Bodega Bay - August 28
Today was a big day for us - our fifth annual pilgrimage to the Bodega Bay Seafood Art and Wine Festival. The weather could not have been any better - hot and sunny inland, warm and sunny at the coast.... and best of all, no fog! It's finally summer in San Francisco!!
Somehow over the years, this festival, held at a ranch overlooking the coast, grew into an embodiment of our religion - fresh air with beautiful views, laid back, delicious food, great wine and some culture all combined. The past 2 years, it's also been a day of reflection signaling the end of summer and return to school.
Unfortunately, the novelty seems to have worn off and we were quite disappointed this year. Firstly, there was a huge line to get in perhaps because of the great weather (best it's been in all the years we've gone) which meant food lines were long too. While we did have some good wines (Fritz Chardonnay and a cabernet from Jakob Gerhardt who is the wine broker we deal with), the art was not inspiring or very interesting and the food was ok.
We started lunch with the festival's Key Lime Calamari. The calamari is in a key lime batter and deep fried to perfection - not chewy or greasy at all - but perfectly soft and tender. I'm having a harder and harder time eating deep fried foods and while this was good I wasn't as excited as the first time I ate it. Nino, on the other hand said "For fried calamari, this shit is da bomb". I think he liked it.
Next, we had fish tacos - battered cod, deep fried and then served on warm tortillas with cabbage and "special" sauce. These were really good but didn't fill me up; I would have gotten something else to eat but the lines were long at the booths I would have wanted something from, and all the other booths had different variations on the deep fried theme.
As the disappointment set in, we decided to leave and salvage the rest of the day. We headed to "our spot" on the Russian River for a swim and some hanging out on the beach before heading back.
Stay tuned for next year's pilgrimage. Will we go back only to be disappointed again? Do we have our own little Festival? Do we just invite everyone over for wine tasting and steamed crabs? Only time will tell....
Somehow over the years, this festival, held at a ranch overlooking the coast, grew into an embodiment of our religion - fresh air with beautiful views, laid back, delicious food, great wine and some culture all combined. The past 2 years, it's also been a day of reflection signaling the end of summer and return to school.
Unfortunately, the novelty seems to have worn off and we were quite disappointed this year. Firstly, there was a huge line to get in perhaps because of the great weather (best it's been in all the years we've gone) which meant food lines were long too. While we did have some good wines (Fritz Chardonnay and a cabernet from Jakob Gerhardt who is the wine broker we deal with), the art was not inspiring or very interesting and the food was ok.
We started lunch with the festival's Key Lime Calamari. The calamari is in a key lime batter and deep fried to perfection - not chewy or greasy at all - but perfectly soft and tender. I'm having a harder and harder time eating deep fried foods and while this was good I wasn't as excited as the first time I ate it. Nino, on the other hand said "For fried calamari, this shit is da bomb". I think he liked it.
Next, we had fish tacos - battered cod, deep fried and then served on warm tortillas with cabbage and "special" sauce. These were really good but didn't fill me up; I would have gotten something else to eat but the lines were long at the booths I would have wanted something from, and all the other booths had different variations on the deep fried theme.
As the disappointment set in, we decided to leave and salvage the rest of the day. We headed to "our spot" on the Russian River for a swim and some hanging out on the beach before heading back.
Stay tuned for next year's pilgrimage. Will we go back only to be disappointed again? Do we have our own little Festival? Do we just invite everyone over for wine tasting and steamed crabs? Only time will tell....
posted by Karen at 10:31 PM
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