California Cafe Rises from the ashes

The other evening, I was able to have a special holiday dinner with my daughter while my husband had drinks at C.B. Hannigans.
We decided to try California Cafe. It had gotten stale, if not contrived.
It was everything BUT this time around. We had a delightful and sparkly time!

The menu was similar in that it had a variety of types of entrees and appetizers. You don't go here unless you intend upon spending money. Everything is a la carte.

They're very family friendly and had a cool Manga style kids menu with crayons. They have a bento box meal for kids, or they can order the items separately. All my princess wanted was spaghetti and chocolate milk. The glass they brought had a cool LED in the bottom that flashed red, green and blue. It was spectacular in the dimmed light and brought much delight to the people sitting around us. Her dessert was "milk and cookies" which would be any child's delight. There were two sugar based cookies that tasted homemade.

I had a green leaf salad which had candied walnuts on it and a delightful vinaigrette dressing.

Imagine my surprise when I saw coq au vin the menu. It takes forever to cook. I know! I've made it a few times. Of course I ordered it, and was so happy with the results. Thrilled, actually. The meat was so tender and fell off the bone. The sauce was marvelously seasoned. And the potatoes and onions. I only wish there were a few more. And that was OK leaving me wanting more. The portion size was perfect to sate my appetite and not feel stuffed to the gills.

The service was delightful even though there were a lot of large parties (it is near the holidays). Our server was knowledgeable on wine pairings. I had said I wanted a Pinot to go with my meal, and she recommended the one that I'd been leaning towards! Whoohoo, validation!!

The pacing was relaxed, the water glass stayed full, and the check was promptly brought and processed once I was all finished.

But what really tickled my fancy? I sent my compliments to the chef about the coq au vin, and he came out to thank me for enjoying it. Huzzah! Did I feel special.

We'll be back, no doubt about it.

iPhone rocks!

Yes, I did get an iPhone and I hope you did too. They are so much fun!

I'm sure you've noticed the new stores in the main drag...Napa Style is pretty cool. Kind of funny that it's so close to Smith & Hawkin. I do miss the antique store that used to be there with the lions out front. The owners were a very cool gay couple who were so amazingly nice. I hope they were able to retire somewhere and have a relaxing life.

And where the fire was? They removed the plywood and you can see the facade. I like the smooth look of the new buildings.

I'm heading to walk down there in a little while. I need to buy my best friend a Borders' gift card for her birthday. Don't tell her! I'd hate to ruin the surprise tonight when we go to Kyoto Palace.

And finally, congratulations to Manresa for getting another 2 stars in the Michelin guide! Well done, folks!

Apple Store and the iPhone

I was walking downtown this past Friday headed to Petroglyph to fetch my daughter. She, of course, conned my husband & me into taking her into Powells for some candy. I still had a vanilla Charleston Chew in the freezer, so I'm good.

We walked past this big grey wall, and my husband said "Oh, that must be where they're putting in the Apple Store" (I won't say that the large Apple and 'Apple Store Coming Soon' was right there too.). I'm excited about it.

My dad actually bought the iPhone on the day it came out. I went to see Ratatouille at the Los Gatos Theater at the same time. I saw Ratatouille again, and he bought an iPhone for his wife. He's bought the Blue tooth headsets for them and everything. I haven't seen him this excited over a toy in YEARS. They are beautiful, and they're great for texting, email, photos, and calls. I can hear him more clearly then I could with his old cell phone provider. Two thumbs up, go and get yourself an iPhone. I'll get one when my current Razr breaks...it shouldn't take long knowing me. Then I'll put all my audio books and podcasts on that, and can fill up my red Nano with music. Ah, the joys of listening to various things while walking.

Been busy

Hey, I've been busy. Crummy excuse, but it happens. My job went away because I wouldn't relocate to Raleigh, North Carolina. When "They" came out to woo me, I had them take me to Viva. I drove. I made sure I pointed out where Woz lives and Peggy Flemming. And the lovely downtown with the free shuttle.

Which isn't so free anymore. Check out this link: http://losgatosobserver.com/los-gatos/Article.php?article_id=0394&PHPSESSID=48456f5c766010c0d2eb18cbbc3bdb15

They're going to start charging for the free shuttle service starting July 1st. I will grant you that a buck isn't going to break my piggy bank...oh wait, I'm unemployed, so it just might. Darn, I'll have to start walking more.

And after dinner and dessert at Viva, they never asked me again if I'd consider relocating. I mean, shoot, where else can you eat al fresco without heat lamps in March?

Walkin' Girl

I've been doing a lot of walking these days. I walked the Jones Road to Lexington hike three times in about 9 days. It's glorious in March. I keep having these flashes about how it used to be & how it is now. It's funny...I'd get part way to Lexington as a child & then come back...now, 1.2 miles is nothing.
I led my Girl Scout troop there, and we saw two banana slugs (yes, I picked one up & tried to get them to kiss it, but to no avail), one lizard & one furry thing that looked REALLY big (they came running screaming about it).

Sure, there's probably mountain lions & bobcats there. But I can't see that they'd care for us in the middle of the day. There's enough water to keep the deer up near the top pof the hills.

And I've been walking around town when my daughter takes her class at the rec center. I walk down to Los Gatos Meats and buy beef jerkey & chow down as I walk back. That is truly some of the FINEST beef jerkey ever.

In fact, I'm going to get some now :-D

Nice evening for a walk

Ok, back to the weather. My goodness, was yesterday just perfect or what? Only in California can we truly say "Yup, another crummy day in paradise." My daughter and I rode our bicycles to the Safeway on Union and Los Gatos-Almaden since I got a little too earnest in cleaning and threw out her toothbrush. Oops.

We bicycled back home up Los Gatos-Almaden and stopped to look in the Los Gatos Memorial cemetary. One day, I'll cycle in there with her and look at some of the gorgeous gravestones. There are some really intricate ones, and it looks like there's one crypt. I won't take her around Halloween or a full moon, though.

She didn't have school today, and once my husband came home, I grabbed the ipod and said I had to go to the store to get stuff to make dinner. Which was true. So I reached the light at Los Gatos-Almaden and Los Gatos Blvd when Big Log by Robert Plant came on. The sky was the most beautiful liquid gold with white puffy clouds drifting, and a small plane was slowly moving away and over the mountains. It was the perfect soundtrack for such a glorious site. I was reminded why it's important to get out and find the beauty and happiness in the mundane.