Last Hurrah

As we get closer and closer to B-day, C. and I have been trying to do the things we love doing but probably won't be able to for a while. For the most part, this involves going to our favorite restaurants. On the top of the list, of course, is Gary Danko in SF.

I'm only going to mention the top three dishes of the night, the first one being the risotto that C. got. Creamy, buttery, delicious... Everything that a risotto should be. This is the second time I've made the mistake of not ordering the risotto (the last time was at Cyrus). The seared scallop was also very, very good, and also ordered by C. I should just let her order for me as well next time. And we both ended with the same desert: french macaron ice-cream sandwiches. How could we refuse? Very much on the sweet side, but they definitely brought a smile to our faces.

Since this was potentially the last weekend we'd have to ourselves, we decided a quiet getaway was in order and escaped to Sausalito. On our way up on Saturday, we stopped at the Hog Island Oyster Company in the Ferry Building in SF for lunch. C. had their delicious clam chowder, while I tried their oyster stew. We both preferred the chowder.

Once we got to Sausalito we just walked around the downtown area. Usually, the only reason we'd be in Sausalito is to eat at Fish. We've only really checked out the town once before.

Of course we went to Fish. for dinner... and walked the two miles from downtown Sausalito to the restaurant. We started with the Fish Parfait, a crab cocktail that C. found a little too spicy but suited me just fine. For our main course, I had the pozole with Alaskan halibut cheeks while C. had the hamachi over pasta. I thought the corn was a little strange, but it was a good dish overall. As for the hamachi, it's a shame that C. has to have her fish fully cooked, because it came out a little dry.

The next morning, we drove to Stinson Beach. After brunching at the Parkside Cafe, we just lazed at the beach for a while before driving up Mt. Tam. By then though it was getting too hot to hike, so just walked a paved loop near the visitor's center before heading home...

High Tea

C. thought it would be fun to try out something a little different and made us a reservation for afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton in SF.

I had the Imperial Earl Grey, C. tried the Eros. Personally, I much preferred mine... :) Along with the tea, we had a wide assortment of bite-sized snacks. We both loved the scones, but in general thought that the portions were much too small. This probably wouldn't have been such a problem if we went at tea time, but it was serving as brunch and we were both hungry.

Tasty, but not worth the price. I doubt we'll be going back.

McNally Lighting Seminar

Went to a lighting seminar taught by Joe McNally last Friday, and I figured if I waited long enough, he'd blog about it and include some of the shots he got that day. Sure enough, he did.

The class was a blast, and I learned:

• a better way to approach thinking about lighting a subject.
• what the various light-describing adjectives mean. Many times I read about "soft" light or "creamy" light or whatever and have a hard time visualizing it. Seeing McNally slowly iterate through and improve the quality of the light with each shot gave me a better understanding of what they're talking about.
• he really does talk the way he blogs!

Now I just need to convince C to stay still long enough for me to practice on her... And maybe pickup a couple of those Lastolite trigrips that McNally was using to play with.