Murgh boti tandoori.
If you’ve lived in San Francisco as long as I have, chances are you’ve been on a bad date, or two, probably more like three and so on…you get the idea. However, not all has to be lost. If it wasn’t for one particularly “interesting” experience, I might have never been introduced to the magical restaurant known as Shalimar.
Magic Kurry Man Brian Kimball
You know those nights where you have a bit too much to drink and stumble out onto the street in search of some sustenance to keep you somewhat coherent? I used to know them all too well. The one thing I especially appreciated during those times were the street food carts strategically set up outside some of my favorite haunts offering a diverse array of tasty and affordable food.
One year ago, a carpenter looking to make some extra money on the side founded the Creme Brulee Cart ushering in a new era of gourmet street eats. At $3 apiece, the desserts were an instant success and now, on any given night, you can find a line of at least 30+ people patiently waiting for their choice of a traditional, smores, or frosted flake-flavored dish of the rich french custard.
This surfer bravely navigated through the jagged, slippery rocks and into the water right from where I was standing.
My friends and I are very active on Twitter due to the nature of our full-time professions and the community of people we associate with. A month ago, we figured as long as we’re hanging out there and having conversations with each other and other users, we might as well use the medium to our advantage by promoting positive, goal-oriented behavior when it comes to our personal fitness.
Photo courtesy of Terry Chay. Visit http://flickr.com/photos/tychay for more.
Some people detest birthdays, even dread them. Not me. Every birthday is a celebration of progress plus a reminder of how incredibly lucky I am to have so many amazing people in my life. Last year, I threw a party at Orange Photography‘s studio in downtown SOMA. It was a blast, and a zoo as well. This year, I opted for something decidedly more mellow.
This morning, I was woken up by a car alarm that just randomly went off. Of course, the first thing I did was grab my iPhone off the nightstand to see what time it was. When it read 6:15 am, I groaned and tried, in vain, to fall back asleep. When that didn’t work, I checked my Twitter feed and discovered some of my friends were doing an early morning workout….in the rain. Motivated, I rolled out of bed and followed suit.
Given to me by the lovely Jezika Fernandez. Cako's cupcakes were a delicious end to our meal.
I took a personal day from work for the first time in many years and am thankful I did so. I spent the day working on creative projects at Coffee Bar and then dined at one of my favorite restaurants, Blue Plate, in the Mission right on the border of Bernal Heights. Thanks to LivingSocial, our party got $40 worth of food for $20 – as if we needed another incentive to dine at one of the best American food spots around. The service that night wasn’t top notch but the food, open kitchen, cozy ambiance, and garden out back, not to mention the company, made up for it.
Apron Strings is also home to an elementary school on Guerrero between 25th and 26th streets.
Bless my mother’s heart: She has tried to encourage me to cook more often in order to save money and cut back on my calorie intake. And while I’ve tried to adhere to her advice, it just hasn’t been something I make a habit of enough. You’ll often see me tweeting the line “it’s always more fun with friends.” This concept not only rings true when it comes to exercising more often, but cooking falls under this category as well. When my friend Melanie forwarded an e-mail from Joffer, an online service that offers discounted deals (granted enough people opt-in to said promotion), advertising a cooking class for 50% off the regular price, I thought it was an opportune time to learn some of the basics of preparing a decent meal from start to finish.
The trail we completed earlier in the morning. These map cards displaying SF hot spots and trails can be found at Chronicle Books inside the Sony Metreon on 4th Street and Market.
My friends and I have been getting into the good habit of going on an 8-mile-long run on Ocean Beach every Saturday morning. Yes, every Saturday morning for the past few weeks, we deprive ourselves of sleeping in (much like the rest of the domesticated world, especially people with kids) and head out to run in the early hours.
A large Americano coupled with a vegan, vanilla bean donut garnished with coconut hit the spot.
I thought I’d kick off this blog, also known as my love letter to San Francisco, with a post on one of my favorite coffee shops in the city. I co-work a lot. Whether it’s on a Friday during the workday or, more often than not, in the evening or on the weekends, Ritual Roasters is one of the places I can be found when I need to GSD.
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