SAN FRANCISCO MAY 2009
SEVERAL DAYS OF FEASTING AND FUN
In May I took the 3rd annual vacation with my sister, Patti. The first was to Paris in 2007 to visit a friend and to tour and to eat a lot. Last year we stayed closer to home (my home anyway, she lives in Maryland) and visited San Francisco. We both lived in Marin County during high school and have made numerous trips to the Bay Area over the years but never as tourists—maps and cameras out! We had such a good time we decided to visit again this year, so off we went.
I thought I’d share with you all the foody stuff we did because SF is such a food-oriented town. We tried some new restaurants this year and returned to two favs from last year. We took another walking tour—last year was around Chinatown, this year of North Beach/Little Italy. We even took the boat over to Alcatraz. But the best part as usual was all about the food.
We arrived in town on a sunny, yes sunny, Wednesday afternoon and took BART to within a few blocks of our hotel. (Let me just say that SF when it’s sunny is a most beautiful city and for the next 3 days it got even sunnier until we hit record high’s in the 90’s by Saturday which was just a bit too warm for walking around!) It turns out that this weekend was Bay to Breakers, a foot race from the yes, the bay to the ocean to be held on Sunday a.m. where costumes are optional—even clothes from what I heard. That explained the lack of great weekend hotel deals I had been faced with. While we usually enjoy the smaller boutique hotels in SF we ended up at the Intercontinental on Howard and were very pleased with a nice large room, a great view and a giant tv! It was within easy, flat walking distance to almost everywhere and if not, then to a bus or cable car—a great location in SOMA.
That night we walked a few blocks to TWO (www.Two-SF.com) which used to be Hawthorne. They have recently redone the place and lowered their prices, which seems to be a trend in SF. They had a very lively bar scene and yet the restaurant was still pleasant and fairly quiet and the food was fabulous. They offer a special “5 for 5” menu as well as the regular one. There are five different small plates for $5 each. My sister dined on these small plates which included a duck confit radicchio lettuce cup topped with kumquat marmalade, yum! There was also a tomato soup, a small pizza topped with crème fraiche and smoked salmon and one I can’t remember right now. I had the lamb loin on Israeli couscous that was delightfully spiced with loads of fresh herbs. I couldn’t stop eating it. For dessert I had one of the “5 for 5”—Butterscotch Pots de Crème, double yum!
My job, of course, is to choose the restaurants. Each April the San Francisco Chronicle comes out with the Best 100 restaurants for the year. It’s a great way to see what’s available and what’s fallen off the list and what’s new. I haven’t been led wrong yet by following their lead. (http://www.sfgate.com/food/top100)
Not on that list but oh so worth a visit got us up early the next morning for a visit to Dottie’s True Blue Café (501 Jones—in the Tenderloin), a must for breakfast. Plan to stand in line to get in for at least 30 minutes and maybe up to an hour depending on your timing and the day of the week. We only waited about 30 minutes this time but Patti went back on Sunday after I had already left and waited a full hour! Yes, it’s worth it. They make everything right there and it’s all good. Their house pancakes are a light wheat with cinnamon (Patti’s fav) and then they often offer a special of the blueberry cornmeal pancakes which I’ve had twice now and they are my favs. There’s a blackboard with specials hanging on the wall but I usually just have the huge combo breakfast with pancakes, potatoes, bacon and eggs--$13.50. You won’t need lunch and you will have to walk around a lot to work off this breakfast. We followed our sumptuous breakfast with visits to the Aquarium, the Science and Technology Museum and even the Modern Art Museum (get the City Pass, it’s a great deal that includes most museums and a city bay boat tour or we used ours for Alcatraz and you can also ride all the buses and cable cars you want to for a week $59.)
Public transportation in SF is the best. You can go anywhere in the city and it’s not too hard to figure it out either. If you have a computer with you it’s a snap but you can also get a map with the bus lines marked or try calling 511 and tell them where you are and where you want to go. When the mechanical voice understands you it works pretty well. At one point I was saying Greenwich and he (it) thought I was saying Pine—go figure. But only once did we wait for a bus or cable car more than 7 minutes the whole time we were in the city. You really get to mingle with an interesting cross section of SF citizens on the buses—if they are talking to themselves you might want to sit elsewhere!
That night was my nephew’s birthday, part of the reason for the SF trip this year. We had to go with his desires and he was so excited about going to Buca di Beppo for the giant meatballs that we couldn’t say no. Their food is never terrible and the meatballs are giant and very tender but the best part of the evening were the prom kids from a local high school sitting at the Pope’s table (if you’ve ever been to BdiB you know the table!) all dressed up. A woman at an adjoining table (after several martinis, I’m sure) decided that they kids should do a runway walk for us diners. Strangely enough they did and we all applauded—it made the evening interesting for sure.
Friday dawned and we were ready for our walking tour of North Beach/Little Italy. A friend (thank you Karen!) had recommended a walking tour of China Town she’d taken the year before and we had so enjoyed it we thought we’d try another one this year. The company we used both years is Local Taste of the City Tours (www.sffoodtour.com or www.localtastesofthecitytours.com). Last year’s tour finished with a Dim Sum lunch but this year you ate the whole way through the tour. First stop at Caffé Roma (www.cafferoma.com) for a cup of cappuccino. I don’t drink coffee but I did have a decaf version and it was truly the best thing I’ve ever tasted and gave me an idea of why coffee drinkers are well, coffee drinkers. Patti was in heaven and actually we had already stopped at Caffe Roma before the tour started and had visited on our own the year before. It’s also the only place open early and they are an internet café as well.
This was only the beginning. Our next stop was XOX Truffles (www.xoxtruffles.com) where they handed us each a small bag of tiny homemade truffles. They specialize in tiny truffles, all made with the French chocolate Cocoa Barry which has long been my favorite chocolate (sold at the Kitchen Witch). So, let’s see, coffee then chocolate…now it’s on to Liguria Pantry for focaccia so light it was like air topped with a wide choice of flavors. We sampled (when I say sampled there was more than enough and they encourage you to pig out!) the mushroom rosemary and the pizza sauce topped focaccia. So fresh and so popular that the sign says they are open until 2 pm but our guide says they are seldom open past noon since everything sells out early. This place was founded in 1886 and is still going strong, though the women running the place looked really tired but I would too after hours of baking and it was getting warmer in the city by the minute.
Next it was bakery time. Two of them—The Italian French Baking Co. on Grant and the Victoria Pastry Co. on Stockton The first is more bread and fabulous Biscotti and other cookies while the second is all about beautiful cakes and pastries. (Oh, I forgot we stopped at an Italian deli between these two for a tasty Crostini topped with house-made salami, roasted peppers and pesto—just to cleanse our palates!) At the Italian French Bakery (on Grant) we got to go back into the bakery to see the brick ovens in use. They were built in the 1870’s and still going strong, surviving many fires and earthquakes. We ended the eating part of the tour at Victory Baker (www.victoriapastry.com) with an Italian Cake filled with raspberry jam and custard and totally covered with green marzipan. This marzipan was nothing like the heavy thick stuff you get in German candies, this was thin and light and very almondy. We couldn’t believe it but we all ate a whole piece of cake! The tour company advertises that you will have enough food for breakfast and lunch and they aren’t kidding. I couldn’t even think about food the rest of the day until it was time for dinner of course.
The tour continued with a walk through Carol Doda’s North Beach area and finished up at the Beat Museum, which if you are a fan of Kerouac is a fun place to wander through.
My sister and I parted ways later that afternoon. She off to visit a high school friend down the peninsula and I had invited a college friend to ferry over from Marin to have dinner and spend the night. So, Friday night Sally and I went to RN74 (www.michaelmina.net/rn74) (named after a highway in Burgundy) for wine and dinner. This is the newest (only opened 4/26/09) in the collection of Michael Mina’s restaurants in SF area, Las Vegas and beyond and even in Dana Point, Stonehill Tavern, at the St. Regis Resort. From what I read before visiting he is not as involved with this restaurant but his dedication to perfection still shows through. There is an extensive wine list from very inexpensive to mega-expensive wines set in a more laid-back atmosphere with more affordable food prices (another example of the SF trend to be affordable, encouraging all to still dine out). The place was crazy-busy but we could still talk to each other across the table—a miracle in my book! We started with Maitake Mushroom Tempura and sashimi topped with an apple relish—very fresh and quite nice, even for a person like me who usually shies away from the raw fish thing! I had duck confit “cassoulet” with barley rather than beans under a perfectly crispy skinned melt in your duck leg. I finished my meal with Champagne and Chocolate, of course!
Saturday was the hot day—temperature wise for sure and of course it was the day we walked the most! We started at the Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Bldg. which was in full swing. Cherries, Blueberries, Strawberries—oh my! I only wished I had had somewhere to take them. We wandered (a couple of miles) down the Embarcadero after lunch to catch our ferry to Alcatraz. It was truly a picture perfect day, not a cloud or a puff of fog anywhere to be seen. Looking back at the city makes you understand why people “leave their hearts in SF”.
Dinner that night was a repeat visit to SPQR (www.spqrsf.com) in the Filmore. A bus trip dropped us right at Filmore and Geary in front of the famed Filmore Theatre (where my son’s band, Rebelution (www.myspace.com/rebelution), played in January by the way!!) and then it was just a short walk up the street to the restaurant. The only trouble with this place is that it is small and they take no reservations. We had to wait about 50 minutes for a table but it did give us some time to wander up and down Filmore, doing some window shopping and time to stop for a drink too. Last year it was just Patti and myself and we got in quickly and sat at the bar overlooking the kitchen. We dined only on a variety of small plates (which they are known for) and reveled in watching the bustle of the cooks as they produced dish after dish of fava beans with prosciutto, dates wrapped in bacon, arugula and grapefruit salad, bay scallops with preserved lemon and chili—yum! This year we were four for dinner so we started with a trio of small plates and then three of us feasted on the Lasagna with homemade sausage. The pasta melted in the mouth—true heaven. We enjoyed an Umbrian wine that was the perfect blend with our pasta and all too soon the feasting was over.
Oh yes, I forgot, we had to switch hotels for Saturday night to Hotel Triton (www.HotelTriton.com)—I’ve since heard they have a Gerry Garcia room among others. The place is right at the gates to Chinatown and like all Kimpton hotels is decorated with fun in mind. The rooms are small but the décor makes up for it. I did have to dress standing in the hall by the door—no other spot large enough. I would like to spend more time in that part of the city—I saw a French Bistro next door and…oh well, there’s always next year!!
Next day it was up and off to the airport for me while Patti headed over to Dottie’s since she had a later flight back East. I saw three Elvis’, a butterfly, two astronauts, and many more all dressed (luckily all dressed!) on their way to race in Bay to Breakers—I was headed in the opposite direction on BART but I did get an eyeful of San Francisco on my way out of town. And there’s still so much more to discover!
| 
.jpg)
RSS Blog Feed