tamasei sushi

i lived in noe valley for a year and routinely went to the main strip of 24th street between dolores and castro. this sushi place is en route to calfoods and starbucks so i passed it a lot. i noticed that it was rarely open for business. in fact, hak had never seen it open between the months of feb 06 to aug 06 after he moved back and lived with me.

we still go to noe routinely for our drycleaning, weekend banking and occasional stroll of the local stores. on sat, i was in ladybug, ladybug when hak parked across the street. it was 4pm and neither one of us was hungry but because this mom and pop sushi place was (finally) open, we had to take advantage and live in the moment.

they were play bob marley raggae music as we entered. (one heart...one love...let's get together and feel alright!) and there is a giant painting of what looked like bob marley on the wall. we asked about why they were closed so often and the waitress said that they've been open for business for a year but the owner is a dancer (pointing to the bob m. painting) and that he goes on tour a lot - and when he goes on tour, the restaurant is closed.

even though we love hamachi, we were told that maguro was especially delish on this day and was highly recommended. we had a bottle of chilled sake (at happy hour deal of 1/2 price) and a few orders of various nigiri. while we were eating, some young white guy came in with a GIANT abalone he had just caught somewhere in Sonoma (?). we thought he was trying to sell it to the sushi chef but after the chef cut the giant abalone into smaller sections of 4, he simply wrapped them and handed back to the young guy with the only request of keeping a small section = a few pieces of it for himself. i guess the sushi chef did this guy a big favor of cutting and cleaning it. the guy said he had caught 3 of them that day. 3 giant abalone. the sushi chef was kind enough to offer hak and i each a small piece saying it was our lucky day. he also gave the two waitresses a piece. we all dipped it in soy sauce and a little sesame seed. it was really fresh and not as crunchy as i have tasted before. my mom would have loved it.

tamasie sushi

L to R: sushi chef, waitress, hak.

farmer's market @ the ferry building

my favorite broccoli! yummers!


look at the size of these 'september snow white peaches'!

...every tuesday, heather and i try to go to the farmer's market at the ferry building during our lunch hour. there we'll find a large variety of delicious fruits, fresh flowers, tasty veggies. while i like the pluots and artic snow white nectarines and peaches, i go there for the fresh broccoli [LOVE], padrones peppers (dark green spanish peppers - great sauteed with just salt and oil), and brussel sprouts. i never plan to buy much but always come back to the office with bags full of stuff.

morphosis: federal building

We went to check out the relatively new Federal Building by morphosis in Soma. We also drive by this building all the time. In fact, on the way to and from work every week day but we've never gotten got of the car for a closer look. It was so windy in the late afternoon. It's a shame how much debris was flying around and had collected on the ground in front of the entrance area. It seems to us that they certainly spent a lot of money on the structure but nothing is being spent on maintenance. Already someone had broken the glass doors to the annex on the south side.

Hak's pix from our visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hakeechang/sets/72157601406512867/

flora grubb gardens

We love Flora Grubb Gardens! It's fantastic! Used to drive by the old location on Guerrero in Noe all the time and stopped by once. The new digs is AMAZING and so much bigger + better. Not only will you find interesting and unique plants but the normal usual greeneries are a cut above the rest. And they should be because this place is not cheap. I'm betting that it's worth the $$$ for the hard to find stuff, the top quality, the extensive expertise and excellent service found here. Also found here are books on landscape architecture among other related topics and cool accessories/home furnishings such as vases, bowls, hats, outdoor chairs and stools.

And we discovered another hidden treasure within the nursery - an awesome cafe call Ritual with a master barista who made me the best cup of latte I have ever had. Yeah, I said it - the BEST...even better than my starbucks. Now that's an endorsement.

ritual coffee

best latte in sf

curbside cafe

After the birthday bash we were super hungry and grabbed brunch at this cute chow place right outside of the Presidio gates. Damn good steak and eggs! Hak had the tasty crab benedict - YUM! We sat outside on one of the red wire benches.

2769 lombard street

www.sfcurbside.com

Thacher Summer Birthday Bash!

We went to the Julius Kahn Playground in the Presidio this weekend for the Thacher's annual birthday bash to celebrate Cal's 5th, Gavin's 3rd & Audrey's 2nd birthdays. What a nice park and such a hidden treasure! Who knew it existed? It was the perfect place for an outdoor children's party. A grassy lawn, picnic tables, play area, tennis courts, basketball court, softball field - what more can you ask for really? Cass and Sam hired an awesome 17 year old who made amazing ballons (in the shapes of monkeys, spongebob, turtles...) for the children. We adults who wanted one lost out because time ran out. The party ended and the talented kid who earns more than Tony(!) an hour had to go! He's saving all his $earnings$ for his college fund. I know I've seen this guy before and realized it was at the Ferry Building where Sam found him. What talent!