A few weeks ago, I had “one of those days.” After a restless night, I woke up grumpy, a state of spirit exacerbated by reading the day's New York Times and trying to write with intermittent internet, presaging yet another hour-long phone call to ATT. My usual solution to such frustrations: get thee to the kitchen and cook something.
Alas, I proceeded to break one of our four decent wine glasses and then, just an hour later — still in the kitchen — I broke the lovely glass pitcher we keep filtered water in. And I had spent so much time finding it! Well, okay, so nothing important (unless you count the fender bender) — I didn't even get cut by the flying glass (though tiny specks keep showing up on the floor and the kitchen counter). But annoyance buzzed through the rest of day like one of those summer flies that makes itself at home on the ceiling or window and eludes capture.
Time to get out of town for a bit. Luckily we had planned a two-day trip to San Francisco and I couldn't wait to get on the train. And breathe in the Big City air.
And walk around Golden Gate Park after a visit to the de Young Museum. But the one of the biggest attractions there, for me, is the plethora of wonderful restaurants. I wrote in the last column about dinner at SPQR, but I didn't mention that we also ate at Flour + Water's pizzeria in North Beach (that neighborhood always a destination for us two Italian Americans).
Brought to our window table as soon as we sat down — water in a cle.