4 Chicks & A Restaurant

 Morella in SF's Marina District was Stephanie's choice for Sunday, September 21, 2025. We've certainly dined at this location before - many restaurants have occupied this space! The vibe was very midcentury modern, with plush seats, everything in a blush pink color, and a generally swanky vibe. The food - a combination of Italian and Argentinian cuisines - was actually very good! We had lobster empanadas and really delicious ravioli. The service was excellent. Was so great to catch up as the summer was winding down. Gail is still in knee-hell recovery (praying fo 100%), Dionne recently sent Matt back off to college, Julia was back from Peru and DC, and Stephanie has her hands full with soccer, softball (?), academics, singing, and the countless other activities her girls are up to these days. The positive news is that it seems all the kids are really flourishing. Everyone seems to have found a wonderful groove. Adults, on the other hand, are trying not to lose their minds ...

 Kaia's Island Kitchen & Tiki Bar is a cute new restaurant in Danville - Dionne's pick! We came out to Danville to see Gail in her recovery stages after knee surgery! She was on crutches, but at least out of the house and looking fine! We had some fun Hawaiian dishes at this Tiki-style restaurant. Great drinks too! 

 This restaurant club marks just over 20 years of dining together!! Two decades! Who could have imagined that when we started this in our 30s that we'd still be stuffing our faces and gossiping 20 years later. My god....we have been through births, marriages, and kids all grown up! Sash and Matt are in college and Gail and Steph's kids are quickly growing up. We even talked about how Stella said the F word when talking about what she was going to do out on the soccer field (she's 11!!). Had a good laugh over that one. Gail's boss Christina joined us this evening and had strongly recommended Che Fico (Gail's pick). She was not wrong!! It was so insanely good. We started dinner with delicious cocktails and a big fat round of focaccia. It came with mascarpone butter that was melt in your math. Then we had some kind of ravioli filled with short rib - amazing. And the gnocchi was some of the best I've ever had. Two kinds of pizza were absolutely delicious, and the 3 ...

First month of the year brought us to Gather in Berkeley (Julia's pick). Turns out we did our first (accidental!!) repeat. We were at Gather previously, but I completely forgot. Looks like we had some yummy pizza while lamenting the state of the world :(  Trump just took office. The holidays are behind us. Kids are back in school. Here goes....  

 Collina - Steph's pick for this cute little Nob Hill Italian restaurant. Well...now we know the results of the election and the Big Orange Splat won. We are terrified of what is in store for us. Will it be that bad?? At least we have each other! Much love and happy holidays!

October 20, 2024 -- Skip ahead a few months (busy summer!) and it's a fall Restaurant Club reuniting in the Castro at an adorable little Italian-ish restaurant called Rustic.  They served up homemade pastas and pizzas. I found the food to be good, not great. Some of the flavors were off. But overall, a lovely restaurant with excellent desserts. Best of all was the company, of course, as it's been a few months! We celebrated Gail's birthday and contemplated that by our next dinner, we may have the election results (maybe!). What a nail-biter.  Matt's in college, so that was a new development for Dionne!!