primal elements

For fun and party mood, we headed for Medjool in San Francisco. Always wanted to check their roof top bar scene, and was not disappointed by the view, the ambiance and the crowds. Except that
_you cannot reserve a table there
-there is a huge line of people waiting for tables
- the crowd is young,overwhelmingly white,and seemingly conservative

So we retreated to the cavernous dining room downstairs and some of us had some fun with the food( see Dot with calamari ala greek). Cocktails were inventive (Moroccan refresher with mint and cucumber infusions) and the dishes were good (fries), but I felt like the food was produced on a big scale, with little attention to the details that make a dish really good.
While the city is good and busy and fun, a little bit of waves lapping by your bed, the wind rustling through the big branches of the pines next to the fireplace crackling with pleasure, is not bad either.
So for a little birthday retreat, we headed off to Inverness for a couple of blissful days.
Outside of the French doors, a small private beach in the early morning before the fog lifted calmed our nerves,a Little splashing of ocean water energized us, and the walks on the beaches uplifted our spirits. For sustenance: a lovely meal at Olema Inn ( with an amuse bouche and a view of the dining room for you),and some take out from local eateries eaten by the fire,looking out to nature.
some snaps to give you a sense of it....