A nook rich with goodies. Dad and I made our way to Let's Eat Delicatessen to see what their offerings were like. There's a big whiteboard with sandwich choices, and behind glass around the prep area are various salads and other pretty items. Behind you in refrigerator/freezer space are all kinds of take out items to take and bake. It's full of food fun!

Dad and I decided to split a roast beef sandwich with horseradish cream and arugula and pair it up with salads and share an steamed artichoke. Dad chose a artichoke creole salad to accompany his half sandwich.

I chose a sesame noodle salad that had chicken, ham and walnuts to jazz it up. We put the artichoke on my plate as they only gave us two. This would be a great place to pack a picnic basket, or if you want to cook something more upscale that frozen Stouffers. It isn't set up very well for eating in, but there are three black metal tables inside, and a couple of smaller tables on the sidewalk outside.

Floating tableau. On of the nice things about deck dining in Sausalito is watching the world of the sea floating by. Since I visited Paradise Bay in December, only the seasons and menu have changed.

I saw the usual ducks and birds, although in more abundance than in December, and then a man canoing with his German Shepard. He paddled all the way up to the dock, that had a 15 minute 'parking' limit posted, and got out with his dog for parts unknown.

Meanwhile I ordered up a "King of Clubs" with an Iced Tea, and continued enjoying sea life pass by.

I was so impressed by the sturdiness of the take-home box, that I had to snap a photo. It begs to be reused, and I have already. I think it's the most impressive take-home box I've ever received. A wonderful lunch experience both for the food and the view.

Theme breakfast. Thanks to Kate's recommendation, I decided to try Bogie's Cafe the next time I had a chance. This is also in Cookiecrumb's old neighborhood in Santa Venetia.

First off you know you're in for some fun when you see Bogie in the bright red get-away car at the entrance! And the inside of the cafe is so whimsical and creative and sporting so much memorabilia, that you can't help but remind yourself that life is much more than a three-piece suit and the Financial Times.

I succumbed to the lure of French Toast made with cinnamon swirled bread and topped with fresh seasonal fruit. It so reminded me of something my mother would make for a leisurely Sunday breakfast.

Dad chose a Ham & Cheese Omelet and said it was perfect. He noted that the amount of ham and cheese contained was generous, and the potatoes were better with the addition of fresh tomatoes and onions to top it. This one is a keeper, and a great find near the Civic Center in case you are ever doing jury duty!

Simple and fresh. Giovanni's Pizza has been serving pizza up fresh since 1963, in this small nook across from a breathtaking view of San Francisco.

This is the view -- choose the seats facing the door! Eat your pizza slowly and watch the changing scene of ferries, sailboats and birds come and go with the lapping of the waves against the shore.

I enjoyed the Hawaiian style pizza -- the sauce was the way I like it, sharp - not sweet, and it's so hot and freshly baked it's hard for it not to be a savory treat. Giovanni's also serves salads and other things. If you are yearning for fresh pizza with a view, and don't mind being in a small and casual space, this is a great find in Sausalito.

Summer breezes are here. Deciding to eat dinner locally (in Sausalito) with some special clients, and hearing the request as good seafood, prompt service and nice view, Michael & I looked at each other and said "Horizons". I reviewed Horizons at lunch in December, and since this was a business meeting I wasn't planning on blogging it, but the topic of my blog came up and I was invited to snap away -- so I did.

Most of us chose to start with the delicious clam chowder, and one of our party ordered the caesar salad to start. Unfortunately, the salad contained a piece of unwelcome organic matter, a hair. Although the manager came to apologize profusely, it necessarily colored our table's experience of the meal. These things can occasionally happen anywhere, but it feels worse when you are treating out-of-town guests to what is hoped to be a very positive experience.

I did photograph the delicious looking salmon, which was confirmed good by those who chose it. The arrangement was beautiful too.

I ordered the seared day boat scallops with polenta. It was very good, the scallops nicely seared and juicy without being raw. The polenta and grilled vegetables were great paired with the scallops. And the fresh grape tomatoes were a nice fresh addition.

Also, I apologize to anyone who received a "Reunion.com" invitation. If you were here this morning, you'll have noticed that they hijacked my blog - naturally without my permission - posting a big ad for themselves as a blog post! And they also sent their 'invitation' to every address contained in an e-mail I sent, or was sent to me in my g-mail account (with 10,000+ messages you can imagine the magnitude)! I was completely horrified and I'm sorry about this. This seems to be at best sneaky and deceptive on their part. I've spent my usual writing time trying to connect with them to continue my protest of their actions.

The World of Persia in Marin. Continuing on my trek to round up themes in Marin, I have eaten my way around all the Persian restaurants that I've found in Marin. Unfortunately, this was quite easy to do since there are only three. Persian cuisine is an ancient one full of spices, fruits and a wide variety of tastes. It's culinary flair has influenced surrounding states, such as Afghanistan, the south-Central Asian states, and the cuisines of North India and Pakistan.

The Persian Restaurants in Marin are:

San Rafael
Apadana Restaurant
Hatam's
Le Papillon -closed

I traveled to Fairfax to try Rumi's Garden Cafe, only to find it has morphed into Chad's Garden Cafe (which doesn't appear to be Perisan) and is not open for dinner. The Supper Club chose a Persian theme last year, for which I made ash e-jow. You can get the ingredients for a fine Persian meal at Hatam's. If you are in Sausalito, and hungry for kabobs, the Bridgeway Cafe makes a kabob sandwich and some superb Perisan appetizers, although 99% of their fare is American. If you know of any Perisan delights I've missed in Marin, please leave a comment!

Tableside Flair. Dad and I ventured as far as Fairfax the other night to try dinner at Pancho Villa's Restaurant in Fairfax. Pancho Villa was a kind of Mexican Robin Hood and revolutionary leader, so the restaurant has a bit of a rebellious theme to it.

We were quickly seated by friendly staff and given some chips and salsa.

We decided to treat ourselves to some table side guacamole. Now when I order table side guacamole, it's because I would like it truly fresh and more chunky rather than pureed. However, in this case the person prepping took a wire whip to it, and what we got was a big bowl of avocado smoothy! All the chunkiness was due to bits of onion and tomato. Definitely not worth $10.95, unless that preparation is your preferred way, so take note either way.

Here is the view of the finished product less a couple scoops my Dad took.

Dad ordered the chicken enchiladas en mole. He said that he liked the dish other than it was lukewarm.

I ordered a chicken tamale and beef taco combination. I also tried their whole pinto beans rather than refried which were a tasty variation. However, I wasn't too fond of the rest of the meal. It was also lukewarm, particularly the red tamale sauce served on the side. The beef in the taco was sauteed with a very sweet sauce, and the shell was so crumbly you couldn't pick it up. The tamale was the blandest I've ever eaten, and the cool sauce did not kick it up, and suffered from a little over-sweetness too. Now my friend Paul lived in Fairfax for awhile and said he enjoyed many a pleasant meal here, so although my first impression isn't so good, I'd be willing to give it another try.

Supper Club - Greece. The gang of chefs (some professional, some just love cooking) got together again around the theme of Greek cuisine. This gourmet supper club has been getting together for some time now, and it's a joy to learn and taste with them. There was a lot of celebrating going on with several coming back from various European travel adventures and marriage celebrations. The stories flowed with the Greek wine and encouragement from those who went and those left behind this time. Follow the crumbs of our Greek dining adventure last night.

Meze

Revithia Yahni - a braised lemony chickpea appetizer which Caren, one half of the honeymoon couple, prepared for us.

Fassolakia Ladera - a caponata-like chunky vegetable dish, with hunks of bread and feta, which Isadora made.

Skordalia - A very garlicky dip served with pita that Bob made, who was the only one who could pronounce the Greek names correctly!

This is a shot of the dip and the pita, which includes the other dish Bob brought, described in detail further down the page.

Mains

Lamb Gyros - Tom M researched the making of gyros and told us all about the ideal way to cook, and the way to make these tasty morsels at home.

Tom M presented the gyros he made with a smile!

Moussaka - Janis made the most luscious, moist and flavorful moussaka you can imagine. She recounted the horror she felt when she looked up the old recipe she had and saw that it was lacking for today's tastes, so went on a journey of research to find the best moussaka recipe created with the freshest ingredients.

Keftedes - these Greek meatballs were amazing. Glenn is one of our professional chefs who never ceases to amaze us with his depth of knowledge of various cuisines and food combinations. I'm sure he could make rubber bands taste like haute cuisine, and when having the run of ingredients and kitchen, he simply stuns us every time. Since we had a little late start, he was worried about overcooking these, but they were amazing when they reached your lips!

Fish Croquettes in Walnut Sauce - Emil brings his engineering background to bear on crafting food with delicious precision. He re-engineered a couple of Greek recipes from the Sephardic Jewish community molding carp, matzo meal and walnuts into fluffy balls of succulence. We were all after his recipe. Emil is the other half of the honeymooners.

Sides

Greek Salad - We've teased Bill for months now about actually creating one of the dishes himself, and this time he showed up with one he made with his own hands. And it was good! Crisp and fresh and a nice foil to all the mains we'd just completed. Bill is from New England, and we've just not come to the kind of cuisine yet that he excels at - let him at a steak, lobster or clam and we understand he's unmatched. He and Janis are soon celebrating their 39th Wedding anniversary.

Spanikopita - Karen carefully combined spinach, feta, pine nuts, parsley and mint, and stuffed it in equal measure into whole wheat filo for this spectacular showing. Served piping hot out of the oven, and perfectly browned people were asking after this recipe as well. Karen & Tom M are soon celebrating their 12th Wedding anniversary. We had so many opportunties to toast last night!

Prasopita and Tzaziki - Bob brought this lovely leek pie - Prasopita - as he though we were a bit short on the veggies, as well as some smooth tzaziki - yoghurt and cucumber sauce. Bob has connections to the Ionic Islands, so we got a lot of insider information from him. Tidbits such as that the original inhabitants of Greece were blond and blue-eyed, which the island natives remained, not being overrun by the Ottoman empire as the mainland was.

Desserts

Kourabiedes - Our talented Scottish lady Gillian, a professional food critic who was carried off from the highland hills (via a cruise ship meeting) by our Richie and now graces us with her insights, made these shortbread-like cookies with powdered sugar.

Karythopitta - Gillian also brought this syrup-soaked walnut cake, and informed us as we were eating that we were certainly combining several meals into one as the Greeks eat sweets in the afternoon with tea, not after dinner as we were. She said that she halved the syrup for this rendition as she was sure we wouldn't enjoy eating it in its full deadly-sweet splendor. And by the time we got to this part of the meal, we could appreciate that sentiment.

Yaouti me Meli & Karidi - Our ever-patient organizer, Tom H hand carried a bottle of authentic Greek walnuts immersed in honey from Corfu for this dish paired with thick Greek yogurt. Tom just returned from leading a gastronomic tour - Ten Days to Tuscany, where the lucky participants cooked with Italian chefs, ate and meandered their way through Florence Vinci Siena San Gimignano Arezzo! Next, he will be organizing a trip on a river barge in France were the dining is something to look forward to coming back from the shore excursions to enjoy.

Sykomaitha - Spiced figs with Masitha liqueur. A drum roll is needed here. These amazing confections were made and presented by Stephanie. Figs were mashed with several ingredients, not only the Masitha but Ouzo was added as well, and the resulting mixture was baked in waxed wraps then tied with cord for this presentation which was even more delicious than beautiful.

Yours truly almost didn't make this one as she couldn't make the dish she had planned - a rabbit stew from Corfu, but her friends insisted she come after class anyway and bring something simple instead. So I brought some Ouzo and Greek white wine. One of which I learned had pine needles in it as a tradition dating to when the Greeks were anticipating the Ottomans to raid and steal their wine cache, so they wanted it to be an acquired taste. After tasting it, I can confirm it is indeed an acquired taste, which I didn't, but all in the fun of chef's adventures! I've made a slide show of the Greeks Spirits which accompanied the meal, as well as the socializing aspect in my previous posts today. Oh, and if you want to turn off the music, you can find the on/off on the slide show of chefs socializing.

Supper Club Greece - Chefs Socializing