CAFE BASTILLE EATING IN AN ALLEY IN SAN FRANCISCO IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS

An early Saturday night in San Francisco and me and the SO just happen to be downtown seeing a movie that let's out in those in between hours between a late lunch and an early dinner. Trying to come up with some place new is always difficult so we decide to try some place we haven't been in a while. It's a relatively not too cold sort of warmish early evening (if you live here you know what it's like) and the idea of eating outside becomes appealing so we hit upon the idea of outdoor dining at one of the places on Belden Lane. It's an alley with restaurants in downtown San Francisco, yes it can be a tourist draw, but for those of us who live here, it's still a fun place to hit up every now and then. Wandering past the choices, it's sort of like Europe where the outdoor cafes are lined up and menus are out front to peruse. It's really early so most of the places are empty. After looking the restaurants over we settle on Cafe Bastille which neither of us have dined at in years.

          

VIA MOTO ITALIAN AT THE METREON MINI PIZZAS FOR MOVIE TIME

**THIS PLACE HAS CLOSED UP SHOP...TOO BAD, FOR ME THEY MADE THE PERFECTLY SIZED AND PRICED PIZZA FOR ONE. HOPEFULLY SOMETHING ELSE GOOD WILL OPEN IN THE SPACE***

Ahh...the Metreon. It's been under a makeover for the past couple years and they seem to be nearing the end of it's latest transformation. Included in that is a selection of new places to eat either before or after shopping at Target or seeing a movie. Once such place just opened a couple weeks ago called Via Moto Italian. (no website yet) The specialize in quick Italian--salads, pressed sandwiches and pizzas which come in 2 sizes--a 5 inch and a 10 inch. The 5 inch is like a personal pizza and well, it seemed just the right size that I could actually try two of them and not feel too much like a glutton. Okay, so maybe a little glutton. I got the Umbrian and the Livia.

MAMA JI'S DIM SUM COMES TO THE CASTRO

Dim sum in the Castro? Yeah, I know, you have visions of gray steam trays loaded with yellowish blobs of pot stickers next to gelatinous globules of brown that says it's sweet and sour chicken, but this isn't it. Nor is it the over crowded and loud experience of dim sum carts rushing between tables with fare isn't exactly just cooked. Mama Ji's (no website) is something a little different and that's a good thing.

EATING KUDU IN SOUTH AFRICA...A FOOD DISPATCH FROM ABROAD

I recently took a little trip, okay, it was a big trip, I went to Africa. I managed to hit up South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana and Zimbabwe while there. I saw a lot of animals--ALOT--sometimes on the game reserves, sometimes just wandering along the side of the road and sometimes staring at me through my lodge window when I woke up in the morning. The food there isn't really any different than you'd find anywhere here in the states. I mean they still do things like casseroles, but the difference comes in what ingredients they may decide to use. Since they have a plethora of some animals just hanging out in large herds, some of those animals make their way into the food. Kind of the way we eat  deer or trout or quail. Except their animals seem more exotic to us like antelope, wildebeest, warthog and kudu. This is a kudu.....

HEARTBAKER SWEETENS UP A TRIP TO THE RICHMOND DISTRICT

Bakeries are the new hot trend in restaurant openings these days from The Mill, to Le Marais, to 20th Century Cafe and so on. It seems there is a wealth of former pastry chefs making their own way in the world these days. You can now add Sybil Johnson's Heartbaker to that growing list. Formerly pastry chef at Kokkari and Aqua (now closed) she's opened a new bakery on the corner of a residential section in the Richmond District. It was a pleasant Saturday when I made my way out to this distant neighborhood to check the place out.

         

It's a cute tiny place with a bar down one side and table and chairs down the other. While they have lots of choices showing on their online menu, they don't have quite as many available at the shop. They do orders for stuff to take away but it's different for sit down. They offer a handful things as brunch stuff but I'm here for the sweets so I peruse the choices that are available.