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Why do kids get to have all the fun?
Adult Playday is a new Food Party! series that mixes good food and unique stays with outdoor and cultural adventures, all for grownups. We’ll review a restaurant or accommodation, and then include activities around the neighborhood – bike rides, hikes, local highlights, hidden treasures. Opportunities to eat, exercise, explore, and become a tourist in your own backyard. Why just go to dinner when you can make it a play day? This week we travel local to Redwood City with “climate best by government test.” If you live nearby, you know RWC rocks these days – especially on summer Fridays host Music in the Square. Weekly concerts run through August 30th, and day of, the town gets busy so arrival is better sooner than later for maximum pleasure and parking ease.
Adult Playday – Redwood City
4 PM: Pack a cooler and arrive early to Courthouse Square. Put down chairs and hold your space.
Now you are free to explore until 6 pm when the music starts. The Food Party! suggests three options:
- Walk to Happy Hour
Looking for a small bite before the show starts? May we suggest Cru Wine Bar’s happy hour, Tues – Friday, 3pm – 6 pm. It’s only a 2-minute walk from the Square and offers artisan wines by the glass, bottle or case and a European-style café featuring charcuterie platters, pizza, bar snacks, and dessert. The bright, comfortable space is perfect for an easy bite or post work gathering. Spread out at the large bar and finish your work up there.
Can’t make Friday? On Thursdays, Cru brings in local wineries for specialized tastings, highlighted by live jazz.
2. Have an Early Dinner
Another 2-minute walk takes you to what my dining partner termed his “new favorite Italian restaurant,” Donato Enoteca.
Italian for wine repository, enoteca is the name for an Italian wine shop offering local specialties, and Donato is the name of the Executive Chef and owner Donato Scotti. Chef grew up near Lake Como in the small Italian town of Bergamo, where his family raised fresh rabbits, chickens, grew a large vegetable garden, and lived a rural farm-to-table lifestyle. During high school he worked at Michelin-starred Ristorante Del l’Angelo, then studied at Instituto Alberghiero di San Pellegrino culinary school, the alma mater to numerous acclaimed chefs, including Luciano Pellegrini and Angelo Auriana. Donato Enoteca opened in 2009, Cru Wine Bar & Shop in 2017, and Berkeley’s Donato & Co. in 2017. Yes Chef!
I know it’s trite to write when you’re here, you’re family, but honestly, that’s how it felt! You’re greeted by a homey wall of classic Donato-family jarred sauces and condiments packaged for take-out, an extensive menu of antipasti, pastas, pizza, pesce (fish), carne (meats) and contorni (vegetable side dishes), and the friendliest staff around. While the vegetarians among us won’t find a plant-forward protein on the menu, I was more than satisfied with a combo of pastas and sides.
We started with cocktails.
Appetizers
Followed by Pasta Fatte in Casa (home-made pasta).
Who needs an entrée after a meal like that, but if you insist there are plenty of options.
3. Dessert Post Show
A third option is BYODinner to eat at the show, then walk to either Cru or Donato Enoteca for dessert while the crowds and traffic clear. Both are open to 9 PM most days (times vary so confirm). Bocconotto Pugliese anyone?
Music on the Square: May 31 – Aug 30, 2024
CRU Wine Bar: 900B Middlefield Rd, Redwood City,
Tues – Sat 3PM – 9 PM (times vary)
Donato Enoteca: 1041 Middlefield Rd, Redwood City
Tues – Sat (lunch and dinner service)
Photos courtesy of LSIC
