Friday Night Date Night: Parent's Style

So, what do parent’s of 20-month old twins do on a Friday night date night? They go shopping for their 20-month old twins, and then get dinner, and then shop some more. That’s right, our night away from the kids was spent thinking about the kids. What can we do? We’re parents.

The San Francisco Parents of Multiples Club (SFPOM) held their bi-annual, members-only consignment sale Friday night. The sale was held in Golden Gate Park near the Botanical Gardens. They had some really good finds. We got three pairs of shoes—including never been worn before pink checkered vans, a pair of blue converse, and pink crocs—a fishing hat, and a pink winter coat complete with fur lining; all for under $24. That was awesome.

After Mom got her fill of shopping, we walked across Lincoln in search of dinner. We passed by many places, all with lines out the door, and then we remembered: it was Friday night and close to 7PM. This was rather unusual for us, as we never get out like this. We settled on Pacific Catch. Neither of us has ever been there before so we decided to give it a try. The place was crowded, but not packed, and the décor reminded us of the Venetian’s (think: Vegas) version of a coffee shop (that’s not an insult but rather a compliment).

We took our seats and promptly scoured the beer list. We both ordered the Alaskan Oatmeal Stout without hesitation. It just sounded good. And it was good, but it was served ice cold, and any beer snob will tell you that you have to drink stout at room temp. You just get better flavor that way.

For an appetizer, we went with the Hawaiian Poke, sashimi style. It was served quickly, and like the beer, it was served refrigerator cold. It was tasty, and was marinated in a good sauce, but it would have been better if it wasn’t so cold.

We split our entrée of fish and chips. The chips were sweet potato French fries and they were good. They were real good. I arm-wrestled the wife for rights to the last few on the plate. The fish was light and flaky and fell apart at the touch of the fork. It wasn’t greasy tasting at all. I was really impressed with the entrée. It was served with a jalapeño tartar sauce that wasn’t too spicy. I had to look past my water glass to find it (my wife had placed it conveniently next to her plate and out of my reach). That should show how good it was.

The conversation during dinner turned back to the consignment sale and the missus started thinking about this pink coat with a fur trim… It was only $7 and still in brand new condition. I said, “Why didn’t you get it?” Next thing I know, we are hurriedly paying the bill, and running across the street. We got back to the sale just as they were closing the doors.

Yes, we got the jacket, and we had a good dinner. That was Friday Night Date Night – Parent’s Style. Does it get any better?

Pacific Catch
1200 9th Avenue at Lincoln across from Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94122