More finds and back to the kitchen
Monday, February 5
I had Sunday off and was exhausted from the week but decided that a run to the harbour would be reenergizing so off I went. It was around 18 degrees C and a beautiful sunny day, so I had to take advantage of it before heading to a bit "cooler" temperatures at home. My run ended at Pier 1 or the Ferry Terminal, the building I love, and I thought I would stop there to look around and grab something to eat. I found the ticket office for ferries to different areas and thought I would look at the schedules. The guy taking tickets was yelling out "Ferry to Sausilito", the place I had wanted to go to for awhile. I asked at the ticket office and she said the ferry was going in a few minute, there were not many, and the ticket price was $6.75. I thought, should I go now when all is ready and I just have to hop aboard or do I go back to the hotel to get changed and back down again for the next ferry, which may not happen. So, I took the more adventurous route and hopped aboard, running clothes and all. It's a beautiful 30 minute ride to the island, with stunning views of the city, nearby islands, and the bridges and it was a great day with the sun shining and the warm breezes. I would recommend the trip just for that. It beats going on one of those tourism boat cruises that cost over $20 with loud recorded narration and lots of tourists and school kids running around you. Arriving at Sausilito feels like arriving at a mediterrean island with it's many houses on the hills around and small island feeling. Many people rent out bikes as I believe it's the best way to get around the island and I also believe you can even ride to the Golden Gate Bride and on it, which would be cool. There is not a lot to do on the island but it's nice for strolling the streets and waterfront, grabbing a drink or coffee and a bite to eat, which is what I did. The waterfront was lined with people and I was wondering if this was normal until I saw a sign on a storefront door that said "closed to see the Queen Mary". They have been promoting that this would be the only visit of the Queen Mary to the west coast and so many people wanted to see it that it was hard to find stores open as it passed through at 3:30 pm. An hour or so on the island is adequate and then you can easily take the ferry home, which is another beautiful cruise home and the arrival to the Port of San Francisco terminal building at sunset was beautiful and magical. The terminal sign is the original "Port of San Francisco" red lit sign and you could imagine new immigrants coming into the terminal with hopes and dreams of a new life in the US. I wonder if they were realized. Nice outing and cheap.
The other thing I did this week with my limited time is visit the Keith Haring exhibition at one of the nearby galleries on Geary Street. I saw the notice for this and wondered if this was a private or public showing and how it worked so that they made money on it. I walked in the gallery and the woman said that this was one of the finest private galleries and that I was free to walk around to look at the paintings. Apparently, they were all for sale if you have enough pennies, though I was wondering who would have enough money to buy one of these. I was soon to find out as as man with a backpack ran in and said he was on the way to a meeting and the paintings looked neat and something that they might like to have in their house in Paris. He started discussing prices with the sales agent and they discussed prices from around $38,000 for a smaller work to a few hundred thousand dollards for the larger works. He said this sounded reasonable, was interested in a larger work, and would discuss this with his wife before deciding. She emphasized that the shipping was cheap, only a few hundred dollars, though when you're spending that amount of money who cares about the shipping costs? It was a wonderful exhibition with numerous works that I had seen and not seen and profiles of Keith Haring and his life. I loved it and it was all for free to view. She asked me at first if I was an art collector and I said very minor local works and I would love to buy something if I had the money. I said I could probably afford a poster if they had one. I guess she felt sorry for me and gave me a little postercard, which was the invitation to their vernissage, and she said that this was the best she could do and she thought it would be nice framed. I was thrilled as it's very nice card and I don't think I will ever have enough money to buy works in this range. Also, with the kind of person Keith Haring was - a nice, down-to-earth, humble guy of the streets - I think he would have been pleased that someone like me would come in to enjoy and appreciate his works, even if I couldn't buy them. I noticed that all along Geary from Powell there are several galleries like this with Picassos, Chagalls, Warhols, etc. and when I first went by them I thought they were just fake prints, but now I realize they are all originals up for sale. So, this is one of my recommendations if you love art like me, go visit these galleries and see these wonderful works of art for free. If you want, you could pretend you're a potential buyer. Who would know and you may be a potential buyer one day, with the emphasis on potential. Time is running out but I'm going to try and see an art exhibition by Keith Richards on the same street, which looks interesting as he captured moments on the tour and the band members.
After a nice day off, on Monday, I headed back to the kitchen. Chef Eric was off but I worked under the direction of the head of the kitchen Daniele and the Sous Chef Jason. Most of the day was spent cutting, cutting, and more cutting, actually filling a 10 quart container with 1/4 ' diced cubes of a variety of vegetables - fennel, carrot, parsnip, onion, celery root. My body and hands were tired and aching by the end but it felt good to be cutting again. I'm sure one of the younger Mexican guys could have done my work in 1/10th of the time but perhaps after cutting for several years my speed will improve too. I also worked on a recipe for a "cauliflower rice" for the raw napoletan salad, which is a cauliflower nut paste that is smeared on the diakon slices to keep the ingredients on the daikon layer and for taste. At the end of the evening, I went to the cold pantry for awhile to help and trail Kevin. It was strange to be in there again as I couldn't remember much but perhaps that's because Kevin had the station under control and didn't seem to need my help much. I guess if I was in there again by myself or with another, the adreline would kick in and I would somehow magically remember.
I had Sunday off and was exhausted from the week but decided that a run to the harbour would be reenergizing so off I went. It was around 18 degrees C and a beautiful sunny day, so I had to take advantage of it before heading to a bit "cooler" temperatures at home. My run ended at Pier 1 or the Ferry Terminal, the building I love, and I thought I would stop there to look around and grab something to eat. I found the ticket office for ferries to different areas and thought I would look at the schedules. The guy taking tickets was yelling out "Ferry to Sausilito", the place I had wanted to go to for awhile. I asked at the ticket office and she said the ferry was going in a few minute, there were not many, and the ticket price was $6.75. I thought, should I go now when all is ready and I just have to hop aboard or do I go back to the hotel to get changed and back down again for the next ferry, which may not happen. So, I took the more adventurous route and hopped aboard, running clothes and all. It's a beautiful 30 minute ride to the island, with stunning views of the city, nearby islands, and the bridges and it was a great day with the sun shining and the warm breezes. I would recommend the trip just for that. It beats going on one of those tourism boat cruises that cost over $20 with loud recorded narration and lots of tourists and school kids running around you. Arriving at Sausilito feels like arriving at a mediterrean island with it's many houses on the hills around and small island feeling. Many people rent out bikes as I believe it's the best way to get around the island and I also believe you can even ride to the Golden Gate Bride and on it, which would be cool. There is not a lot to do on the island but it's nice for strolling the streets and waterfront, grabbing a drink or coffee and a bite to eat, which is what I did. The waterfront was lined with people and I was wondering if this was normal until I saw a sign on a storefront door that said "closed to see the Queen Mary". They have been promoting that this would be the only visit of the Queen Mary to the west coast and so many people wanted to see it that it was hard to find stores open as it passed through at 3:30 pm. An hour or so on the island is adequate and then you can easily take the ferry home, which is another beautiful cruise home and the arrival to the Port of San Francisco terminal building at sunset was beautiful and magical. The terminal sign is the original "Port of San Francisco" red lit sign and you could imagine new immigrants coming into the terminal with hopes and dreams of a new life in the US. I wonder if they were realized. Nice outing and cheap.
The other thing I did this week with my limited time is visit the Keith Haring exhibition at one of the nearby galleries on Geary Street. I saw the notice for this and wondered if this was a private or public showing and how it worked so that they made money on it. I walked in the gallery and the woman said that this was one of the finest private galleries and that I was free to walk around to look at the paintings. Apparently, they were all for sale if you have enough pennies, though I was wondering who would have enough money to buy one of these. I was soon to find out as as man with a backpack ran in and said he was on the way to a meeting and the paintings looked neat and something that they might like to have in their house in Paris. He started discussing prices with the sales agent and they discussed prices from around $38,000 for a smaller work to a few hundred thousand dollards for the larger works. He said this sounded reasonable, was interested in a larger work, and would discuss this with his wife before deciding. She emphasized that the shipping was cheap, only a few hundred dollars, though when you're spending that amount of money who cares about the shipping costs? It was a wonderful exhibition with numerous works that I had seen and not seen and profiles of Keith Haring and his life. I loved it and it was all for free to view. She asked me at first if I was an art collector and I said very minor local works and I would love to buy something if I had the money. I said I could probably afford a poster if they had one. I guess she felt sorry for me and gave me a little postercard, which was the invitation to their vernissage, and she said that this was the best she could do and she thought it would be nice framed. I was thrilled as it's very nice card and I don't think I will ever have enough money to buy works in this range. Also, with the kind of person Keith Haring was - a nice, down-to-earth, humble guy of the streets - I think he would have been pleased that someone like me would come in to enjoy and appreciate his works, even if I couldn't buy them. I noticed that all along Geary from Powell there are several galleries like this with Picassos, Chagalls, Warhols, etc. and when I first went by them I thought they were just fake prints, but now I realize they are all originals up for sale. So, this is one of my recommendations if you love art like me, go visit these galleries and see these wonderful works of art for free. If you want, you could pretend you're a potential buyer. Who would know and you may be a potential buyer one day, with the emphasis on potential. Time is running out but I'm going to try and see an art exhibition by Keith Richards on the same street, which looks interesting as he captured moments on the tour and the band members.
After a nice day off, on Monday, I headed back to the kitchen. Chef Eric was off but I worked under the direction of the head of the kitchen Daniele and the Sous Chef Jason. Most of the day was spent cutting, cutting, and more cutting, actually filling a 10 quart container with 1/4 ' diced cubes of a variety of vegetables - fennel, carrot, parsnip, onion, celery root. My body and hands were tired and aching by the end but it felt good to be cutting again. I'm sure one of the younger Mexican guys could have done my work in 1/10th of the time but perhaps after cutting for several years my speed will improve too. I also worked on a recipe for a "cauliflower rice" for the raw napoletan salad, which is a cauliflower nut paste that is smeared on the diakon slices to keep the ingredients on the daikon layer and for taste. At the end of the evening, I went to the cold pantry for awhile to help and trail Kevin. It was strange to be in there again as I couldn't remember much but perhaps that's because Kevin had the station under control and didn't seem to need my help much. I guess if I was in there again by myself or with another, the adreline would kick in and I would somehow magically remember.
posted by Caroline at 8:56 AM
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