Where to eat in Mendocino

Our innkeeper recommended what he thought were the four best restaurants in Mendocino. We tried them all. Two stood out.

Cafe Beaujolais surprised us by the quality of its food. On the Chronicle scale, it would rate at 3 1/4 stars. When you think of what to compare it to, the first name that comes to mind is Chez Panisse which it closely resembles as far as cuisine is concerned. For starters, Katherine had a simple salad of mixed greens with an oil and vinegar dressing. Because of the quality of the ingredients, we both agreed that it was the best green salad we had ever had. I started with diver scallops. Just two scallops on a plate with a simple sauce. Some simple sauce! It tasted as if the chef had deglazed the pan that the scallops were sautee'd in and then added a bit of fresh tomato. Not just any tomato. A perfectly ripe heirloom tomato. My main course was local wild King salmon "steamed" and served over braised cabbage. It brought to mind the poached salmon we had in the Loire Valley in 1970. Katherine had duck which said was excellent.

As far as food is concerned, Cafe Beaujolais is probably better than all but five restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area. The ambiance and service is good but comparable to a hundred good restaurants in the Bay area. Our dining area was crowded and noisy. (You can say the same thing about Chez Panisse!) The hard working waitress was efficient but obtrusive.

Stevenswood is located two miles south of Mendocino on the coast highway. The strong points at Stevenswood are the ambiance and service. The dining room is well decorated and opens on to a wonderful garden. Tables are not crowded and the atmosphere is calm and relaxed. There is a larger service staff. The food was excellent, but lacked the sparkle of Cafe Beaujolais. Taken as a whole, however, Stevenswood was the better dining experience.

The other two restaurants, by the way, are the Moosse Cafe and 955 Ukiah. Not quite as good. Not quite as expensive.

Service is much less formal in Mendocino than in the City. At Cafe Beaujolais and two others we learned the name of the waiter/waitress and were asked, "Where are you folks from?" Perhaps that is because Mendocino is a resort area. It reminded me of the old Fred Harvey restaurants in the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone where the first thing the waitress said was her name and hometown and then asked, "Where are you folks from?"

Watercolor Sketching in Mendocino

Watercolor Sketching in Mendocino
Originally uploaded by jmoule.

We just returned from a week in Mendocino. Katherine took a watercolor class. I took photos.

We stayed at one of the zillion cutsey inns in town and tried the highly rated restaurants. They were surprisingly good.

Berserkley

The City of Berkeley, California (called Beserkley by its residents) always provides humorous news items at election time. This year is no exception. However, the Presidential election is dominating the news and few people know what is happening. Here's what you have been missing:

Proposition Q would decriminalize prostitution. It is supported by women's rights groups and theologians—particularly liberal denominations at the Graduate Theological Union who claim it will get prostitutes off the streets. It is opposed by residents in those parts of town where prostitutes would probably congregate. In other words, it's a nimby issue.

Proposition R would loosen medical marijuana laws. In Bekeley, you would think that would be a slam dunk. However, it is bitterly opposed by the City Council and the civil servants. Propostion R would eliminate the laborious permit process and allow a dispensary to open as a matter of right, rather than by the grace of the bureaucracy.

Proposition S is the most controversial. It would set up a tree board with veto power over any decision that impacts a tree. Knowing Berkeley's socialist traditions, you would think that Proposition S was intended to protect trees from rapacious developers. Not so. The purpose is to protect trees from the arbitrary decsions of the city bureaucrats. Needless to say, the City Council and all city agencies strongly oppose it. Environmentalists favor it.

Final Exam

On Monday night, I took the final exam in my insurance course. We were asked to write an essay answer to a problem. It was a closed book exam. The instructor told us in advance that he would prefer that we used laptop computers and give him a disk so that he would not have to read handwriting.

I did that. However it did occur to me that it would have been very easy to have all my class notes stored in the computer. The instructor would never see it. I decided that since I had never cheated on an exam before, it would be silly to start now. I wonder whether the other class members felt that way.

Since it is an essay type exam, I have no idea of how well I did. I am pretty sure that the general theme of my answer was on track. I may have made a few errors on little details. I won't know my grade until it comes in the mail.

The Google IPO

Several of you have asked me whether I intend to buy Google stock when it is issued. I have answered no. I have bored anyone who has asked by comparing Google to Comsat, Ford Motor, and Apple Computer—all IPO's that were excessively hyped and were far from once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

Guess what? I have changed my mind. In the last month, I have read so many articles in so many financial magazines explaining that Google will be overpriced that I can't resist. When everyone agrees, everyone is usually wrong.

Also, I have overlooked two things. First: Google is effective for two reasons: they have a great search engine software and they have what might be the largest computer in the commercial world. Someone might come up with better search software. Matching Google's computer capacity would take an enormous investment.

Second: Google might just turn out to be the first "really big thing" since the personal computer.

I'm not perfect

Long time readers of this 'blog know that I have been skeptical about the stock market since Depember and moved into 40 % cash in March. That makes me look pretty smart right now, but I'm not perfect.

About a year ago, Mike Rowe told us about a DVD rental service called Netflix and gave us membership information. We tried it and thought it was a good idea. It also seemed like it might be a good investment. So I bought 100 shares and then started studying the company. What I learned looked good, so I bought a lot more. Other people liked the stock too. It went up and we sold in March at a good profit.

As time passed, I felt lonely for Netscape. I missed it. So, I bought 100 shares to keep me company. Then a couple weeks ago Netscape reported its quarterly profits. They were great, but no surprise. So, the stock went down maybe 10 to 15%. I bought another 100 shares. Then a legal firm announced that they were initiating a class action suit against Netflix. It went down more. Then, when the market sold off this week, it dragged Netflix down some more. A lot more.

As quick as you can say, "Deer in the headlights" I did nothing. I am holding 200 shares of Netflix at a considerable percentage loss and trying to convince myself that this is a good long term investment. However, 40 years of investment experince is telling me that I was pretty stupid.

It's the economy....

The stock market fell again today, ending an ugly week. Up to now, I have attributed most of the market's decline to a growing realization that Bush may not win. Now, I think that has been taken into account and something new is driving the market. It is beginning to look as if economic growth is beginning to slow down. The market looks six months ahead and does not like what it sees: higher oil prices, inlation from deficit spending, a worsening situation in Iraq with no end in sight, etc.

The opening on Monday might be grim. There was no little bounce at the end of the day as is often seen in down markets. Selling increased toward the close. This weekend, the stock market will be a news item. The analysts and pundits will relate a long list of bad things to explain the market—worsening employment figures, slowing retail sales, etc., etc. Over the weekend private investors will probably, on balance, decide to sell or withdraw from mutual funds.

Just as rampant enthusiasm can cause "bubbles" on the upside, market declines can feed on themselves. There is a larger chance that fear will take over and send the market down over the next few months than that optimism will send it up. There is no room for increased optimism. The market gurus have been telling everyone all this year how bright the future is.

I can't help but speculate on the political angle. If the market continues to decline and if it declines dramatically, it will become harder and harder for Bush to point to all that he has accomplished with his tax cuts. This could lead to a sharp swing downward in his poll ratings and widespread predictions that he will lose. That would drive the market down further.

Florence Ball Crawford

Florence Ball Crawford
Originally uploaded by jmoule.

This is grandmother week here at the Moule house. (Or great grandmother week, depending on your point of view.)

This is the best formal portrait that I have of my mother's mother. However, there are many "snapshots" that more clearly portray her warm personality and sense of humor.

Redfish Lake

Last Memorial Day weekend and this Memorial Day weekend we vacationed at Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. This photo was taken at dawn from in front of our cabin.

Redfish Lake Originally uploaded by jmoule.

Summer in Berkeley, California

We are at the peak of the summer season. When we wake up in the morning we are in what seems to be fog. Actually, since we live on the hillside, it is a low cloud. That cloud burns off and we get weak sunshine at about noon. Sometimes later. At about 5 PM the cloud returns and the sun disappears.

People in San Francisco and the Peninsula on the opposite side of the Bay from us say that we are lucky because we get more sun than they do.

At the end of the summer, this changes and we have crystal clear days with brilliant sun all winter long lasting through May.