Trip to San Francisco, 9/24-9/27

[marie-louise]

Just a motherly reminder to anyone who comes to the Bay Area in September or October-check the weather forecast right before you leave. It can be VERY hot here this time of year. Yesterday it was 92 in SF and I can only imagine in Napa. Few places have air-conditioning, either.

[NVNVGirl]

CIA Greystone is decent, but the food at Auberge du Soleil is better.

I think the CIA is a fun and interesting place to visit, but eating there isnt' all that great. So many other wonderful places to eat in the Napa Valley. If you are in Calistoga, check out Wappo Bar and Grill. Their chile rellenos are incredible and so different! In St. Helena The Martini House is a wonderful place with great food and excellent service. Coming down to Napa itself, there's Bistro Don Giovanni which has execellent outside seating and excellent food, Fume which has excellent food and wine list, plus in the newly redeveloped downtown area on the River, there's several fun places to go...Zuzu for Tapas, Celadon and Angele ....Of course, there's a lot of other places also, but these are some of my favorites...oh..and In Yountville, Bistro Jeanty and Bouchon or Pacific Blues if you want something really casual but fun..great outside deck seating. Auberge has good food, but it's very expensive. They've got a great view of the valley tho. Have a great time!

[nutcakes]

Girl Chow,

Hopefully you have got the idea that to eat near the Wharf is generally a bad idea. North Beach is only a mile away, so why don't you do L'Osteria for lunch instead of dinner? They serve all afternoon, so you can stroll around NB before or after. You can get an assortment of small dishes, maybe one of the excellent small pizzas or the sandwiches on their house made focaccia. The small listing of specials are usually great. This is a small unassuming storefront--not really a destination dinner spot. They do a cocktail I like called the Shakerato (campari with orange, shaken with ice). Or Mario's on the corner of the same block of Columbus does have great local atmo and great sandwiches on famous focaccia from Liguria bakery.

Then Drive through the wharf area, maybe stopping at the Cannery or the Ghirardelli end. The other end is real junky tourist crap, chains etc. Only thing worthwhile are maybe the sea lions you can see from Pier 39.

Then you are free for dinner at Zuni or Delfina. I'd pick Zuni for an out of towner. Or if you still want Italian. Try Da Flora back in North Beach. A very eceletic and personal resto, rustic and romantic as well.

[melkor]

I'd second nutcakes rec on L'Osteria, its a great place for a bite to eat. A few blocks away you can get some excellent coffee at Caffe Trieste.

[Gary Soup]

Still, if you're interested, try the Graffeo. I think you'll find it will stand up to many of the fine coffees available in your beautiful city!

Stand up to them? It'll sit them down!

[ingridsf]

Everyone's picks are making me want to go EAT,EAT, EAT right now but gotta add one of my own: La Folie on Polk Street. (A sunset drink at Top of the Mark, followed by dinner at La Folie....ah....) I digress. La Folie is a fairly small French restaurant run by a family. The difference between many of the restaurants recommended above and this one is that is offers a much quieter room and a more relaxed pacing of the meal. Delfina, Lulu, and Zuni's food knocks me out but I have to fight to have a conversation in them. And believe me, it's not as if I would ever complain about the meal I had at Gary Danko. But La Folie was a little more personal, more a little vacation from my daily life. It seems odd to describe a thoroughly professional and elegant restaurant as "sweet," but, hey, there it is.

My favorite things there are: the roast quail stuffed with fois gras with a wild mushroom reduction and a petit salade; the roast loup de mer with truffled gnocchi and baby vegetables. There hasn't been a chicken or steak option on the menu when I've been there, imagine that! If you ever go there, ask to sit in the Green Room (chairs more comfy).

I hope you have a great time in SF. Raise a fork to those of us thinking of your tour de manger (heehee).

[mixmaster b]

Edit: Posted in error. Sorry!

Edited September 27, 2003 by mixmaster b (log)

[girl chow]

I am so lame that I haven't posted until now, but I just wanted to revisit this thread... and say THANK YOU!!!!! to everyone who gave us recommendations.

After getting so many suggestions, we changed a lot of our meals and I'm really glad we did. The Bay Area is a great place for eating and we will be returning for sure!! And you all provided us with suggestions that were fantastic.

Here's where we ate:

Wednesday, Sept. 24.

Originally, we were going to eat lunch at the Wharf, but we wound up drinking lunch on the plane instead (I love vacations). We got some nibbles at the wharf and checked out the sea lions, then took a long walk in preparation for a late dinner.

Dinner: Zuniturned out to be a great suggestion. We were so happy with our meal, even though we were practically sitting on top of the table next to us (why are the tables so da,mn close?). We started with the Caesar salad and then ordered preserved tuna with copious amounts of garlic, lemon zest and olives. It was a stellar start. For dinner, I had grilled King salmon with a tarragon butter sauce that was sooooo velvety rich. Mr. GirlChow loved his grilled pork tenderloin with housemade fennel sausage. The charred Early Girl tomatoes were perfect.

Zuni was our first introduction to Acme bread. It would come back to visit us thorughout our trip. We want to live at the Acme bread factory. That bread is wonderful.

After dinner, we wandered into a crazy place called Julie's Supper Club in the Folsom neighborhood. It was quite by accident that we found Julie's. We were looking for some random bar Mr. Girl Chow had seen on "Insomniac," but the place he was looking for had changed owners and is now a lounge called Cherry. Alas, Cherry was closed, but Julie's -- a few blocks down -- turned out to be a lot of fun. People even bought us drinks. That was pretty damn friendly.

Thursday, Sept. 25

We were going to eat at the CIA Greystone, but we took the advice of a few different people who posted... we stopped at the Oakville Grocery to buy a picnic lunch before visiting three wineries (Niebaum Coppolla, Mumm and Rutherford Hill). We picked up a loaf of Acme sourdough, a wheel of Red Hawk cheese, some marinated salami and fresh mozzarella. Then, after NC and Mumm (we went there to see the Ansel Adams collection... it was amazing) we did the obligatory tasting at Rutherford Hill and made ourselves comfortable at a picnic bench overlooking the valley. A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!! It probably helped that we had a pretty good buzz going from all the wine. It was one of the best moments of our trip!

dinner: Delfina. There was a lot to like about this restaurant, but we overbooked ourselves with a night tour of Alcatraz and didn't have time to give Delfina a proper try. We definitely will go back. We loved our meal there, but we needed more time. We started with the grilled fresh calamari with the white bean salad.. and it really was a well-executed dish. The fresh-stretched mozzarella was "10 minutes old," our waitress told us.. it was fantastic with the roasted peppers. I had halibut with a fantstic fennel confit. Mr. Girl Chow ordered the flatiron steak and loved, loved, loved it (the fried sage leaves were the best I've had yet). Again, we enjoyed the Acme bread. You are lucky to have it!

The night tour at Alcatraz was extremely creepy. A good time was had by all.

Friday, Sept. 26

We woke up late and had a very relaxed day. We went to the wharf and ate lunch at In-n-Out, which I think is a great burger joint (although I'm sure there are better in SF, but we just love In-n-Out and don't have them in Seattle).

Dinner: Chez Panisse. This was a great time! We definitely will go back. We loved the casual attitude and the beautiful setting and had a great time perusing the cheese shop across the street (the line for pizza was out the door). We did have a few small problems with our meal at Chez Panisse... the shellfish stew we ordered came to the table overcooked! The big problem was with the halibut, which was so dry, it was terrible. I was going to send it back to the kitchen, but our waiter disappeared for what seemed like forever and a busboy swooped in and took the plate, even though the halibut was pretty much untouched and just sitting there. I should have spoken up and I'm kicking myself for not mentioning it to our waiter or the staff. Errrrr. It didn't spoil our meal, but we weren't expecting such a definite misstep from the kitchen. The rest of our meal was lovely. I ordered King salmon and it was perfectly prepared (I was holding my breath after the shellfish stew). Mr. Girl Chow loved his hand-cut noodles with a slow-cooked pork ragu, but I thought the pork was a touch dry. He didn't agree and ate the whole thing. We finished with a trio of cheeses, which were divine (although all European.. I was hoping for a local cheesemaker to be represented?). The cheeses were from Portugal and France. All very good and went very well with the Acme bread (again, I love the Acme bread!).

After dinner, we headed back to San Francisco to check out a cigar bar. We wandered around Chinatown (the adjacent neighborhood), then wandered into the 850 Cigar Bar. It was loud and smoky, just like you might imagine of a cigar bar that features live Latin Jazz. It was lively.. very cool crowd.. although too loud for us to even have a conversation. So we just nodded our heads to the music and blew smoke rings. A good time was had by all.

On Saturday, we wound up wandering into the Mission District and eating at El Farolita. It really reminded me of a place called Taqueria Guaymas here in Seattle. The tacos were cheap and sloppy like a good taco should be ... and devilishly hot. We split a burrito that was the size of a small sedan. We left San Francisco stuffed and happy.

Thanks again for all your advice! We'll definitely be coming back! Can someone FedEx me some Acme bread?

[Gary Soup]

Costco in SF carries Acme bread. Talk to those guys in Kirkland. Maybe they could fill a truck for the return trip.

[Squeat Mungry]

Thanks for the report, girl chow. You hit three of my favorites. Too bad you had to rush through Delfina... a leisurely dinner there is a wonderful experience.

Isn't Acme a revelation? I agree with Gary, you should pressure your local Costco to carry it.

[badthings]

Seriously, people, if they start selling Acme in Seattle how will they maintain the quality? Why don't you pressure someone to open a good bakery up there instead? Everyone deserves good bread.

[mikeczyz]

trio of cheeses, which were divine (although all European.. I was hoping for a local cheesemaker to be represented?).

i've heard the same complaint from a few people now. seems puzzling doesn't it? a restaurant that preaches seasonality, freshness and local produce is getting cheese from 5000 miles away when there are excellent cheeses being produced instate?

mike

Edited October 10, 2003 by mikeczyz (log)

[tsquare]

Seriously, people, if they start selling Acme in Seattle how will they maintain the quality? Why don't you pressure someone to open a good bakery up there instead? Everyone deserves good bread.

ouch. We have some excellent bakeries. Not experienced with Acme (was a fan of Bay Breads last visit to SF.) Girl chow, can you describe how it is superior to (different than?) Macrina, Grand Central, Tall Grass, Essential, Biofournil, or Ciro's? (Or if it is a softer style, what's the place in Kent? Wild Wheat? Sold at PCC.)

[girl chow]

I've never had sourdough in Seattle like Acme's sourdough. Next time you're in SF, pick up a loaf. Perfect texture and flavor. I think it was the slightly more pronounced sourness of the bread that I appreciated -- it just tasted quite different from the sourdough I've eaten here. Not that I'm an expert on the matter, but when I bit into a slice of Acme sourdough, it tasted like what I imagine a sourdough *should* taste like.

I suppose it wouldn't be the same if Acme shipped its bread to Costco (or elsewhere up here in the PNW). Just as it probably wouldn't translate well (in quality anyway) if the Essential Bakery shipped its lush tarts and pastries down south to California.

My waiter at Chez Panisse claimed that the owner of Acme started as a busboy at Chez Panisse and then went on to open his own bakery (I'm imagining there was some kitchen experience in between those two jobs...and he didn't go straight from busboy to bread baker, although that would be a really cool story....). The factory is located in Berkeley. I'd love it if others here could fill in the blanks.

[tsquare]

Ah, the old sourdough of San Francisco riff. Water, climate, what have you. Thanks for the explanation.

Edited October 15, 2003 by tsquare (log)

[Squeat Mungry]

Yes, in the end, you have to come here to really experience San Francisco sourdough. Our yeasties just don't like it anywhere else!

Here's an informative article with some insight into Acme:

http://www.mv-voice.com/morgue/2003/2003_0..._28.dining.html

Cheers,

Squeat

[tanabutler]

I am delighted you went to the Oakville grocery and tried the Red Hawk cheese. Score!

Also happy to hear that Delfina was good. I want some of that calamari.

Whee, the Chows had Phun!

[girl chow]

Yes, I really appreciate that tip about the Oakville Grocery.

We could have gone in many directions in Oakville's cheese bin, so we were glad to have the Red Hawk suggestion. We wound up bringing home a round of it on ice in our luggage (shhhh, don't tell the cheese police). We flew in late, so we spent the night at my sister's house. The cheese didn't even make it to midnight... hubby and I and sister and the rest of the family ate the whole wheel standing over the kitchen island with a loaf of Acme sourdough. It was a great moment.

[tanabutler]

You done good, sugar. I'm proud of you.