Ash has been encouraging me to blog some of our weekends because sometimes we do some pretty cool stuff if you’re looking at it from the outside, it’s just sort of normal to us so I don’t really think about it. But that’s the whole point to the “Life in Northern California” section of my blogs so I can’t argue with him, those weekends are typically just so full it doesn’t occur to me to take the time. This is one of those weekends, but I decided to make the time!

Ash lived in San Francisco for 20ish years until he moved to Sacramento in October 2021. For much of that year we did an “every other weekend” thing between San Francisco and Sacramento. The frequency has died down since he moved, but we still get here about once a month, although this is our first time here since the weekend before Christmas.

I called this entry “The City” to remind me to talk about that reference. I don’t use it all that much, but if you live in Northern California and you say, “I spent the weekend in The City”, no one will ever ask “what city?” In NorCal lexicon there’s only one: San Francisco.

We are here this particular weekend because we have ballets to see – yes, plural. And, it coincided with our friends’ Greg & Karl’s trip to Seattle and their need to have someone take care of their dogs. So for this weekend, we are staying at their house as opposed to Ash’s where we usually are. They live near Mt. Davidson on Portola, one of my favorite streets in the city. I’ve driven it a hundred times, always thinking “those houses are so cute, I wonder what they look like on the inside.” Now I know. Above is the view from their living room.

And the view from the front porch. While hazy, yes that’s the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

Ash had come up on Thursday so he could take them to the airport for their evening flight. I worked from home yesterday morning then left around 1pm. I have been coming up either very early before work or after work, but this was So Much Better because the carpool lanes are open to anyone from 10am – 3pm so it made the drive much nicer, and quicker. Even with a stop for gas and Starbucks I got here a little after 3pm. I worked some more from here while Ash was out doing stuff.

The original plan was he was going to cook dinner here, but he ran out of time to shop so asked if it was OK if we go out. “Duh.” Friday night is probably my favorite night to go out for dinner and for years that was my default. He gave me choices of an Indian place that I hadn’t been to yet – but from which he buys the tikka masala sauce that I love – or a French place that I’d been to once and had been wanting to go back to. I choose the latter.

He got home about 5pm and we took the dogs out. Meet Pippin, a teeny tiny Yorkie. I have to say, the pitter patter sound of his quick tiny feet on the hardwood floors is one of the cutest things you’ll ever hear.

When Pippin does walk it’s without a leash because they haven’t been able to find a collar small enough to fit. The white poodle is Teddy.

And of course, Paul the dog is with us.

The view from the porch when we returned from our walk. The ocean is easier to see now.

We had 7pm reservations and headed out about 6:30pm. The restaurant is a few blocks from Ash’s house, on Noe @ Henry St, which is between 14th and 15th. This was the 2nd restaurant he took me to when we first started dating. The last time we were here was December 2020, just before most things locked down again. But it’s fully re-opened now for sure, as most everything has. And in SF, you have to show vaccination proof to get into restaurants and bars. They have outdoor seating on both sides of their corner.

L’ardoise is the name.

Cozy on the inside. Ash has been coming here for 15 years, knows the owners, and has made reservations for many of his Airbnb guests here over the years.

Neither of us had eaten a lot that day so were ready for a good meal. Ash started with shrimp ravioli in an herb butter sauce. I took a bite and could hear Meryl Streep in my head. I looked for the clip from Julie and Julia but couldn’t find a succinct one! If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

I had their soup of the day, a cauliflower cream. And it was perfect.

We split the next 2: a Brussel sprout salad. More often than not, we somehow eat Brussel sprouts at dinnertime on Friday! It’s been our thing from early on. It was great with some cranberries and feta. The green is pesto over escargot in hollowed potatoes. Everything about that was amazing, especially the number of snails included which was surprising.

Ash had the coq au vin for his main, a traditional French dish of chicken braised in burgundy wine.

I had the duck confit, which I’m pretty sure I had the last time. It’s my favorite French dish and I will typically get it if it’s on the menu. This was cooked for 7 hours in its own fat, that skin was crispy in the best way, but not fried, and those potatoes were practically a spiritual experience: cooked crisp with bacon and garlic.

We shared a chocolate fondant for dessert – a flourless soft chocolate cake, served warm with raspberry sauce and strawberries.

Today we have a bunch of little things to do along with a ballet matinee. Will see how that goes tomorrow!