San Francisco
I'm in San Francisco for some fun. My brother decided to go to the Web 2.0 conference and I found a cheap one way to SF and then take a leisurely drive back to LA at the end of the weekend. This time around I'm staying at a friend's place and give some company. I better enjoy these last minute trips before working again!
With no plans or agenda in mind, this "long" weekend will be about tooling around the city and enjoying the good weather. Amazingly, it is sunny and the days are warm enough to walk around with a long sleeve shirt. Once the sun sets, it is pretty brisk with the cold wind around here.
Our group went to Tataki on the first night. As their website states, the first sustainable sushi restaurant. As such, the menu varies seasonally. It was a very good dinner, the rolls we ordered were fresh and very tasty as well as being reasonably priced. My two favorite dish presentations were the extinguisher and spicy tempura rolls. One came with real fire - I think they used some type of special burning salts - and the other came with a very pretty flame drawn with hot sauce and soy sauce. The desserts didn't fit my taste although the red bean used was quality similar to what I tasted in Kyoto.
On our way to the conference, we decided to stop off at Haight and Ashbury and find some crepes. Our original destination was Japantown but it was easier to stay on one line and get some food real quick. We stopped at the Squat and Gobble. Enjoyed some decent crepes. The highlight was the rice krispy treats. It wasn't any kind of rice krispy treat I've ever had. The bottom layer was a graham crust then layered with marshmellow creme and caramel and then topped with rice krispy. The whole thing was then drizzled with chocolate, caramel, and chocolate chips. Super delish.
On the second night, I treated my friend, who kindly lent her apartment for lodging, to Michael Mina in the Westin St. Francis in lieu of paying for her lawyering advice. I once had an opportunity to eat at one his restaurants in at the St. Regis Monarch Beach but our group wasn't interested at the time. The restaurant doesn't allow individualized ordering, everything is a seasonal set menu. The bar/lounge area offers dishes a la carte. I chose to eat the prix fixe menu instead of the tasting menus. Apparently, the entire table has to get the tasting menu or it won't work and I wasn't sure if I wanted to eat the same exact thing as my companion.
The amuse bouche was very good, I can't remember what was given but I do know there was a sushi component. The first course was good but not as impressive as the pasta I had in Phoenix. I was served a trio of pasta - fettucine with rabbit, ravioli with duck leg (the least favorite), and oriechette. The second course was beef, I was scared off from tha lamb by the waiter because he said that most lamb served is a "dumb downed version." Wasn't sure what that really meant so I went with beef. Afterwards, I'm not sure if I was better off with the lamb or squab. The beef was a trio of braised beef, filet mignon, and rib eye. The braised beef was my least favorite and I couldn't finish the dish. The final course (I love the dessert part) was a root beer float and chocolate cookies. The cookies were the best part of the meal!! The root beer float was a little odd because it was slushy and the ice cream was root beer flavored which I found a bit much on top of the root beer slush. In the end, I had a good time with my friend but I woudn't recommend coming to the restaurant. I'd be willing to try the lounge area but I can think of better ways to spend my money even with the Michelin rating.
Spent most of Saturday tooling around the city, visiting Ferry's Plaza and the farmer's market, Fisherman's Wharf having some chowder at the Fisherman's Grotto, irish coffees at the Buena Vista, and Ghirardelli chocolate sundaes. I had intended to eat at Town's End but was too stuffed and pushed it off for Sunday brunch.
My brothers had friends coming into town to enjoy the night out and I rented a room at the SF Hilton. The hotel has significantly changed since last I stayed. They've eliminated the lobby restaurants and replaced them with convention rooms and added a bar accessible to the street. The City View restaurant/bar is no longer open to the public. That is a shame as I enjoyed the view from the top of the hotel. The Urban Tavern was a good addition to the hotel, I very much enjoyed my kiwi martini.
Before heading out of SF, I had brunch with some friends at Town's End. The brunch was fantastic. I had blueberry pancakes, very big yet flaky and crisp. I had a bite of someone's waffle which was also ginormous and was flaky and crisp. All in all, a very good meal and a good way to end my visit to SF.
With no plans or agenda in mind, this "long" weekend will be about tooling around the city and enjoying the good weather. Amazingly, it is sunny and the days are warm enough to walk around with a long sleeve shirt. Once the sun sets, it is pretty brisk with the cold wind around here.
Our group went to Tataki on the first night. As their website states, the first sustainable sushi restaurant. As such, the menu varies seasonally. It was a very good dinner, the rolls we ordered were fresh and very tasty as well as being reasonably priced. My two favorite dish presentations were the extinguisher and spicy tempura rolls. One came with real fire - I think they used some type of special burning salts - and the other came with a very pretty flame drawn with hot sauce and soy sauce. The desserts didn't fit my taste although the red bean used was quality similar to what I tasted in Kyoto.
On our way to the conference, we decided to stop off at Haight and Ashbury and find some crepes. Our original destination was Japantown but it was easier to stay on one line and get some food real quick. We stopped at the Squat and Gobble. Enjoyed some decent crepes. The highlight was the rice krispy treats. It wasn't any kind of rice krispy treat I've ever had. The bottom layer was a graham crust then layered with marshmellow creme and caramel and then topped with rice krispy. The whole thing was then drizzled with chocolate, caramel, and chocolate chips. Super delish.
On the second night, I treated my friend, who kindly lent her apartment for lodging, to Michael Mina in the Westin St. Francis in lieu of paying for her lawyering advice. I once had an opportunity to eat at one his restaurants in at the St. Regis Monarch Beach but our group wasn't interested at the time. The restaurant doesn't allow individualized ordering, everything is a seasonal set menu. The bar/lounge area offers dishes a la carte. I chose to eat the prix fixe menu instead of the tasting menus. Apparently, the entire table has to get the tasting menu or it won't work and I wasn't sure if I wanted to eat the same exact thing as my companion.
The amuse bouche was very good, I can't remember what was given but I do know there was a sushi component. The first course was good but not as impressive as the pasta I had in Phoenix. I was served a trio of pasta - fettucine with rabbit, ravioli with duck leg (the least favorite), and oriechette. The second course was beef, I was scared off from tha lamb by the waiter because he said that most lamb served is a "dumb downed version." Wasn't sure what that really meant so I went with beef. Afterwards, I'm not sure if I was better off with the lamb or squab. The beef was a trio of braised beef, filet mignon, and rib eye. The braised beef was my least favorite and I couldn't finish the dish. The final course (I love the dessert part) was a root beer float and chocolate cookies. The cookies were the best part of the meal!! The root beer float was a little odd because it was slushy and the ice cream was root beer flavored which I found a bit much on top of the root beer slush. In the end, I had a good time with my friend but I woudn't recommend coming to the restaurant. I'd be willing to try the lounge area but I can think of better ways to spend my money even with the Michelin rating.
Spent most of Saturday tooling around the city, visiting Ferry's Plaza and the farmer's market, Fisherman's Wharf having some chowder at the Fisherman's Grotto, irish coffees at the Buena Vista, and Ghirardelli chocolate sundaes. I had intended to eat at Town's End but was too stuffed and pushed it off for Sunday brunch.
My brothers had friends coming into town to enjoy the night out and I rented a room at the SF Hilton. The hotel has significantly changed since last I stayed. They've eliminated the lobby restaurants and replaced them with convention rooms and added a bar accessible to the street. The City View restaurant/bar is no longer open to the public. That is a shame as I enjoyed the view from the top of the hotel. The Urban Tavern was a good addition to the hotel, I very much enjoyed my kiwi martini.
Before heading out of SF, I had brunch with some friends at Town's End. The brunch was fantastic. I had blueberry pancakes, very big yet flaky and crisp. I had a bite of someone's waffle which was also ginormous and was flaky and crisp. All in all, a very good meal and a good way to end my visit to SF.
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