Soul Cucina at La Victoria and a Visit to the Golden Gate Park.

I started my wandering early again, but finally ended up at the sfMOMA and the Yerba Buena area again. It was time to check out Samovar. My early lunch was the Tea Soup with braised tofu, and a pot of Golden Phoenix tea. It was surprisingly tasty. Surprisingly because the tea soup didn’t look like much when I got it (though the veggies were a beautiful vibrant colour,) but it turned to be a really pleasant flavourful soup. I wasn’t really conscious of the tea flavour, but there were subtle notes that were really appealing.

I learned quickly that I should not steep good tea for very long. I forgot about my Golden Phoenix tea for a while while it was steeping got the full power of the tea, plus the added over-steeped bitterness. But all future cups (I steeped about 10) were lovely, with a hint of peach and apricot.

After getting pleasantly full at Samovar, I took the (#5) bus over to Golden Gate Park. It’s a huge park packed with things to see and do, such as the Botanic Gardens, the Japanese Tea Garden, de Young Museum, the Academy of Science, Conservatory of Flowers, and more. I had planned on renting a bike and ride around in the park, but I’ve been enjoying travelling through on foot. It’s given me a great feel for the place.

My first stop was the Conservatory of Flowers, they have a beautiful collection and a great flower garden outside.

Next I started out in the wrong direction and got lost for a while, and neglected to pay attention to the signs that quite clearly told me that the de Young museum was in the opposite direction. No matter, the park is beautiful and I gladly took the opportunity to explore the area.

The de Young Museum is right across from the California Academy of Science. Right now the special exhibit at the de Young are pieces from the Musee D’Orsay, including impressionist works by Van Goug. I experienced yet another humbling moment of being in a room with the works and history of great artists. The other nice thing about the de Young Museum is that there is an Observation tower (that is free to go up) where you can see great views of San Francisco.

The Academy of Science is another place I would have loved as a child, so much to see, so much to learn. It would have been easy to spend an entire day there.

Yesterday I checked out Soul Cucina at the La Victoria Bakery in the Mission. It was so delicious, I’m glad I went.

I had the Sweet Potato Tortellini and Heirloom Lima Beans Succotash in a Smoked Corn Broth. I was pretty full, but I wanted to try something else. So as per my servers suggestion, I tried the Mango Spring Rolls. It came with a macademia coconut dipping sauce. It was such a nice place to sit and relax and eat.

I’m loving it here.