We took a long weekend trip to San Francisco a few weeks ago and enjoyed the cool weather and good food. SF is a favorite destination of mine and here are a few must see, must do, mostly must eat places on my list!
Our first night there we stayed right on the Embarcadero
(the above picture was the view from our room) and while our flight was delayed so we couldn't make it to the
farmer's market on the pier, we still had a great time walking around the Ferry building. Loved the neat displays at
Far West Fungi, the delicious rolls at
Acme bread, and as tradition, bought some mugs to add to our
Heath ceramics collection.
We also got to sample the delicious empanadas at
El Porteno (highly recommend the jamon y queso and the champinones), the bahn mi at
Out the Door (from the owners of the famed Slanted door) and finished off with dessert at
Miette--their macarons are really the best I've had in the US
(not pictured unfortunately, I scarfed those down). We also made it to breakfast the next morning at
Frog Hollow farms and their fruit yogurt parfait is amazing. I would've bought a crate of their peaches if we had room in our luggage!
Japantown is another favorite destination--with
Kinokuniya--a bookstore with fun Japanese fashion magazines and stationery.
Sophie's Crepes was unfortunately closed the day we were there but we more than made up for it by buying boxes of fresh mochi manju at
Benkyodo Co. (everything's great but especially the fresh strawberry and blueberry ones).
Fillmore Street is a short walk from Japantown and there are lots of great shops to browse. Two of my favorites are
Steven Alan and
Crossroads Trading Co. (an awesome consignment store).
We happened into the
Woodhouse Fish Co. for lunch and had some delicious fish and chips and crabcakes. SF is the best place for seafood!
Finally my last recommendation and it's a splurge, is the
Sunday jazz brunch at the Garden Court at the Palace Hotel. We booked a few nights at the Palace and our package came with a restaurant credit and we sure made good use of it! Not only do you get to dine under a gorgeous glass dome ceiling with chandeliers dating back a hundred years, the food is simply amazing in terms of quality and selection. There were several stations that included breads and pastries, dim sum, seafood, cheeses, meats and a prime rib carving station, waffles and omelets made to order, and an assortment of desserts. Among our favorite items: the shrimp and lobster claws, freshly squeezed orange juice, this amazing crab salad, fresh strawberries and delicious sticky buns. Definitely my favorite US buffet!
(top international billing still goes to the St Regis Bali)
There was a lot of walking around the city to counteract all the eating though we did leave SF with a box of See's Candies as a memento. Hopefully we'll be back soon--along with our new little one!
