Thanksgiving Week: SF and ICHI Sushi (Part 3)

Last year Michael and I went to SF and stumbled upon an amazing Sushi restaurant called ICHI. It was so amazing and memorable that we decided to venture out there again for it (it may just become a tradition of ours!).

Our reservation was in the evening, but we decided to head into the city early before the traffic hit. We caught lunch at Samovar and then walked around the city.

When it started to get dark, we headed into Press Club for drinks. It's a pretty neat wine bar, a bit on the posh side with the leather seats and underground vibe, but the wine list was great. I ended up doing a flight of bubbles!

Then the time finally came! We headed to ICHI. This year we went to their new location. It was more hip and trendy compared to their previous hidden gem location, which made us slightly apprehensive. Once we got the food, however, our fears quickly fell away. ICHI did not lose their inventive touch. Their balance of flavors really brought out the fish, but also made it a unique and surprising dining experience.

Golden Eye Snapper, one of my faves.

With an attentive staff, and high quality fresh food, the drive was so worth it. I think my face shows it all.

Sushi heaven face.

ICHI continues to be the best place I've ever had sushi. If you are ever fortunate to be in SF, make a trip there. You won't regret it.

Wine Weekend

It's been a great few days of sunshine! The best part? There's still more to come. I think I've had my fill of rain for awhile. This weekend Michael and I had a lot of wine time. After our amazing sushi dinner date at Tamura on Friday we ended up at Bottlehouse to try their new reds on their menu and their truffles of the week.

The next day we continued our wine adventure in Woodinville with Cristine and Tim who showed us around. It was Michael and I's first time exploring the Woodinville wine country. Who knew this gem of a place was so close to Seattle?



Photo cred: Michael

Photo cred: Cristine

Photo cred: Cristine

After hitting up four tastings, I think it's safe to say that Michael and I will be coming back to Woodinville more often.

Tamura

Michael and I usually have "Friday Night Date Nights," but because we're going out to dinner on Saturday night to celebrate mine and Cristine's birthday with their parents, we decided to move date night to Thursday this week to avoid eating out two nights in a row.

Lately we've been frequenting the same places so we decided to go somewhere new. Michael found this sushi place in the Eastlake area called Tamura. If you haven't noticed already, Michael loves sushi. For sushi, we usually go to Nishino's, but Tamura might have to be our new go to sushi place. They had more options for nigiri and rolls, not to mention a cocktail menu that I enjoyed.

What made it very exceptional was the perfect size bites, the great cut of the fish, the tasty rice, and the right amount of wasabi.

 If you can believe it, I never ate Nigiri until Michael introduced it to me. I was always a roll person, but now I'm absolutely hooked!

Michael really enjoyed their dessert too, housemade millet mochi with sweet beans on top. The dessert was a little on the savory side making it perfect for him.

Aftwerwards we came home and watched 'American Hustle.' If you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend it. It was entertaining and kept me on my toes. I wasn't sure how it would end!

Back to Sac (Part 4: Onto SF)

Since we were in California for the week, Michael wanted to spend a day in SF. Surprisingly, being a California native, I had yet to see the Golden Gate Bridge. So the day after Thanksgiving we went. It was our first city getaway and we were welcomed with great weather.

After the Golden Gate Bridge and checking into our hotel, we grabbed lunch at Samovar Tea Lounge, one of Michael's favorite places. After enjoying the meal and tea, I could understand why he like it so much. Everything that touched my lips was phenomenal that we ended up going there the next day for breakfast too.

For the remainder of the day, we strolled the city, trying to avoid black Friday shoppers as we went. Later on we grabbed some wine at ENO, then had sushi for dinner. Let me just say now that I HAD THE BEST SUSHI EVER at ICHI Sushi. The creative fusion of ingredients on top of the impeccable fish and rice seriously made my pannies drop (not really, but you get what I'm saying right?)

Golden Eye Snapper on the bottom right was my fave!

After the amazing sushi and later into the night we met up with some Seattle friends who were also in SF for a drink. All in all, it was a great day.

The next day we went back to Sac and enjoyed what little time we had left with my family. Then we made the long trek back home with a sedated Blaire (my cat).

To note, I did finish my NaNoWriMo project, but never uploaded it to the site. During that week, I made the difficult decision to euthanize my beloved dog, Kiwi. He was nine. One day I'll write a post about him, but right now I just can't. There's nothing I could say right now that would help ease the loss. I can only hope that he's happy now and forgives me, wherever he is...

A last photo of us playing together.