Restaurant Club in the time of Covid: Alamar on Alameda Beach

Well, this was a first for Restaurant Club. I write this blog with a heavy sigh, as we are living in unprecedented times. 2020 will go down in history as the year of the Global Pandemic, political chaos, social distancing, mask-wearing, and hundreds of thousands of lives lost. Restaurant Club has been on hiatus since February and we decided to meet for an outdoor dinner on the beach so we could socially-distance dine "together." Not only that, the Bay Area was experiencing a brutal heat wave, with temperatures in the 100s. The beach seemed the most reasonable place to cool off!

Gail, Stephanie and Julia all met up and shared a seafood and southern-inspired meal from Oakland's Alamar. We shared garlic noodles and plantains, while Gail had a poke bowl and Steph and Julia enjoyed the crispy rockfish tacos. We topped it off with mango margaritas and Gail supplied the wine. We didn't skip mandatory dessert even though our meal was to-go: blueberry cheesecake and strawberry-rhubarb coffee cake. Rules are rules. (Missing Dionne here :( )

So this is our new reality: not being able to hug our friends and family, doing our work on Zoom calls from home, and watching our kids "attend" online school. I can't wait until we can look back on this time and say: phew, glad that's over and we survived it! Until then, we will keep on keeping on and hopefully do more Restaurant Clubs outdoors while the weather permits! Friends, creative food, gorgeous sunsets: we appreciate them even more!

Comments

Frisson

First ever meeting of the Restaurant Club! This swanky Financial District restaurant/lounge was the perfect choice to kick of our new R. Club (ultimately, Frisson to close down). After hearing Dionne state that she didn't want a drink due to a supposed hangover from the night before, the truth came out that she was preggers (with Matty). We got a free bottle of wine from Gail's friend, JP. The atmosphere was better than the food here. Just the beginning of years of fun... 5/20/05

Fiorella - Polk

Stephanie's pick... an effort to get us out into the hood we actually used to hang out in! We hadn't been to Polk Street in ages!!! So we had dinner set for the early bird special because of limited availably at this popular spot. We started with nona's meatballs, which were divine. Then we had butter beans with greens -- also, very delicious. We shared two wood-fired pizzas (pictured below, with a little extra burn) and two pastas. The pizzas were a bit oily, but the mushroom topping was delicious. The pastas were simple and creamy. Dessert was a chocolate mousse-type thing and a lemon cake. We devoured both. And sure enough, by 6:30pm, the place was packed! We kept reminiscing that this spot must have been Polkers back in the day when we went to Cruch Gym (at the Alhambra theatre), walked over for brunch in our work out clothes, then sauntered somewhere else for cocktails....and then found ourselves still in our gym clothes at 5pm partying it up. Our reminiscing...

The Rustic (Castro District) - Oct 20, 2024

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!!

4 Chicks & A Restaurant

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