My favorite way to start the day is to share a meal with friends, and we did just that at Tootsie’s. Mid-morning, the Nombomb clan headed over to the Stanford Barn to meet our besties for brunch.
I’ve said it before, but Sid and I were obviously separated at birth – just look at the intensity on our faces as we tucked into our respective plates of sausage, peppers, and eggs. We’re doppelgängers, I tell you.
Each breakfast entree at Tootsie’s comes with roasted pancetta potatoes, and today, I couldn’t resist taking a bite. (Normally, I just eat around the spuds or ask for salad instead.)
I’m callin’ it, folks: This spot is my favorite morning joint in the Palo Alto area: great food, java,and service. Another reason this spot is the bee’s knees? It’s adjacent to a large courtyard where the wee folks can burn off their energy while the adults nurse their espressos in peace.
With only two days to go before we get kicked out of the hotel, we should’ve spent the rest of the day packing our crap for our impending move back home – but instead, we decided to catch an afternoon showing of Brave with the kids. Priorities.
Post-matinee, we dropped the boys off at my parents’ place before speeding off to San Francisco for an adults-only dinner at Chris Cosentino’s Incanto. The restaurant’s right around the corner from Omnivore Books, the coolest cookbook store in the country, so we had to drop by to drool over owner Celia Sack’s incredible collection of the best culinary tomes ever printed.
Every cookbook lover MUST make a pilgrimage to this mecca.
It’s a fantastically well-curated collection, and there are hidden gems on every shelf.
I finally dragged myself out of the shop when I remembered that a Whole Leg of Beast feast was awaiting us at Incanto.
We were celebrating our cousin Toni’s birthday…
…by gnawing on meat, marrow, and offal.
The stereotypes are true: we Asian people really like to eat meat, and we’re remarkably good at math.
Well, only half of that statement is true for me. And it’s not the math part.
I’ll share the deets about our meatapalooza in a subsequent post, but let’s just say that we left with stuffed bellies and big grins.
Happy birthday, Toni!
On another note, I love this quote posted outside Incanto’s entrance:
It’s a good reminder for me that everyone’s entitled to eat the way they want, and to refrain from passing judgment on others’ food choices. We can only influence by example, and not by pounding others into bloody submission (even when we want to).
In the words of Ringo Starr, peace and love, peace and love.
On another note, we’re going to be slammed with non-blogging activities these next few days. Today – the 24th – is our twelfth (!) wedding anniversary, and we’re going to celebrate by not lugging our camera around and actually eating our food before it gets cold and the fat congeals. And tomorrow, the hubby’s going to be schlepping all of our stuff back into our house while I accompany Big-O to the hospital for his surgery. I won’t be posting my daily eats for the next two days, but I have two posts queued up: One on our dinner at Incanto, and another summarizing Fitbomb and the Double-Os’ adventures in Seattle.
Ciao for now!
