We didn't leave the hotel till about 1pm because ~someone~ wasn't ready to leave at 1130am like they said they would be....and wasn't me! :)-
The only plan that we really had was to go see The Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay. Though my friend wanted to go the town that started with "C". (scratching head ~ trying to figure out where he was talking about.) I had told him about a place that I wanted to stop at that was on the way ~ Gayle's Bakery.
He said "Sure, where is it?" When I replied and mentioned it was is Capitola, he yelled " THAT'S WHERE I WANTED TO GO!" lol... Glad he figured it out.
So, the short story about how I knew about Gayle's Bakery. I had been in San Francisco in 2002 during the World Series and was feeling really suffocated in the city with all the people. I called my travel agent and asked to find something out side the city and I didn't care where.
My agent called back and said the closet she could find was in Monterey. I told her that was fine as we were looking to go to Santa Cruz anyway.
So that night in the room I happen to find a couple of magazines for the Monterey and Santa Cruz area. I read about the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row and vineyards. When I started flipping through the Santa Cruz magazine, I read about the beaches and then the restaurant section caught my eye.
Gayle's Bakery ad had caught my eye, so the next morning we decided to hit Gayle's before Santa Cruz.
We got to Gayle's and there was a pretty long of people waiting but my heart was set on eating here.
Glad we did.
Now 10 years later, I was able to revisit Gayle's. When my friend told me where we might explore during the trip, I checked to see if Gayle's was still there and I was SO pleased to see it was. When my friend and I arrived at Gayle's, there were a lot of cars in the parking lot and I wasn't too sure what to expect.
When we walked in, a line. Take a number? Wow, the place had changed. But I saw that they still had their wonderful bread, pastries, and their deli, so I was really happy about that.
OMG..so many choices! What to have?! Of course I was looking at the desserts first to decide what I wanted before I actually looked at what I wanted for lunch..lol My friend was just as stunned. When we walked in they were at number 23 and we were number 38 ~ yikes!! Our wait was less than 10 minutes! Happy girl!!
Most of you know by now that French cuisine is one of my favorites. So of course when I saw that they had baguette sandwiches it was a no brainer.
I decided on the prosciutto and goat cheese baguette and it was heaven and for dessert the eclair ~AWESOMENESS!!! So if you happen to be in the Santa Cruz area ~ you should add Gayle's to your list of places to eat.
With our tummies nice and happy, it was
time to hit the road to Half Moon Bay.
We arrived at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay. My friend checked with the front desk regarding our tour of the property and while he was doing that I was taking in the hotel. Turns out we were unable to do the tour as the hotel was pretty busy, but we walked around a bit on our own.
The property is beautiful and the view is just...wow.
The one thing that I liked is that even if you're not a hotel guest you are able to park at the hotel for free and go stroll on the beach.
We found the path for the coastal trail and walked that till we hit the beach. The beach was a pretty good stretch of sand. There's enough space that you didn't feel over crowded.
I think we walked and talked on the beach for almost an hour or so. It was such a warm and sunny day and there was a light breeze. It was so relaxing and so much fun.
What better way to end your evening than to come back and relax sit in your chair with a bottle of wine by the fire.
It was time for us to make our way back to the city as our day was coming to an end.
Once we got back to my friends place, he told me about a place that he wanted to take me for dinner. He asked if I liked Italian food. Ummm...YES!!
We walked to Donato Enoteca, about a 10 minute or so walk from my friends place. It was a nice evening for a stroll to downtown Redwood City. I loved the area that he lives in and how close he is to downtown with so much close by.
When we got to Donato there were only a few people there, so the hostess asked where we'd like to sit.
There were a lot of choices. Outside, first room, second room or back room. The weather was so nice that we decided to sit outside on the patio.
Our server was Sergio. He was SO great! Wonderful personalty and made you feel comfortable. Since neither of us had been there before, we wanted to take time to look at the menu. Sergio told us he would give us time and to let him know if we had any questions. Everything looked so good on the menu.
We started with the Calamaretti E Fagioli ~ Fresh Monterey Bay calamari, "Bianchi di Spagna" (butter beans) beans & mache lettuce.
I had figured the calamari would come breaded and fried as most of the time they do, however I was blown away by these.
They were SO tender and full of flavor that for them to have been fried, would have been a sin! They are perfect just as they are.
Sergio had stopped by and asked if we were ready to order dinner. My friend and I looked at each other ~ we didn't order dinner? The calamari was SO good that we totally forgot to place our dinner order! lol!!
Everything sounded so yummy it was hard to narrow down the choices but then I spotted the Risotto Con Pancia Di Mailae ~ carnaroli risotto parmigiana, roasted ranch pork belly. I love risotto.
I loved the presentation of my risotto. It made me feel like I was having meat and potatoes. But OMG ~ the risotto was SO velvety and the pork belly ~ YUM!!! I ate the WHOLE thing!! (though I did let my friend have a bite ~ I don't share well with others - lol!!)
My friend had the Agnolotti Del Plin ~ housemade small ravioli "del plin" of three meats with tomato and onion sauce. He said it was spicy and very good.
The food was SO YUMMY!! As dinner was coming to an end, Sergio had stopped by to ask if we wanted to have dessert. Of course I wanted to see what they had and my friend said he didn't care for any. I told him wasn't an option - when a girl wants dessert ~ then the guy is expected to have at least one bite of it. He looked at me and laughed.....but then followed up with an "Ok, whatever you want."
It was a toss up between the cioccolato fondente
e nocciole ~ warm chocolate hazelnut cake served with vanilla bean gelato OR the panna cotta ~ organic lemon panna cotta with a blood orange sauce. AAAHHHHH!!!!!
I had to enlist Sergio to help me decide.
Both sounded SO GOOD ~ but I knew that my friend wasn't going to get his own and share. Now if I were with the girls, we would have gotten two or three desserts to share.
I decided on the panna cotta as I've never had it before. THE BEST CHOICE!!!! EVER!!!!
It was so refreshing and light. LOVED IT!!
It was a prefect way to end the night to the weekend.
(not sure who this guy is ~ but he kept following me the entire trip!! ~ yikes!!)
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| My Friend ~ Nick |
We had SO much fun and I can't wait for the next trip back for more exploring....though he may not want me back for a visit!!! ~ lol... Thank you again for the invite! It was a blast! Can't wait for the next one!
~ Fino alla prossima volta!
(~ until next time!)
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