose, for a fraction of the price. However, keep in mind that you are dining at the historic Ferry Building, with a beautiful view of the San Francisco Bay. And this is actually what you are paying for.

Give it a try, for the experience. It's OK.

Upclose: Pizza Antica

I would call Pizza Antica a modern pizzeria. Certainly, it doesn't come close to the true pizzerias of New York in terms of style, volume, and variety. As I said, it is modern. And their pizza is thin. Extra thin.

For my second trip back to their Santana Row location, the occasion was my wife's birthday. From our past experience, we know to shy away from the dishes you wouldn't typically associate with in a pizza place, like short ribs (that's what I got the last time). My mistake. We had a few favorites and we had them again this time. Then, we added a few more.

For starters, we had the salumi plate, which consisted of prosciutto, dry salami, and other special cuts of cured meat, with some pickled veggies and arugula. Very light and not salty at all. The platter came with a few slices of baguette. For a while, I thought there wasn't enough of the baguette. But because the meats were not salty, it was better eaten with the bread. We also had french fries (yes, you read it right) with truffle oil and garlic. It was my son's favorite.

My son loves white sauces and ordered the linguine with smoked salmon, while my wife and I had the spaghettini with meatballs. The tomato sauce was light and cooked with garlic and basil. And the 2 large meatballs were more than enough. Very filling and very flavorful despite being lighter than your typical spaghetti.

Of course, we didn't forget the pizza. In fact, we had two -- small ones, that is. We wanted to try as much without really going over board. We got the margherita, which was basically just tomato sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil, and taverrite's hot calabresa sausage, with onions, peppers, and parsley. Pizzas were extra (super) thin and light (again). Had they not been round they could pass for flatbreads. A small pizza was just about right for one person. They also have larger-sized pizzas and are served on mini pizza paddles.

For dessert, we had cinnamon bread pudding, served with vanilla gelato and caramelized apples, and cannoli, with a sprinkling of chocolate chips. I never liked bread pudding because it tends to be dry, in general. But their bread pudding was not dry at all, but moist enough to make you go back for one more bite, and another, and another. And like most of their dishes (at least those that we tried), their bread pudding was also light and a bit airy. The cannoli, though, was a little disappointing. It was bland and the chocolate chips were more of a distraction, and it didn't help compliment the dessert one bit. I've had better cannolis. This one you can skip.

Their selection of pizzas and pastas are not large, but enough of a variety. They have a larger starter selection to choose from, and they serve salads, too. Then, they have a sampling of various meat entres' as well. For beverages, they have a fairly long list of local and foreign whites and reds from small and boutique wineries, and a good variety of traditional and craft beers by the bottle and on tap.

The overall experience that evening was great. Food was excellent. Service was prompt and more than adequate. Very charming servers and very knowledgeable of their dishes. It is now on our favorite places to dine, and wouldn't mind the 20 plus-mile drive. They don't take reservations, so make sure you're not starving when you get there because you will have to wait to be seated. Otherwise, you'll love it.

A Day in the City

For the past so many years, I never really liked going to San Francisco. Let me rephrase that. I never liked driving up to San Francisco. But I do love the city by the bay. It's just the driving. Parking is scare and, like any other big city, there's just too many cars and people no matter what they you go. In addition, I just find the drive so long. However, I just recently found out that it isn't really that far. I just didn't know how to get there in the shortest amount of time.

Dome at Neiman Marcus in SF

For the longest time, I always drove up to SF from the "other" side. This meant crossing highway 92 from the East Bay, then on to 101 till I got to the city. It wasn't wrong. It was just LONG. The shortest route was via 880 to 80, then onto the Bay Brdige. The next thing you know, you're in the city. What was I thinking??? Duh! It was actually my wife who made the "discovery." She and her friend, Grace (her son and ours are BFFs), drove up one weekend, with the kids (Yes, I was left at home). and Grace took this route.

The following weekend, we decided to try this new route and headed for the city. I was stunned, to say the least. What have I been doing all these years? Why have I not tried this route before? With this discovery, driving up the city was no longer a pain. As a matter of fact, it took very little convincing for me to go. I think I will now enjoy the city more than I ever did.

So when the wife said she wanted to go to San Francisco today, it was an easy decision. We slept in a little bit, and got there before 11:30. We had the car valeted at Nordstrom by the Westfield Mall. For $20 for the whole day, I thought it was worth it. I'd probably pay the same (or more) in a public parking structure. But first, I had to find one, and second, I had to park the car myself.

We did a little shopping and stayed mainly in the Union Square area. What surprised me was that the place wasn't as crowded as I expected it to be, especially on a gorgeous, sunny day like today was. Then I realized that it was probably because some of the stores didn't open till 12:00 noon.

Ferry Building

After making the rounds, we were hungry. Time for lunch. We wanted to go to the Ferry Building and see what we can find. If undecided, there was always The Slanted Door. I did a quick plot on the ol' trusty iphone, and the Ferry Building was a mere 15 minute walk. It was 0.8 mile.

The section across the street from the Ferry Building was a bit crowded with all sorts of vendors selling craft, trinkets, and everything else you can think of. The inner road immediately in front of the building seemed to have been converted to a large bicycle loop, similar to that in Central Park in New York during summer, and even in Burnham Park in Baguio. Everyone was just enjoying the glorious sun and the wonderful 70F weather.

Every store and eating place in the Ferry Building had long lines. Most of them had very limited to no seating at all. As much as we wanted to try some of them, we had to sit to eat. The only option was to go to the "bigger" shops or restaurants. So, lunch was at The Slanted Door. The place was packed, too, but we didn't have to wait long. Maybe 3 minutes? The Slanted Door served modern Vietnamese cuisine. And that's all I will share for now. More in a later post.

With all the food we ate, we had to walk back to burn the extra calories. Initially, we planned on taking the tram back to Union Square. On the way back, we ran into a fairly large group of protesters from Tibet, marching on Market Street and headed towards the Ferry Building. We didn't know where their final destination would be, but they were escorted by quite a number of SF motorcycle cops and patrol cars. They even had to stop traffic at intersections to let the marchers pass. They sure had adequate resources to pay for such services.

After a brief stop at Nordstrom, we called it a day and headed home. Traffic was light, and we left the city without a hitch. Later in the evening, we met up with some friends and had dinner at our favorite burger joint in Livermore, First Street Alehouse.

Note:  Author wants to acknowledge Hennessy House (www.woodenflagpoles.com) for the use of the Ferry Building photograph.