A wholesome weekend

So I got back to the good old US of A from London late Friday evening.  Unfortunately, I came back feeling a little bit like this:

(Not the little ones.  The BIG one.)

Whoever said British food was bad is completely and utterly mistaken.  Not only was the spread of snacks at my meetings absolutely sinful (think crunchy berry macaroons, warm brown sugar donuts, bacon and fresh cream butter sandwiches, banana cream eclairs, slow poached egg salad on black pepper buns), I had quite a few little sustenance spots to check off my list Thursday evening before I headed home bright and early Friday morning.

First stop: a MUST-TRY recommendation from one of my fellow meeting mates - The Mount Street Deli for a smoked salmon with avocado and watercress sandwich.

 

Then: a long stroll across town to Ottolenghi, a last-minute endorsement from one of my most knowledgeable foodie friends whom you'll hear about in a future post not to be missed.   I sampled their wild mushroom and aged Pecorino quiche as well as a little coconut, macadamia nut caramel for dessert.

1, 2, 3

There was a lot more than this (oh how I love London!), but I'll spare you and stop there.  This is just the beginning of this story and I've been told by some readers that my posts can get a little too long for you busy bees.  (Hang in there!  I promise this one is worth it!)

So as you might understand, when I got back on Friday evening, I was ready to kick my butt into shape with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as some extra-hard runs along Chrissy Field.  Despite my will, however, the stars were not in my favor. 

Friday night my boyfriend greeted me with this delicious spread:

And then he took me on a trip to one of our fav Italian little spots - Jackson Fillmore - for fresh bruschetta and their godly Pesce Fra Diavolo.

Saturday morning I decided to try again and the two of us went for a long run along my favorite Baker's Beach route.  Unfortunately, it ended something like this:

Elbow                                         Knee

(Pictures taken post clean-up.  Pre clean-up pictures highly censored.)

While I'd like to tell you this was a one-off event, it's not all that uncommon for me.  After peeling myself off the concrete, I was relieved to find this fall had left my face (almost) completely unscathed.  I have not always been so lucky.

Then my boyfriend and I hit the farmer's market (per usual) and really went hog wild at the fish stand:

 

So by the time I got to Sunday morning, I was really desperate for some healthy vibes to flow my way.  My boyfriend and I had brunch plans with my fabulous, favorite ex-neighbors: Ward and Dan.  Ward's one of the best darn cooks I've ever met (he makes vegan cupcakes that taste better than any of those bits of sweet, fine decadence you can get at Kara's) and Dan's an unreal amazing artist.  I am really hoping he might offer to paint something for my new apartment.  Perhaps one of those darling Toulouse-Lautrec-like numbers he's a master at? :)

As a pair, they also happen to be a real live Zagat guide - they know almost every restaurant in the city and can tell you exactly what to eat and drink while dining there regardless of whether you're carnivore, vegetarian, omnivore, vegan, or fungivore.

Ward emailed with a plethora of San Francisco's finest early meal whereabouts as options for our date.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of these did not take reservations (what are they thinking? get with the 21st century Mama's!) and require you to wait for HOURS outside their door to be given the honor of tasting their grub.  Overwhelmed by choice, I responded with the following:

Game for anything healthy-ish and without a wait.

(I should note that I am a bit anal and a tad anxious when not being uber-productive and therefore waiting in lines is my nemesis.  Dear Disney World - while we had nice times together during my youth, our days together are FOREVER over.  My future husband will be the one to schlep our kids to wait in your lines.  I will be able to be reached at the spa.)

Ward was quick to respond to my request: Brenda's at 11am.  Excited, my boyfriend and I arrived to find a wait of no less than one and a half hours.  Despite all of our best attempts to wiggle our way out, Ward and Dan tempted us to stay with the promise of a walk to Peet's to kill hour number one and then Brenda's unreal Chicory coffee on the sidewalk outside to kill the final 30 minutes.

Since Ward and Dan had completely disregarded my second request, I was positive they hadn't let me down on my first request.  As I sipped my mug and Ward and Dan poured out magnums of wine knowledge (did I mention they also happen to know everything you could possibly imagine about the fine beverage?), I was secretly dreaming about a big bowl of fruit salad.

The meal, however, went something like this:

The Beignet Flight (Plain, Chocolate filled with a molten version of the Ghiradelli gold, Granny Smith Apple with cinnamon honey butter, and Paprika-spiced Crawfish)

And then the Beignet of the Day (something banana-y whose name I can't remember because I was already in a complete food comma)

The Savory Crawfish Beignet with cayenne, scallions and cheddar

Dan excited to divvy up the goods

Our actual breakfasts (clockwise from upper left): Florentine eggs Benedict on cream biscuits with creole hollandaise and grits, Gruyere and vegetable 3 egg omelette with biscuit and grits, Mushroom and spinach 3 egg white omelette with biscuit and grits, Fluffy pumpkin pancakes with freshly whipped cream and pure maple syrup for my child-at-heart and by-stomach boyfriend

Needless to say, the run we were planning to take later that afternoon did not end up happening.  Instead, we bid the weekend adieu with a little bit of this:

Cushy new chairs from Target, Homestyle popcorn, and a San Francisco sunset on the roof (shhh, don't tell the landlord)

Although the weekend wasn't quite what I had planned for, I loved every second.  And I can tell you definitively that Brenda's was WELL worth both the time and calories - both of which are extra precious in my book.

xoxox,

KK