Over Labor Day weekend Jack and I spent a fabulous afternoon at the recently revamped San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), followed by a delicious lunch at In Situ, the museum’s highly acclaimed new restaurant. In Situ’s head chef Corey Lee knows a thing or two about fine dining: he is chef/owner of three star Michelin restaurant Benu, and was previously the head chef at The French Laundry. The concept behind In Situ is as follows: “Like SFMOMA brings together a dynamic collection of artists, we have assembled a display of dishes from chefs and restaurants around the world.” The menu includes standout dishes from some of the best restaurants across the globe; it truly feels like a museum for food. It’s no wonder that a recent New York Times article described In Situ as “America’s Most Original New Restaurant.”
Jack admiring the art at SFMOMA
It’s pretty tough to snag a dinner reservation at In Situ these days, but our 1pm lunch reservation worked perfectly with our first visit to the SFMOMA since it reopened in May (the museum was closed for three years while it was expanded to roughly double its size). In preparation for our visit, I reached out to a friend who works at the museum to see if she had any tips. I really appreciated her advice to not try to see everything in one visit; she explained that the new SFMOMA is huge, and if you try to get through each show, you will likely shortchange your experience.
Central Park. This photo was taken by my dad when he and my mom visited me in NYC for Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s The Gates exhibit (February, 2004).
I have always had a special place in my heart for New York City. Most people who met me after 1998 are not aware that I once seriously wanted to become a Broadway actress when I “grew up.” However, once that dream faded away, I still longed to one day move to NYC. This wish came true in my early 20’s when I was accepted to graduate school in Manhattan. I stayed in NYC for 2 1/2 fabulous years, which to this day remain some of the most special years of my life.
But, like Los Angeles, it has been many years since I lived in NYC and I am very much out of the loop when it comes to food, entertainment, and activities. Furthermore, I have zero experience with kids in the Big Apple. Which is why, when my friend Holly mentioned that she was spending a week in NYC with her husband and two small children over the holidays, I reached out to my New York friends for some recommendations on kid-friendly activities during the winter months. Here are their recommendations:
I recently had the opportunity to tour Safari West, a 400-acre private wildlife preserve right in my own backyard in Santa Rosa, CA. Having grown up in the area, I’d heard of Safari West for years; so I was thrilled when my mom organized a private guided tour of the preserve with my family.
