For Bastille Day Weekend, I decided to do something French-themed every day/night. On Friday, I went to the Grand Opening of Muka over by Davies Symphony Hall. The owner, Jean-Luc, is a former bartender at my favorite neighborhood French wine bar, Amelie. He opened his own place, Moussy’s Cafe, in L’Alliance Francaise, which recently relocated and also has a new name, Muka. It’s further from my neighborhood. I could technically walk, but would prefer to take a bus. The new location is much larger than the one in L’Alliance Francaise, but lacks the Frenchness. It seems more like an American bar now. I hope it doesn’t sink into the depths of a sports bar with frat boys watching sports on flat screen TVs and playing beer pong. All in all, I had a decent time there on Friday night, especially once the bartender mixed up something special for me containing ginger beer, bourbon and who knows what else. That had me set for the ENTIRE evening. After Muka, I met up with a friend and her date in North Beach. They were having dinner at Panta Rei. I had a drink with them there, then we had another drink at Tony Nik’s, a little dive bar. Her date also gave me a joy ride around North Beach on his Harley Davidson!
Yesterday’s French activity was dinner at Bouche with my friend, Tat. I met the owner of Bouche at Amelie, of all places, more than a year ago. I’ve eaten there for Bastille Day (last year) and for New Year’s Eve, as well as stopping in a few other times. The place is very small and intimate, prices are reasonable, the entire wait staff and chef are French, and they serve the full menu until midnight (or even later, I believe). When I walked in on Saturday night, the owner greeted me with a hug and a kiss. He asked why I’d made a reservation. I explained that I’d made reservations before for Bastille Day and New Year’s Eve. He said that it’s not necessary for me to make a reservation as Bouche is now like my home. Good to know. Our table wasn’t quite ready. While he waited, he gave us complimentary champagne; my friend was impressed. My dinner choices were all over the place. I decided to try several small plates, as opposed to having an entree. I chose the fougasse, cheese special, cream of pea soup and Dungeness crab mashed potatoes. My friend went with the house made pappardelle with fresh water prawns, sea urchin and lobster crostini, as well as the stuffed chicken paupiette with brussels sprouts cream, asparagus, peach, spinach, sage sausage and bell pepper coulis. For dessert, he had the goat cheese cheesecake with beet ice cream. We tasted each other’s food, mais oui! I’m not normallya fan of cream of pea soup, but theirs had bacon and herbs, which meant I finished the entire thing. My friend loved the Dungeness crab mashed potatoes. We were both fans of the goat cheese cheesecake, but couldn’t stand the beet ice cream. That was disgusting! My friend thought the chef’s creativity had stretched a bit too far on that one.
This afternoon found me at Amelie with my Brazilian friend. She had two flights of Rieslings, ate olives, escargots and three oysters on the half shell. I had three flights, ones containing champagne, cabernet franc and sancerre. I told the bartender to make up whatever he thought I would like; I trust him and he knows me. Even though it was Bastille Day,, they still offered their daily Happy Hour Special of $10 flights from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. At 6:30 p.m., a local band called Hot Pockets started playing funk style music. Great ambience all around.
Thus, my French is done for this weekend. I’ve done my part. I fraternized at French places, ate French food and drank French wine and champagne. As the owner of Amelie taught us to say, “Bonne Fete de Bastille!”
Admiring the Harley
Dinner at Bouche