Where: Blue Mermaid Chowder House and Bar - San Francisco, CA
When: Dined Thanksgiving Weekend 2010
My baby sister ("TR") is 17 years younger than I am. When she was maybe 5 or 6 years old, she looked at me with big brown eyes and said "Do you know Mom eats soup every single day?" Our Mother is Chinese and yes, most of the meals she tends to eat come from the meat + veg + broth formula of cooking. I thought back to the last couple days of my Mother's meals and sure enough, she had eaten soup every single day. While I do not eat soup for every meal, my Mother's influence has quite clearly permeated my culinary tastes because I do enjoy a wide variety of soups, stews, chowders... put it in a bowl, hand me a soup spoon and my taste buds are happy!
TR and I have a shared love of San Francisco and a shared love of New England style clam chowder. TR's youth is filled with weekend trips to San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf and also trips to the clam chowder stand in New Orleans Square near Disney's Haunted Mansion at Disney Land in Anaheim, CA. TR cannot say "no" to a gorgeous, lush, golden sourdough bread bowl filled with steaming clam chowder and neither can I. My love of San Francisco stemmed from an early 20-something love affair with a Bad Penny of a guy who was going to school at San Francisco State University. I ended the relationship within a year, but my love for San Francisco and its famous chowder still keeps going after all these years!
(Side Note: If you find yourself in New Orleans Square at Disney Land, head over to Blue Bayou restaurant. It's located inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Fantastic atmosphere and delicious food. I wish we had one at Disney World in Florida.)
TR and I took our Mother to San Francisco, CA for Thanksgiving Weekend 2010 as a belated birthday gift. We had a wonderful time sight-seeing, shopping and having a decadent, gluttonous feast of Thanksgiving Dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Nob Hill. However the part of the trip TR and I were most excited for was having a bowl of clam chowder in a sourdough breadbowl near Fisherman's Wharf.
We went to Blue Mermaid Chowder House and Bar at the Argonaut Hotel. I love the decor- nautical without looking run-down or cheesy. I chose the Blue Mermaid because they have a variety of clam chowders - Manhattan, New England, California, Shrimp and Red Pepper, Mussel and Sausage, Dungeness Crab and Clam Chowder. And you can order a sampler and try 3 different kinds. I tried the California chowder which had a swirl of pesto. It was delicious- hearty, satisfying but also with a lighter veggie feel than a traditional thick New England style clam chowder. The sourdough bread bowl was hearty and tasted great with the soup. I also ordered the Parmesan-Garlic Fries - hot, garlicky goodness. (Trivia question: Has Lily on the Lam ever met a Garlic-Parmesan fry that she didn't like? Answer: Hell no!)
I apologize for not taking a picture of the chowder itself, but once I removed the sourdough bread bowl lid my spoon plunged in and the eating commenced! Yum, yum and yum!
Although I was quite satiated by the delicious chowder and fantastic Parmesan-Garlic Fries, I did indulge with some dessert as well. The specials menu had an apple fritter a la mode. There is so much right with that statement - hot apples, deep fried dough, creamy vanilla ice cream. They need to add this to the regular dessert menu. It was tremendous!
Many people's favorite family memories revolve around food. For me, I love that my baby sister and I have a long-running shared memory of clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls. Just a few weeks ago, my sister texted me that she was craving clam chowder in a bread bowl. The text came out of the blue. And suddenly, we were sharing a mutual drool-fest over the thought of dashing off to San Francsico to indulge. I was happy that our lunch at Blue Mermaid added another wonderful moment to our shared history of chowder memories.
When: Dined Thanksgiving Weekend 2010
My baby sister ("TR") is 17 years younger than I am. When she was maybe 5 or 6 years old, she looked at me with big brown eyes and said "Do you know Mom eats soup every single day?" Our Mother is Chinese and yes, most of the meals she tends to eat come from the meat + veg + broth formula of cooking. I thought back to the last couple days of my Mother's meals and sure enough, she had eaten soup every single day. While I do not eat soup for every meal, my Mother's influence has quite clearly permeated my culinary tastes because I do enjoy a wide variety of soups, stews, chowders... put it in a bowl, hand me a soup spoon and my taste buds are happy!
TR and I have a shared love of San Francisco and a shared love of New England style clam chowder. TR's youth is filled with weekend trips to San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf and also trips to the clam chowder stand in New Orleans Square near Disney's Haunted Mansion at Disney Land in Anaheim, CA. TR cannot say "no" to a gorgeous, lush, golden sourdough bread bowl filled with steaming clam chowder and neither can I. My love of San Francisco stemmed from an early 20-something love affair with a Bad Penny of a guy who was going to school at San Francisco State University. I ended the relationship within a year, but my love for San Francisco and its famous chowder still keeps going after all these years!
(Side Note: If you find yourself in New Orleans Square at Disney Land, head over to Blue Bayou restaurant. It's located inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Fantastic atmosphere and delicious food. I wish we had one at Disney World in Florida.)
TR and I took our Mother to San Francisco, CA for Thanksgiving Weekend 2010 as a belated birthday gift. We had a wonderful time sight-seeing, shopping and having a decadent, gluttonous feast of Thanksgiving Dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Nob Hill. However the part of the trip TR and I were most excited for was having a bowl of clam chowder in a sourdough breadbowl near Fisherman's Wharf.
We went to Blue Mermaid Chowder House and Bar at the Argonaut Hotel. I love the decor- nautical without looking run-down or cheesy. I chose the Blue Mermaid because they have a variety of clam chowders - Manhattan, New England, California, Shrimp and Red Pepper, Mussel and Sausage, Dungeness Crab and Clam Chowder. And you can order a sampler and try 3 different kinds. I tried the California chowder which had a swirl of pesto. It was delicious- hearty, satisfying but also with a lighter veggie feel than a traditional thick New England style clam chowder. The sourdough bread bowl was hearty and tasted great with the soup. I also ordered the Parmesan-Garlic Fries - hot, garlicky goodness. (Trivia question: Has Lily on the Lam ever met a Garlic-Parmesan fry that she didn't like? Answer: Hell no!)
I apologize for not taking a picture of the chowder itself, but once I removed the sourdough bread bowl lid my spoon plunged in and the eating commenced! Yum, yum and yum!
Although I was quite satiated by the delicious chowder and fantastic Parmesan-Garlic Fries, I did indulge with some dessert as well. The specials menu had an apple fritter a la mode. There is so much right with that statement - hot apples, deep fried dough, creamy vanilla ice cream. They need to add this to the regular dessert menu. It was tremendous!
Many people's favorite family memories revolve around food. For me, I love that my baby sister and I have a long-running shared memory of clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls. Just a few weeks ago, my sister texted me that she was craving clam chowder in a bread bowl. The text came out of the blue. And suddenly, we were sharing a mutual drool-fest over the thought of dashing off to San Francsico to indulge. I was happy that our lunch at Blue Mermaid added another wonderful moment to our shared history of chowder memories.
After I wrote this post, my sister emailed me and said "I love chowder and I love you!" Simple, wonderful love.
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