WE FINALLY MADE IT

I believe this story should begin in the present moment. However, like all great tales, references to the past will be referenced or, more often than not, thoroughly delineated.

We begin in San Francisco, CA. I’ve just relocated here after a 3-year stint in steamy Atlanta, Georgia. It was a long road here (and I don’t just mean in the metaphorical sense) – 7,580 miles long, to be exact. Yes, we took a few detours, many for the sake of sights, a few for good hikes and most for tasty treats (see future posts for details on this culinary adventure). Moving is always such an undertaking, but thankfully, this upheaval and replacement has proved well worth the work.

On the apartment front, things have pretty much been sorted...a Boos butcher block I've coveted for years (and whose purchase I finally managed to justify due to the 12 inches of kitchen counter space my kitchen currently boasts) just arrived. It appears it was the magical piece in the moving-in puzzle, for now I feel organized and settled.

Concerning occupational and gastronomical pursuits (luckily, I find these one and the same!), it seems as though I have been planted in a city that possesses numerous boulevards my career may traverse, and for that, I am elated and deeply grateful. I believe I can firmly state that San Francisco lives up to its stereotype – it is a safe haven, a utopia even, for lovers of great food! The Ferry Market continues to provide endless inspiration. Aside from the extraordinary produce, and it is exceptional, what really makes me ache with excitement is the community of shoppers and fellow fanciers of all things edible that surround me each Saturday morning... Kids trying micro-chervil, begging for wild berries (instead of candy bars!), interrogating the farmer on why some eggplants are white and some are dark purple...
People talking, laughing, all while reaching into their khaki-cloth and hemp bags, munching on the raw vegetables, fresh bread and Blue Bottle coffee they just purchased from their new friends.
Sometimes I feel like I'm having a flashback from the Bastille market in Paris (minus the yelling and bargaining in French with phallic statues in the background).

As for San Francisco and its non-gastronomic qualities, I already adore this city as if it were a newborn baby - my heart melts every time I discover a new quirky aspect of its personality, and I even find its "bad" characteristics (the steepest hills imaginable, the cost of absolutely everything, fog, etc.) pleasant and endearing! I absolutely love it.



I will end this post with the words of the timeless Ol’ Blue Eyes:

“The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay,
The glory that was Rome is just another day,
I've been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan,
I'm going home to my city by the bay.
I left my heart in San Francisco, high on a hill it calls to me
To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars.
The morning fog may chill the air, I don't care.
My love waits there in San Francisco, above the blue and windy sea,
When I come home to you, San Francisco, your golden sun will shine for me.”