4 Chicks & A Restaurant

 Restaurant Club makes its first appearance in Walnut Creek!!! We went to this Peruvian restaurant - chosen by Gail -- right in the heart of the shopping district. We sat outside and enjoyed fruity cocktails, vino, Yucca chips, croquettes, scallops, empanadas, kale salad (yum!), and lamb chops. Half the items were pretty good. The dessert was off and I think for the first time ever, we didn't finish (churros were ok; the tres leches was no bueno).  But anyway, it was great to get together on a warm Sunday evening. Life is plugging along. Gail is in the midst of home construction, Dionne is forever waiting for permits to start her construction, Steph's kids are getting older and she's lost about 45 pounds (!!!) and looks amazing. Julia is raising teens and this current generation's preferences dominated this conversation. Fun stuff.

 I've been wanting to try Wood Tavern on College for years! And apparently, they didn't mind having us wait even longer....great restaurant, terrible service. Took forever to get anything! But it was still enjoyable and everyone came out to Oakland for Julia's pick. 

  well, the images speak for themselves about our "holiday" last Restaurant Club of 2021 dinner! The first two are the white russians we got prior to dinner! A holiday favorite :) Then we walked to Stephanie's choice in Fidi/SOMA -- Prospect. Very fancy, delicious.  Cheers and good riddance to another covid year! But things are getting better....

 I'm in love with this restaurant. Itria, featuring Italian fare, was Dionne's pick, and every single morsel was to die for. This tiny restaurant at 24th x Mission was not tiny on taste. The homemade pastas were so fresh and delicate (see photos below). The appetizers were divine, and the desserts were outstanding. Cannot wait to have another meal here!! We also got to sit indoors (yay, this is actually something to gloat over these days) and once again, enjoy our time together. Every outing post-covid feels so special, like we've been granted some kind of lockdown parole.  Covid is hanging out there, but as far as I'm concerned, life's too short to pause for covid. So we take our precautions (everyone vaxxed) and move on.... XOXO,  R Club Girl. (haha)

 Our first time doing R. Club in Lafayette and it couldn't have been a better pick! French restaurant Reve (Gail's pick) was about as authentically Parisian as Nor Cal can get. The food was outstanding, and sitting outside was cozy under a big tent. It almost felt like "normal" times, as the restaurant was completely crowded and we could relax and stuff ourselves with French cuisine. Don't we look cute?

 New Oakland spot that was Julia's pick! So......Sobre Mesa was supposedly the new hot spot in Oakland that is getting tons of great press. Unfortunately, despite our happy faces in this photo, it was kind of a  bust.  We were sitting outside and got to witness a full-blown fight between the bouncer and someone passing by. We wanted to hightail out of there stat after seeing that. So...it gets 2 out of 5 stars. 

 Stephanie's pick! I can't believe I didn't take any photos on this night! What I recall more than the food is the wind!!!  Still in covid-times, we had a seat outside. And go figure, in mid-May, San Francisco was freezing! So we sat on the sidewalk and tried to eat as our menus blew away. If I recall, the food was pretty good, but the ambience could use some work. Well, we were all able to get together, and that's what counts! This is over a year into COVID. God help us all.  xo.