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Friday Slide Show: Lunch At Luna Blu Share This on LinkedIn   Share This on Google   Tweet This   Forward This

5 May 2017

The last time we had lunch in Tiburon was memorable. But a funny thing about memorable moments. They're not easy to repeat. Still it was such a good memory that when the same relatives came back for a wedding and we had a free afternoon, we all decided to relive our adventure.

We parked the car and walked into the quaint little downtown area, glimpsing views of the city between the buildings as we walked to Servino's.

This time, though, it was a Monday and Servino's was closed. Oh dear, sitting on the deck and looking at the sailboats with the city as a backdrop was much of the charm.

Fortunately for us, Renzo and Crystal Azzarello had been honeymooning in Tiburon a few years ago, happened on the empty space once occupied by Sweden House Bakery and thought it would be perfect for a restaurant. Their own.

Azzarello is from Taormina, Sicily, were he cooked for his parent's bed-and breakfast long before opening Luna Blu, which translates to Blue Moon. Blue moons are rare events. Like falling in love or finding a spot to open a business where you took a honeymoon stroll.

And it was open on Monday.

As we were developing an appetite by peeking at the menu in the window, a couple came out and caught their breath on the sidewalk. "How was it?" we asked.

"Wonderful!" they said. "Sit outside on the deck. It's very comfortable."

So we did, timing it just after the noon crowd and just before the late lunch crowd.

Our table occupied the outside corner of the deck next to a tree of some kind that shared its pot with mint and other herbs. Two of us had panini (one of them filled with crab) and there was also a piadina with prosciutto. We indulged in a crab salad with red onion and avocado in a light lemon dressing. Wonderful.

As was the olive oil. The menu mentioned it was from Sebastopol, just a few more minutes north and available for sale in a number of places. Alas, we don't remember its name.

Azzarello himself brought out a bottle of Cakebread sauvignon blanc for us. He couldn't believe how busy it had suddenly become and apologized for the wait as he poured.

There is a sign on the deck that warns, "Please watch your food or the birds will eat it!" But it was such an enclosed area that we had no trouble with birds. Certainly less than we had had at Servino.

We were glad to have a little stroll to get back to the car. As we passed a little blue bike, we took our signature parked bike shot (it seems we always have a parked bike shot on these little excursions). Later we were amused to read the store sign behind the bike: Amour Vert or green love.

A honeymoon is by definition an exercise in amour vert. And love itself is something of a luna blu.

But mix them all together in Tiburon and you'll have the recipe for another day in Paradise. And we found the shop sign there to prove it, too.


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