Mmmm, porcine

Over the Christmas break, we loaded up the minivan and headed north on the 101.

We stopped in Santa Cruz for a night at the boardwalk and discovered that, even when surrounded by the beautiful redwoods of Big Sur and the pristine waters of Northern California, carny people are carny people.

Not making any judgments here. After all there's something charming about knocking down milk bottles with a softball and winning a giant stuffed bear that smells of salt air, stale cigarettes and Early Times Bourbon.

We followed Santa Cruz up with a journey to Petaluma to visit my sister in law.

And in between we stopped off in one of my favorite cities, San Francisco. My daughters love SF as well. But not for the same reasons. They love the opportunity to visit restaurants and eateries they've seen on the Food Network.

While scouring the Mission District (and looking for the home in the opening credits of Full House) we stopped for lunch at the Tartine Bakery. The line to get in was half way down the block (which put me in a sour way) it was self serve (strike two) and there was no place to sit (where's Denny's?). But I maintained my composure and we waited it out. And boy was it worth it. (I hate when my wife is right.) Truth is, I'm pretty sure I will go to my grave never tasting a sandwich that will top the spicy turkey pesto panini at Tartine's.

Before we left the city we walked through the Ferry building in the Embarcadero. There we sampled cheese, bread and olive oil from the overpriced boutiques set up to fleece tourists. It's also where I spotted Boccalone, home of the tasty salted pig parts.

What an odd handle for an eatery, I thought. Then I remembered the early days of my advertising career, when I would present work to the Creative Director and he would reject the idea saying, "It's good, but it's a little too on the nose."

I never really understood what that meant.

Now I do. And I think it might apply to Boccalone, Tasty Salted Pig Parts.

It's a little too on the nose.

Or in this case, snout.