Inauguraton Day

If you are reading these posts in sequence it would appear that I blogged twice on Inauguration Day. Actually, I attempted to post the previous entry on Friday, but was thwarted by the internet system at UCSF, which failed to provide me with a network IP address. Happily this problem has clearly been addressed by the IT staff, and my link again works perfectly, allowing me to continue in the incredibly important task of documenting our dining out experiences while enduring 30 radiation treatments. And this post, mostly composed on Inauguration Day, has floated around in the ether for more than a week until I found the time to finish it.

Once again, we've had our lovely sequence of lunches interrupted by reality, this time in the form of the extreme amount of work it has taken to get our house ready to show to the public. Yes, we've arguably chosen the worst time in the last decade to put our house on the market; on the other hand, we're not desperate to sell, and if we're not happy with offers we will move to Plan B, whatever that might be. So a sandwich and a glass of beer at home is about all I could manage today, while Andrea used the toaster oven to heat up mini Chicken Tacos from Trader Joe's. Not quite in the same league as some of the lunches we've enjoyed. Not even close.

Meanwhile, on the treatment end the finish line is in sight. The facility was closed yesterday for MLK Day, but Andrea received two treatments on Friday and is going for two more this Friday. Also, today is the last of the 'proton' treatments; the remaining five appointments are for 'electron' radiation. These descriptions of the radiation were provided by the supervising doctor during the preliminary visit, but when Andrea mentioned them to the technicians they described the two forms of treatment differently, describing the second form of treatment as 'clinical.' There's a big difference in the routine. With the 'proton' treatment it is critical that the body is positioned to maximize the targeted area while minimizing the exposure of the rest of the body. This requires not only mini tattoos on the body, but also a bit of shoving around on the table to achieve the precise effect. During the treatment the machine moves around you and pulses, then relocates itself to a second position and pulses again. .The 'electron' treatment is administered through a customized sort of waveguide that fits on the machine. The machine remains stationary, and makes no noise at all. Of course all these details apply to Andrea's specific treatment, since every individual receives a customized protocol.

 The appointments have to be separated by at least six hours when you do two in a day. The way we handled it was to go in for an 8AM zap; then we drove back to San Rafael, where I went to my exercise class. From there we returned home and proceeded to work on the house, and finally back to the city for a 4:15PM session. Then we hung around since our daughter Sophie had agreed to meet us for dinner. We went to Calzone's, an Italian cafe on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco's legendary North Beach, right up the street from City Lights bookstore, an icon since the Beat era. After that we checked into Tommaso's, a restaurant right off Broadway on Kearney Street that has been around for decades. We were seated at the 'reserved at all times for the family' table, which got things off to a nice start. Tommaso's has just a few booths and some tables in the center of the room. The last time we visited, perhaps 20 years ago, it was quite dark, but has been repainted in a lighter style. The room includes a small counter, behind which is the centerpiece of their cooking, the wood-fired oven. A steady flow of pizzas passed in and out of the opening, manned by a pizzaiola who by all appearances had many years of experience. We opted for all sorts of dishes, too many dishes. These included deep fried calamari, ravioli and meatballs, eggplant (wood oven roasted in Parmigiana style,)and a spinach salad with Parmesan and nuts. To this we added a liter of house red, which they graciously allowed us to taste before commiting. This was about two dishes too many for three people, since servings are generous and hearty. The pizza we ordered was quite simple, with just pepperoni and cheese, since there is a generational difference in acceptable ingredients when it comes to pizza (we favor eggplant and mushrooms, which are no-no's on pizza to Sophie.) This came out as your basic house-made pizza, with an inbetween crust that was neither thin nor thick, and a light topping of tomato sauce with plenty of cheese. While not dramatic or mind-blowing, it was quite delicious. The hit of the evening had to be the ravioli, which are definitely house-made and masterful. The two large meatballs somehow managed to be delicate and light without containing excessive breading, which is quite a trick to pull off. Our friend Brooke says it is probably like the technique for arrivng at light matzo balls: don't over-compress them or handle them too much before baking. I would hazard a guess that they also use more bread crumbs than I might be inclined to add, but I have to say I enjoyed their rendition. Tommaso's tomato sauce is chunky and elemental, with just tomatoes, some olive oil, a hint of herbs and not a heck of a lot more. To pull this off requires the use of high-quality tomatoes, and it would not surprise me to find large cans of San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy in the storehouse. The spinach salad was relentlessly fresh, and again, only the highest-quality ingredients found their way into the dish. Calamari, served first, was obviously fried in the cleanest of oil, and was exactly the right texture; the moment you over-cook calamari it turns to rubber. In my experience it only comes out right in Italian and Thai restaurants, and Tommaso's has it down. They use larger pieces than most places, so there is a higher ratio of 'insides' to breading, making it more of a meal than an appetizer, all the more reason why there were leftovers.

Prices are quite moderate, especially given the generous serving sizes and the quality of ingredients. Tommaso's shines because they don't attempt to do too many things; they cook simply but tastefully and their specialties are done professionally. It is old school at its finest; vintage recipes and cooking techniques executed with a high degree of care.