Dwell on Design

Gropius and I went to San Francisco yesterday to Dwell magazine's Dwell on Design conference. We go to waaaaaaay too many conferences as a regular part of our work, so we weren't all that interested in the *serious* talk about design (raise eyebrows and lower chin as you say "Duh-z-eye-n"), but the exhibits were fun.

They had several modular homes and the Design Within Reach-designed Airstream trailer there. So, Gropius walked around it, figuring out what exactly they had changed and how they had modified it (I think he still has designs of his own on owning a small one in the future). It was very cool though--perfect for a small family's camping weekends. And small is the operative word here--one child, possibly two is the maximum (and then it would only work if they were of the same sex, I think). I didn't think to take pictures of the Airstream, but you can see more of them through the DWR website here.

And the modular homes were very cool--lots of sliding glass doors and open floor plans. Gropius and I are hoping to utilize one as a vacation home someday. You can see a few pictures that I took of some of the exhibits (including a raised bed garden that we'll be implementing in our backyard next spring) below:


apologies for any grainy pictures (I hadn't adjusted the ISO from taking a picture of Trattoria Bohemia the night before)




After we got through, we were going to grab a really early dinner at Suppenkuche, a German restaurant over on Hayes at Laguna, but they had *just* closed the kitchen for lunch. So, we wandered over to our standard back-up, Pizzeria Delfina (run by the same folks as Delfina).




It's on the same block as the Bi-Rite Market and Ice Cream stores (also very cool places to poke around in). PD is known for its Italian-style (i.e., thin crust) pizzas, but ironically, Gropius and I had calzones and milk-braised pork roast w/polenta instead. (but I took a quick pic of the one of the pizzas for you blog readers). We sat along the bar with an excellent vantage point into the kitchen (our favorite seats in the house) and enjoyed the music of En Vogue and Jimmy Hendrix with our meal which consisted of:

Salumi plate (already devoured a bit by the time I remembered to take a picture)

Flatbread with Gypsy Peppers

my Calzone with meatballs, tomatoes and provolone

*this* is the money shot (click on the picture for a real thrill)

Gropius's milk-braised pork roast with a cream reduction sauce and polenta

followed by my chocolate-hazelnut torta

and Gropius's cannoli


next time we go, Gropius really wants to try their calamari salad:

and here's that pizza pic I promised you


After that wonderful meal, then we headed back to Sacramento, discussing regional science and urban econ stuff as I prepared for my night class this evening (fun, fun!).