Stephen and I don't have many days off together, and when we do, we usually spend them pursuing such wildly romantic activities like the laundry and cleaning the bathroom. We've both been working our butts off lately and decided we need a day of total pleasure. With that in mind, we spent all of the afternoon (not to mention most of our money) tasting our way around the Ferry Building this afternoon.
I ought to mention that I utterly love the Ferry Building. If I'm a good girl, when I die and go to heaven, it will be just like the Ferry Building. It feels like a sacred space with its vaulted ceiling and worshipful devotion to a single subject. When I first stepped foot inside, it put into perspective many of the reasons I moved to Northern California in the first place. So it was an obvious choice for a few hours of delicious indulgence.
We started out with cheeseburgers at Taylor's Automatic Refresher. The Boy and I are devoted to the art of the cheeseburger, and this one was a quality example. It had a juicy, full-flavored patty that wasn't too finely ground or greasy and a really excellent, eggy, almost brioche-style bun. Only the addition of onions would have made it trancendent. We skipped the tempting fries and milkshakes because pacing is crucial if one is committed to an entire afternoon of eating.
Next we strolled down to the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant for a flight of three unusual staff favorite wines. We tasted the Sawyer sauvignon blanc from Rutherford, Napa that, as the lovely lady who poured for us pointed out, was reminiscent of pesto. We moved on to the Flying Goat Cellars pinot noir from the Dierberg Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley smack in the middle of Sideways country that tasted like currants and was super silky with very low tannins. We finished with the Craggy Range Winery Merlot from the Gimblett Gravels Vineyard that started out like caramel, moved into tobacco and finished with bright fruit.
After all this thoughtful tasting, Stephen and I were ready for a snack. At the Hog Island Oyster Company, Charles shucked us (sorry, that just sounds wrong) an assortment of truly excellent oysters. They were served with a yummy variation on the classic mignonette sauce. In addition to the wine vinegar, shallots, and pepper, this one had minced cilantro.
Mignonette is my favorite oyster condiment. The sharpness both tempers the saltiness of the oysters and enhances it. In this case, the cilantro added a freshnness and herbal perfume to the expected taste of the sea.
Because clearly something so salty required a compliment in something sweet, we moved on to Miette, a bakery specializing in cakes made in the French tradition made with local and organic ingredients. Stephen had the classic cupcake; it was super-moist chocolate cake with pillowy marshmallow frosting. Feeling festive, I chose a gingerbread cupcake made with dark stout beer and topped with cream cheese frosting.
By this point, Stephen and I were stuffed as full as plump, fresh sausages and as relaxed as melted chocolate. Our last stop was to Boulette's Larder. Even though our tummy's were full then, we knew it would only be a few hours before dinner time. Boulette's is a fabulous combination of restaurant, takeout place, and exotic food store. You can have lunch, buy dinner, and pick up some pimenton de la vera and rendered duck fat all at one place. We bought pork cooked with French lentils and some Moroccan greens cooked with olives and preserved lemon that came highly recommended by Aileen, the lovely woman behind the counter. Both were ready to be heated up whenever we got hungry again.
And thus ended our lovely day. Stephen and I drove home contented. We didn't think about laundry once.
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