On Sunday, Rahul took me to the Oakland Zoo--the gibbons were quiet, so the highlights were the close-up adorable meerkats and the giant fruit bats (flying foxes) hanging like Gothic umbrellas or H.R. Giger chrysalises from their mesh, opening their four-foot wings every now and then. At 4:30 we went to Le Theatre and had a lovely meal:

Prosciutto amuse-bouches (which we didn't eat)

Bread and butter (they brought us several baskets of bread, sensing our poverty and gauche manners before we even asked)

"Salade composee" with a creamy, buttery, pungent Roquefort, red-freckled lettuce, a savory garlic-mustard vinaigrette, beet cubes, and honey walnuts

Roasted asparagus salad (Rahul had this--I don't remember the details)

Pommes frites with aioli

Polenta napoleons with roasted eggplant, onions, peppers, and tomatoes stacked on top of the crispy polenta rectangles

Honey mousse (not very light/mousse-like, but very tasty nonetheless; more like a thick cream with ground almonds in it)