Soluna

I am fortunate to have a fabulous family. I love my aunts and uncles, cousins, mom, steps (all -- even the evil ones), brother, in-laws etc. Sure, family can make you crazy, but I drew a wining lottery ticket with mine.

Tonight, my aunt, uncle and uncle's sis (is that an aunt-in-law?) met for dinner in SF. They went to see "Wicked", got the fancy back stage tour from John and then we met at Soluna on McAlister and Larkin - a real surprise. The neighborhood is nothing to get excited about - it's almost next door to Hastings Law across the street from the main branch of the library, UN Plaza, Farmer's Market & homeless encampment. The front of the building is nondescript-easy to miss. Once inside though, the atmosphere is a little moody, maybe a little "cool" without being snobby. The menu is a terrific balance of vegetarian and omnivore options. I chose the beet carpaccio with a small hazelnut crusted round of chevre and arugula, & for my main course, I had a pumpkin ravioli on a bed of sauteed spinach with a drizzle of maple syrup and toasted pumpkin seeds (!!!!) I'll let the exclamation marks speak for themselves. John had lamb and Frank had Mahi Mahi, which he made a point of telling (everyone) that it was absolutely, without a doubt, the b-e-s-t he had ever had.

What was best about the evening was being with my family, in a non-giganto family event and just relaxing and talking and having fun.

Fun: 4 (see: love my family)

Easy to implement: 3 (required family to drive from Sacramento)

Worthy of repetition: 5 (see: love my family)

Try This: 1 (I love my family-you may not)

Cost: 4 (Med. priced restaurant)