Turning Back Time (or 48 Hours in the Bay Area)

Saturday began with an excruciatingly early morning flight. By 11 a.m., I was in Oakland and we were on our way to Shanghai Dumpling King (3319 Balboa St., Outer Richmond) for the - you guessed it - dumplings. And they did not disappoint, arriving with great fanfare of steam:

After whiling away several hours in lovely San Francisco, we headed back to prepare for our random lobster dinner party. The lobsters were not random; the assortment of guests were. My world collided with my brother-in-law's world and somehow everyone had a great time. It no doubt helped that there were crabcakes, lobsters, potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and cake aplenty.










Yesterday morning, we headed to Oakland for the charming and cheerful Cock-A-Doodle Cafe. We were grateful for the charm and the relaxing outdoor seating, both of which made up for the slow service. Thankfully, it was worth the wait for the graham cracker crusted French toast and the lemon-ricotta pancakes with juicy chicken-apple sausages and a side of scrambled eggs (sorry the photos are of partially eaten food -- too often my hunger trumps my aesthetic sense). The smoked salmon hash, on the other hand, was totally skippable, which appears to be what happened to the salmon in the dish too.


Well-fed and relaxed, we spent the rest of the day at two of my all-time favorite places, the Berkeley Rose Garden and Monterey, and then rounded out the day with the spinach-and-mushroom pizza and the Zachary's Special (sausage, green peppers, onions and mushrooms) from Zachary's. Ah, why be 21 again when you can do just the best-of tour at 32...