San Fran and Paso Robles with Simran - Feb 2020

Keith was going to go skiing with Rakesh and Ria so Simran and Shawna decided to do a girls weekend in Paso Robles to get some sun.  Keith had to cancel his ski trip due to work but Shawna went on the trip anyway and had a great time.

Shawna arrived into San Fran on Thurs night late and slept at Simran's house.  On Friday, we drove to Palo Alto for Simran's doctor's appointment.  Shawna did some work calls and then met up with Simran after - we walked around the outdoor mall and then had lunch at Indo Cafe in San Jose where we shared a yummy nasi champur and fried potato patties.  We then drove down to Paso, taking the 'scenic' route which is code for Simran's adventurous navigation skills!  We arrived into Paso around 5pm and check into our AirBnb which was a cute house just a few minutes away from downtown.  That evening, we had dinner at Fish Gaucho, sharing some yummy ahi crudo and carnitas tacos.  After dinner, we stopped at La Rena Market (mexican market) to check it out and then got some groceries for the house at Albertsons.

AirBnb in Paso

Drinks at Fish Gaucho

On Saturday, we had a lazy morning and then went out for a day of wine tasting.  Our first stop was to pick up cheese and bread at Vivant but had a detour in the shop next door where Simran bought a few items.  We went to the following wineries:

• Adelaida - recommended by our AirBnb host.  Nice tasting room with views.  They have great viognier and rose. - their reds were also quite tasty.  Simran bought us a case of the viognier as a thank you gift.  We had our picnic lunch here.  
• Pasolivo - one of the olive oil places.  Simran bought a small bottle.
• Thatcher - Another cute and rustic tasting room.  The zin was tasty.
• Brecon Estate - Shawna really liked this winery. They have a tasty albarino and Shawna bought a painting here.  
• J Dusi - cute place but very crowded.  Zin was tasty.
• Bodega de Edgar - tasting room is located in a warehouse area.  Simran had a membership.  Shawna really liked the albarino and rose and bought some of both.  

Adelaida Winery

Thatcher Winery

Brecon Estate Winery

That evening, we had dinner at La Cosecha which was very good - we shared the scallops, tuna tar tar and meat paella.

On Sunday, we had another lazy morning and then walked around town to go into some of the shops. Simran scored some jeans for a good price.  We had brunch at Brunch (aptly named) and split the crab cake eggs benedict and the chorizo street tacos - very tasty.  We went back to Brecon Estate to buy the paining that Shawna wanted and then went to ship it.  We stopped at Pear Valley to do a tasting as they have a lot of white wines but we did not like any of them.  

Brunch at Brunch

We relaxed back at home and then head out again to Tin City where we did a wine tasting at Monochrome where they only had whites - they were pretty good.  We then went to Barrel House Brewery and split some tacos while Shawna had a beer.  For dinner, we ate at Tin Canteen where we split the meatballs and tiger prawns - food was OK and restaurant was loud so not our favorite of the trip. For dessert, we had a flight of four ice creams at Negranti - very good.

Barrel House Brewery

On Monday, we lazed around again in the morning and then went to Red Scooter Deli for a quick lunch of salad and sandwich before we drove back home.  We stopped in Santa Cruz to walk around and grabbed a quick dinner at Poke It with dessert at Penny Ice Creamery.  

J Dusi Winery

On Tuesday, Shawna worked from Simran's house and then in the afternoon we walked around the Mission stopping for lunch at Dumping Time where we shared dumplings, noodles, bao bun and green beans - all very tasty.  We got an ice cream at Smitten.  That evening we had dinner at Dear Inga where we shared a smoked fish tray, bratwurst, bean croquettes, and grilled veggies.  Simran really like the food but it was not Shawna's favorite.  

Dear Inga

John and JoAnna Visit - Feb 2020

Duck Duck Goat

Our first visitors in our new home in Chicago were John and JoAnna who came for a short weekend.  We were lucky that it was not too cold and we packed the weekend in with food and drinking!

Time Out Market

They arrived on Sat morning at 7am - we picked them up at Midway and then went back to the house to get settled and catch up.  We then set out for an afternoon of food/beer tasting in West Loop, organized by Shawna.  We stopped at the following places:

• Monteverde - tried the hamachi and cacio whey pepper pasta.  Both very yummy.  This is a nice, modern Italian restaurant.
• La Josie - lively Mexican restaurant.  We tried the chili relenos and carnitas tacos - both quite good.
• Ballast Point Brewery - took a break from food and tried a beer here.  Lots of good beer choices on tap.
• Gus' Fried Chicken - casual place serving spicy and crispy fried chicken.
• Duck Duck Goat - lively Chinese restaurant.  We tried the duck and goat dumplings and the crispy duck noodles - very tasty!
• Time Out Market - food hall with lots of food stalls and three bars.  We tried the chicken katsu from Brian Fisher (yum) and the chili cavatelli from Band of Bohemia.

Monteverde

We polled the group and the favorite dishes were the two items from Monteverde, the carnitas tacos from La Josie and the crispy duck noodles from Duck Duck Goat.

Ballast Point

We went back to the house for a nap to rest up for the evening activities.  We then stopped at Lottie's for a beer before heading to dinner at The Vig which is a gastropub in Old Town.  We shared the shishito peppers, corn fritters, brussel sprouts salad and peri peri chicken pasta.  Food was OK.  After dinner, we went to Second City for the 11pm improv show - it was interesting to see the comedians think quickly on their feet but we didn't find them to be very funny.  Back at the house, we had some popcorn before retreating to bed at 1am!

Second City

On Sunday, we slept in and relaxed and then went for a walk on the 606.  It was a nice sunny day but a bit windy.  We then grazed for lunch at a few spots in Wicker Park, stopping at the following places:

• Piece Brewery - really good pizza and beer.  We shared a jalapeño and italian sausage red pizza.
• Big Star - cute taco place.  We tried the guacamole, queso fundido and carne asado taco.  Pretty good.
• Links Taproom - lots of beer choices.  We had a beer and a chorizo hotdog which was tasty.

Happy JoAnna

We went back to the house for a nap and then watched the Super Bowl and had gumbo before we had to drive them back to the airport for their 9:40pm flight!

And Happy Shawna!