Bonnie and Claude greet arriving visitors at the California Academy of Sciences, which debuted its dazzling new facilities on Sept. 27. Perhaps “greet” is not the right word, since alligators are notoriously cold-blooded; mostly, the two just drape themselves atop the slimy ledges like some Dali painting gone horribly wrong. (Even eerier, Claude is albino.) Along Florida’s notorious Alligator Alley, tourists commonly toss pennies in hopes of inciting some action, but such behavior seemed inappropriate on the grounds of a scientific academy.
The only thing that would get these gators going would be fish, in which case Bonnie, Claude, Flash and I were on the trail of the same prey. When ace photo editor Ryan Lely and I heard about the revamped academy, we decided to “go fishing,” an excursion that would, by definition, have to include a seafood meal at some point.
Founded in 1853, the academy has been remodeled with a new design that unifies its original array of 12 building into a single landmark built with sustainable practices and topped with a living roof. Near the entry is one of the few holdovers from the old Academy of Sciences, The Swamp, which still features the original bronze seahorse railing and hand-painted tiles. A new wrinkle: a lower-level viewing area that makes it seem the people are actually in the swamp itself.
We shuddered and began our tour. We expected to be knocked out, and we were. Even the exhibits that are not brand-new, such as the dioramas in African Hall, have new aspects; five of them now incorporate live animals, including a colony of African penguins.
The academy’s most dazzling experience is the four-story Rainforests of the World, which takes visitors on a virtual journey through Borneo, Madagascar, Costa Rica and the Amazon. Water drips from mahogany and palm trees, creating a humid environment for indigenous plants (lilies, ferns and enough vines to make Tarzan happy) and animals, from the bats that shuttle between the rainforest and cave communities, dropping fruit seeds and pollinating plants, to the bright blue butterflies and magenta-winged birds that flit through the canopy beneath a roof of skylights. This is what it would look like if Disney made documentaries.
Accessed by a ramp that spirals around the 90-foot-diameter glass dome, the spectacular environments bring visitors close enough to the animals to see tiny geckos and Bromeliad frogs. A top-floor elevator transports visitors down, down, down into the Amazonian flooded forest, where an acrylic tunnel allows them to gaze up at the anacondas, piranhas and electric eels that populate the Amazon River.
After scurrying through inventive exhibits on climate change, carbon foot printing, coral reefs and the California coast, and pausing briefly to look through the glass windows at lab researchers hard at work, there was no time to visit the Morrison Planetarium or even to linger for long at the seemingly endless tanks of fish and other sea life, including floating white moon jellies that appeared entirely other-worldly.
By that time, Flash and I didn’t know if we were ready to web or grow scales.
We hightailed it to The Embarcadero, where Waterbar, opened earlier this year by Pat Kuleto and chef Mark Franz, overlooks the water and underlooks the Bay Bridge just south of Ferry Plaza. We sat at the bar to await an outside table.
“Don’t look now,” I warned Flash, “but there’s a fish over there.”
Indeed, a pair of floor-to-ceiling circular aquariums were swimming with Pacific Ocean sea life. Eschewing Crab Louis and lobster chowder, we ordered Emma’s Favorite Salad, a refreshing combination of slivered apples and endives served with a mouthwatering melted gouda crouton. Moving to the patio, we feasted on Kampachi sashimi, a pretty plate of thin-sliced yellow fin, citrus slices, Serrano chilies, basil and a smattering of pomegranate seeds. Then it was on to a Dungeness crab BLT (essentially a cloud of delicate crab meat atop heirloom tomatoes, smoked bacon and avocado) and a relatively simple grilled mahi mahi.
There were no fish on the dessert menu – even though pastry chef Emily Luchetti, like executive chef Parke Ulrich, is a veteran of Farallon – so we settled for vanilla panna cotta and a warm chocolate pudding accompanied by espresso.
Flash and I couldn’t think of another angle for a fish story, so we decided to keep it local and recommend that readers consider a donation to F.I.S.H. (Friends in Sonoma Helping), which especially appreciates assistance as the holidays approach.
if you go:
California Academy of Science, Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco;
415.379.8000; www.calacademy.org.
Open daily;
admission $19.95-$24.95; free the third Wednesday of each month.
Waterbar, 399 The Embarcadero South, San Francisco;
415.284.9922;
www.waterbarsf.com.
Friends in Sonoma Helping,
707.996.0111;
www.friendsinsonomahelping.org.
