I Can't Believe It's Only Thursday...

Since Saturday's tale of the city, I have been to brunch at Bar Jules and enjoyed that Marin Sun Farms burger with bacon and Gruyere. This was after a few coffee stops on the way on Sunday morn. And then it was an afternoon of drinking with a Chimay at Thieves Tavern watching the Colts take out the Jets and then back-to-back beer busts at the Eagle and Lonestar Saloons.

On Monday, I made a lunch time appearance at Pal's Take-Away for their Vietnamese lemongrass meatball and seared tombo tuna sandos, both of which, I split with Vytas, my favorite co-worker. Monday night turned out great, despite the never-ending rain. My bud Don and I ventured out to the East Bay to Crab Monday's at CAMINO. It was a great bowl of bean soup a crab and a half for me. Oh, and some blood orange sorbet to finish the meal off.

But Tuesday morning was quite the adventure. I hit up Dynamo Donuts first. I ordered a Vanilla Bean to pair with my first Gibraltar. I then dashed through the drops of rain onto Folsom for my 2nd Gib at VEGA. There, they call it the VEGA instead of the Gibraltar. And to finish the morning coffee route off, it was a Baby Latte at Sight Glass. This was all drunk in the course of a half hour and boy, was I ready for a day full of meetings. I met up with Paul for supper at SPORK that night. We got the same table we had only a month or so ago and the same waiter, Ryan. We shared the Warm Chicory Cesar Salad, the Dinner Salad and the Crispy Cauliflower & Calamari to start us off. Paul opted again for the Inside Out Burger and I went for the Mussels and Pork, both served with a SPORK. Ryan was such a gracious host and topped it all off with a nice glass of Muscat.

Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure to sneak preview my bud John's new coffee spot on Minna. John runs Cento and VEGA and this new spot called SPECIAL Xtra. Located in the same spot where they run Harlot Nightclub, this new SPECIAL Xtra officially opens Friday from 7:30am-4pm. For lunch, I ended up getting a Pizza to-go from Ironside on 2nd Street in between Brannan and Townsend. It was a delicious offering of prosciutto and pear with caramelized onions, arugula and goat cheese. I rushed around after work to get home, drop off my bike, race over to BART and be at HEAVEN'S DOG in time for cocktail hour. I was meeting my friend Shana from michaeltheboxer.com 's boxing class. We were cocktailing and noshing before heading over to Oracle to see the Warriors play last night. I went ahead and started ordering as soon as I got there. I got a glass of Willett on the rocks, an order of the braised pork belly in clam shell bun, the pot stickers with pork and green cabbage and the salt & pepper local squid with red chili and toasted garlic. I waited for Shana before I dove into the dishes. She ordered The Gin Fizz Tropical which is a concoction of Plymouth gin, pineapple gum, orgeat, lime, egg white, mint and soda. Shana said "it's like Kool Aid...and ya know...Hey!" By the time her drink arrived I was ready for my 2nd flight of Bourbon and ordered up an Old Bardstown. We also decided to try another order of the pork belly and beef curry puffs. Shana was really excited to also order the ma po tofu with ground beef, chili paste and szechuan pepper. She also got on my whiskey kick and treated herself to a glass of Noah's Mill. Shana said she could eat the squid all day. I was into everything that came my way. So, of course I had to look at the dessert menu. It was around this time that we noticed our bartender making a special drink called the Craig Lane's Hitman. Which is, as John described, two distinct drink ingredients that shouldn't work together but do. Mezcal and Batavia-Arrack with ginger, lime, luxardo, topped with soda. Shana ventured there for dessert as I went for the warm red bean crepe and coconut ice cream paired with Sparkling Organic Cassis, Volker Raumland and Rheinhessen. Shana claims she isn't one who orders from the dessert menu but was still fighting me for last bites of this most delicious crepe. The ice cream was the perfect combination to the red bean which rather surprised us.

We were fully loaded and off on BART to Oakland. We arrived at the same time I had arrived the Wednesday before, Halftime. New Orleans was up by 7 and Shana and I sat in our seats with tiny cups of Jack Daniel's. The San Francisco Warriors, as they are called on Wednesday's, decked out in the old skool jerseys, never managed to recover, but we had a blast. We stayed till the bitter end although most of the fans left. It was then back on BART train and home to the city. It was quite the week thus far...