September Wrap Up

Gloria Ferrer winery, Sonoma

Another wrap up post, another moment of disbelief that another month really has gone by. With a lot of hot weather ("hot weather" will always remind me of Uli from Project Runway Season 2) for San Francisco and the surrounding area, the theme for September (besides finding a fan for the apartment) was being outdoors and exploring different parts of the city:

Opera in the Park

Some friends from work and I decided to attend Opera in the Park, put on by the SF Opera. We definitely experienced a few SF micro-climates in the couple hours we were there. I then met up with some more friends to go up to Crissy Field, but it was foggy enough that you could not see the Golden Gate Bridge from the beach and windy enough to not make us stay there long.

On another, warmer day, a couple friends and I went bike riding pretty much the length of Golden Gate Park out to Ocean Beach and back, and then back to our friend's place (about 7 miles in all, not bad for someone who hasn't been on a bike in a few years). And speaking of the beach, another weekend afternoon was spent on the sand in full sun. And of course, there was the usual Dolores Park hang out.

New-to-me dining around SF:

• Marina/Cow Hollow: Palm House (after taking a pineapple selfie at Wrecking Ball) - good cocktails and small plates, and sidewalk seating outside a cute building
• Inner Richmond: Mizutani - such good sushi! We went with a reservation and it was busy but not too crowded, service was great, and all the dishes were fresh and well done.
• Noe Valley: La Ciccia (part of the Eater heat map) - delicious Sardinian Italian dishes - the place is small but we got to sit at the bar and enjoyed the generous helpings of food and wine. 
• Outer Sunset: Outerlands - glad I went, and I didn't mind the wait that day since I got coffee and had my Kindle and it was warm and sunny outside. The food was really good, but I'm not a big fan of waiting for brunch, so that was kind of a checked-it-off-my-list visit. 
• Oyster Point (South SF): Dominic's - we went here for a wedding so I doubt if it's open to the general public as a restaurant but the food and desserts were great. It was a lovely spot for the reception with a back patio looking out at the bay/marina, too.

Wine Tastings: Knowing it's harvest season makes me want to go to some vineyards, and I got to do just that this month.

Sonoma: When a friend came to visit over Labor Day Weekend, we went to the Gloria Ferrer winery and to a couple tasting rooms in Sonoma Plaza. GF was unsurprisingly busy, holiday weekend and all. The wait still wasn't too bad, and we did a flight there and moved on. I really recommend the Hawkes tasting room just off Sonoma Plaza for how casual and friendly they were; I hadn't heard of it until a friend brought us there that day but when more people come to visit that's probably where I'll take them.

Hawkes Wine

Saratoga: Through work I got to check out a couple wineries and tasting rooms around Saratoga. I'd heard about concerts at the Mountain Winery so it was fun to actually go up the mountain and see the space (& the view!). We sat around and had some cheese plates with our wine, and then we hit up another winery and the tasting rooms in Saratoga. Big Basin came highly recommended, and I ended up bringing a bottle of their pinot noir home to share w/my husband M.

I'll be checking out a groupmuse music event at a friend's place tomorrow and then it'll be October which means... birthday! Goodbye 20s, hello 3-0. I'll definitely have something to say on that. 

Big Basin wine tasting