Sing along with me, everyone!
To the tune of rice-a-roni!
"Chris D. Voorhees - Val's San Francisco Treat!"
Every once in a while you come across someone in your life and you just "click".
There isn't always a rhyme or reason; it just happens.
Almost five years ago, I met Chris at work. He is our account rep for the live streaming software that we use to broadcast Board meetings over the internet (among other things). We hit it off and became instant friends. I only see Chris once a year (sometimes twice) because he lives in San Francisco, where the company is located. However, we keep up with each other in the down times through social media and texting.
However, when he comes out to the East Coast for work, we always make it a point to spend time together. In the past, we've frequented a sushi place in Alexandria and caught up with a few other friends. This time, Chris decided to just chill with me and Pface and hang out at my happy place for the first time!
A few years ago, I started referring to him as "my San Francisco Treat" (sometimes just "San Fran" for short) and it's just stuck. It truly is a treat to have him visit!
San Fran is like a little brother to me. I'm relaxed when I'm with him. I can be professional or goofy; depending on the environment we are in. But regardless, I am always myself and he accepts me just the way I am. We both talk nonstop about any topic under the sun and just really have a connection that most people wouldn't, especially given the situation in which we met (heated work meeting where he's trying to sell something and I was only a month into this new job!).
Chris loves food and drink as much as I do!! He also is a very tall, thin, young man, so he can eat like there's no tomorrow! He was also sick of eating Panera and Chik-Fil-a for four days, so what better place to visit than my happy place!
San Fran got to meet my sweet Sarah, crazy Tara and my darlin' Peg. Tara thought that he said his name was "Grace" when he introduced himself, so from that moment on, he became known as "Grace" and he quickly owned it! Arthur, Jeanne and Connor were also there. I was really lucky to see them all on a non-weekend evening! The stars all aligned!
While telling him the history of Giorgios and Winestyles, we perused the wine selection and decided upon the
2012
Black Stallion Estate
Chardonnay
Napa Valley
It was a super hot July evening and both of us agreed a light Chardonnay would be just what we needed. Trying a new one based on the description and the fact that it came from Napa, we were pleased. A nose of green apple, lemon and vanilla was followed by flavors of citrus, brown butter and pear. 100% French Oak but without food it would have been too "citrus-y" for me.
(A little tidbit of information for you: The name Black Stallion pays homage to the rich history of the 32-acre estate which was once home to the Silverado Horseman’s Center in the Oak Knoll District.)
First, we shared the crabcake portabella mushroom appetizer with pesto marinara sauce. He must be a special dude if I SHARED this with him!! Usually I hoard it all to myself. Of course sopping up the sauce with pita squares was called for. Well, that or using our fingers or just plain licking the plate. It was a Thursday and not very busy......
Who am I kidding? I'd do that any night of the week. It's THAT good.
I was going to order the Aegean Seafood Salad as my entree and then San Fran suggested we split that too!
(Ahhh, a man who enjoys wine AND sharing food!)
Calamari, shrimp, scallops over a salad with tomatoes, onions and feta cheese cubes.
Olives - ick - those were tossed on someone else's plate, of course!
At this point, I was definitely indulging and had already eaten just about more than I could handle, but nope, San Fran wasn't having any of that nonsense!
As my darling, Peg, put it quite succinctly,
"Grace is a hungry girl!"
Grace, uh, San Fran, uh Chris, chose the pork chop entree for his meal.
Now, keep in mind, NO ONE ever finishes this meal.
It was once referred to by a fine older South Carolina gentleman as "half a hog".
Oh, how I love my sweet "Poppy"!
I chose the chicken picatta which used to be my "go-to" meal at my happy place when I first started going there. I literally took one bite of the rich saucy scallopini chicken and mushrooms in a lemon caper sauce over angel hair pasta and couldn't eat anymore!!
Good news is I now had dinner for the next night!
Self-discipline was definitely thrown out the window this evening!
While we only had one bottle of wine, we were definitely food gluttons!!!
To my surprise, Arthur had two fancy chocolates brought to us to share -
a haystack and orange cream.
Heavenly!
Receipt says "Thank you soooo much Grace! (Val is the best!)"
Don't ya just love "my people"?
Grace has to doctor it up so that it says "Grace is the best."
Poor Val, never gets any love. ha!
I always love it when San Fran is in town. I love it even more that he was able to come to my happy place and actually appreciate every aspect of it. Didn't take him long to realize why I call this phenomenal establishment my "happy place"!
Gluttony is definitely the word that comes to mind.
An over indulgence of food, fun and friendship!
Til next time, my dear San Francisco Treat!
"That's the difference between me and the rest of the world!
Happiness isn't good enough for me!
I demand euphoria!”
― Bill Watterson
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