Cotogna (Italian for AMAZING)

One of my dear friends in SF I actually met working at Petite Jacqueline back in Maine.  She’s a true food and wine connoisseur and now works as the sommelier at Cotogna, an awesome Italian restaurant on Pacific Avenue in North Beach.

Cotogna’s atmosphere is a warm and cozy environment with furnishings and lamps that almost look straight out of the 70s.  The woodwork and dim lighting makes this a seemingly hidden haven that envelopes you in comfort as you enter. Perfect for a dinner with friends or a romantic date.

On Sunday, I had dinner at this fine little restaurant. Since leaving the restaurant world I find I eat out less and miss the constant connection to sampling new dishes and wines.

So, naturally,  we went all out starting off the dinner with a refreshing glass of Santhomas Rosato Spumante sparkling. We also enjoyed some Sassotondo Ciliegiolo, a lovely, complex red with bright fruit tones, with dinner. It’s been a minute since I’ve had such a good experience with new wine. While the beverages would have been enough to leave me satisfied, the food was REALLY over the top.

On this particular evening the menu was already selected and went as follows:

Asparagus Salad
Wild mushroom, mint & fava leaf pesto

Artichoke Pansotti
Walnut, artichoke & pecorino

Olive oil poached Lingcod
Spring vegetable ragu

La Tur
Cow, Goat & Sheep’s milk cheese from Piemonte

Limoncello & Rum Baba
Creme fraiche & almonds

Everything was the perfect combination of unique flavors.  The pasta is AMAZING. Seriously the most amazing pasta I’ve ever had! Go just for the pasta. Or the wine. But I recommend you do it all! It’ll be an experience you and your taste buds won’t regret! 🙂

Point Reyes/Marshall, CA

This weekend, for a certain someone’s birthday, we took a trip out of the city and up the coast to a little town called Marshall on Tomales Bay, just past Point Reyes.

Weekend conclusion: I REALLY like California. And champagne. 🙂

We spent the weekend exploring the coast, taking a nice little bike ride/hike around Point Reyes National Park, enjoying the famous local oysters, reading in the sun and by the fire, cooking and enjoying good food.

It’s tough when you have weekends like this past one because it’s hard to find a balance. Okay tough and this weekend shouldn’t be in the same sentence, but it brought up a very good life lesson to try and remember.

I found myself asking is this as good as it gets? Because I mean, it’s pretty damn good. But if you settle for that being as good as it gets you don’t get any better.  So the lesson? Find the balance: enjoying the really good moments as they pass but remain confident that more are to come.  It’s much easier said then done.

Reality was sure tough getting back to today.  Luckily, I got to go on an outdoor photo shoot back over the Golden Gate bridge this morning for one of my clients. It was a nice way to ease back into real life.

Enjoy the photos!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Favorite Foto Friday

This photo couldn’t be more appropriate for the week ahead!  This was taken of me and one of my dearest friends, Gwen, last year on July 5th at the Tides Beach Club in Kennebunkport.

Obviously the 4th is coming up this Wednesday and….Gwen is coming home to visit for a week on Monday!!!  As she lives in San Francisco now I don’t get to see her or chat with her nearly enough, my excitement pending her arrival is growing tremendously by the day.

I’m not sure if I will have Independence Day off from work at the Bistro yet or not, but either way I’m sure there will be much champagne, American flags and fun in the sun in the upcoming week!

Hope you all have a happy, fun and safe holiday week!