4 Chicks & A Restaurant

We got managed to squeeze in ONE winter/fall quarantine, covid-era Restaurant Club. That was in October 2020 where we ate outdoors in a lovely little french restaurant. Just Julia, Gail and Dionne attended and this was Gail's pick, I think. We've totally lost track since Covid blew up our restaurant club schedule (and everything else in life). The food was divine, and not just because it was so glorious to eat out and be served by someone else and no dish-washing was involved! Also, because Mathilde is absolutely divine -- as pictured below, the gourmet French food was straight out of Paris. From the escargot to the chocolate mousse, we devoured it all. Ah.....other than missing Stephanie, it was a taste of the old life (well, sort of, masks on, outdoors, empty streets). When will Restaurant Club reconvene? Gee....ask Governor Newsom. Or Mayor Breed. Nobody fucking knows but a better question is what will be left standing when we crawl our way out of this Covid hellhole. Kisses...

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 strawberr...

 For the first time in 15 years....the husbands finally got to join us for Restaurant Club!!! The 8 of us had dinner at Nyum Bai, Cambodian restaurant. And it was a cheat, since Julia and Jarrod had been there many, many times before. We sat outside in the patio and had such a great time. Maybe in another 15 years they can join us again :)  Until next time, friends!

Holiday Restaurant Club and the last one of this decade!!!! Prairie (Stephanie's choice) was a great sign-off for 2019! In the heart of the Mission, Prairie is a very cute restaurant with exceptional food. We ate roasted octopus, uni butter with soft bread, lobster pasta, chili-flaked cauliflower, "birthday" cake (with a candle!), decadent pudding, and lots of cocktails wine and even spiked eggnog (Julia). This was such a special R. Club, as we went around the table reminiscing on the highs and lows of the decade and the year. The overwhelming consensus was that friendships are as important as any other relationship in our lives. Spending time with friends - knowing they're there through thick and thin -- makes for a far more fulfilling life. As we get older and our kids become less dependent on us, our friendships will remain the constant that can fill our hearts and time. We are so fortunate to have Restaurant Club thriving after 15 years!!! We've been throu...

Dionne's pick was Cala Restaurant in Hayes Valley, just down the street from SF Jazz on November 20, 2019. This was a really good restaurant featuring an upscale version of Mexican food. This was our late fall 2019 outing. The world is in a state of despair (inevitable conversation): the environment, Trump, Republicans, education.  It's never ending and super depressing.  Oh, well, nice to commiserate with friends! (These weren't the best photos):

A Cote is a lovely and quaint little french restaurant on College Ave. in Oakland. We had a really nice meal here. This was Gail's pick. Love this neighborhood too.

I've been meaning to try Iyasare on Fourth Street in Berkeley forever, so I finally had a chance with my best buds! This is an upscale sushi place that is so lovely, and Fourth Street is so quiet on Sunday nights!  Lots of pretty and delicious food. This was Julia's pick for the summer: June 23, 2019.  We had a good time hanging out here. Definitely worth going back to for us east bay folks.