Adventures in SF

San Francisco is a really great city. Fortunately my sister lives there so I have an excuse to visit and a free place to stay so Sunday afternoon I spent gosh knows how much on gas plus BART plus bridge tolls and went for a 24 hour trip to the city. All. by. myself.

[by the way, I hope you are having a boring day. This might be my longest post EVER.]

While walking the hills of the city I composed numerous, witty, well written blog posts about the places I went, the food I ate, the people I saw but then I got home, exhausted, took Biscuit for a "hike" and promptly collapsed on the couch.

So this will be the "what I remember 24 hours later" recap of a really fabulous mini-vacation in the city. The scribbles below represents the "plan" for my trip. Places to check out, open hours etc. I used very little of the plan.

Sunday afternoon. Met my sister, went to the Mission District and checked out several crafty, boutiquey places. Ate an early dinner at Herbivore (sadly, I can't recommend it) and then met up with my friend Jamie for dessert.

I learned a lot about food over dessert. My friend Jamie works in the hotel/restaurant industry and knows ALL the restaurants/chefs/hot places in the city. Since you don't have her cell phone number for instant "I'm at the corner of Hyde and Pacific, where should I get coffee?" recommendations, I'll give you a quick rundown at the end of this post. (for the record, if you do find yourself at the corner of Hyde and Pacific, my sister's favorite coffee place, Nook, is only a block away.)

So, back to Jamie.  She was chatting about a special chef's "head to tail" dinner she was going to on Monday and blah, blah her friends were going, blah blah and I mostly heard the "blahs" because I was wondering if a "head to tail" dinner was just what it sounded like.

Answer? Yes. Mostly. "Nose to Tail" I learned, is eating all parts of a single animal whereas "Head to Tail" is eating various, not-usually-consumed-by-white-Americans-from-Iowa parts of several animals of different species. She was at a head to tail meal. The conversation was particularly interesting given my sister is a vegetarian.

I think I can sum it up with this photo from her Facebook page:

“Amuse Bouche was Pig's Ear Terrine with a house made stone mustard (the mustard was AWESOME!)”

First, I have no idea what “Amuse Bouche” is but I’m going to assume it’s some sort of pre-appetizer (this was the first photo). Perhaps a bit of amusement for the palate? Also, stone mustard? Sounds a bit hard on the teeth ;) (note: Jamie tells me "stone mustard"was a typo. I just assumed I was an idiot. I guess it's stone ground mustard)

The photos get better from there including any animal body part you can think of that is not a large muscle mass.  There was even a spleen! I feel so worldly after having dessert with Jamie and getting to hear about food that I would never, ever eat. I also feel so sheltered. Oh well. I can HIGHLY recommend the cheesecake at Luella on Hyde Street.

(my sister and Jamie at Luella with the desserts)

GEEZ this is turning into a mega post and we’re only at Sunday night.

So, Monday. I had the day off work, got to sleep in a little and didn’t get woken up by a crying two year old even once. I did get woken up by loud traffic but the cars outside did not require a binky or want to climb in bed with me so it was cool.

My sister had to go to work so I set off on foot (sans map!) and headed for a few local sights. 15 blocks later I thought I had gone too far, checked at a bus shelter and realized I was 7 blocks, downhill, past my original destination.  So I gave up and walked the Japantown.

(cool cement, wood and metal bench in Japan town)

More recommendations: Ichiban Kan. So fun! Open 10:30-8 pm on Post at Buchannan by the Japan Center it’s like the coolest dollar store ever. I got Biscuit some new cups and spoons and a few other odds and ends.  (note to Jamie: they have animal body part shaped fondant cutters for $1). 

After Japantown I hopped a bus back to the Mission specifically to try an ice cream place Jamie had recommended. Bi Rite on 18th at Dolores (don’t quote me on that--my internet is screwy so I’m not linking).  SO GOOD!  It’s $8 a pint which sounds crazy till you spend $3.25 for a 2 flavor cone and decide $8 a pint might be a deal for so much deliciousness. I also had a piece of quiche at Tartine (was feeling too broke for a 9.50 Croque Monseuir but it looked good) and I can highly recommend Tartine as well. Their desserts looked incredible but I was saving room for ice cream at the time.

Still with me?

After the Mission I hopped on the first bus that came by which turned out to be the 33 which took me up a GIANT hill which turned out to be Twin Peaks to a fancy neighborhood that turned out to be Ashbury Heights.  Ok, nice houses up there! And, based on window signs for Obama ’08 lots of Democrats.  That was a lovely walk down the hill to a cute little place that turned out to be Cole Valley but right then my streetcar (the N-Judah) arrived (going in the right direction) so I hopped on to Market Street.

And can I just say I LOVE Anthropologie? I don’t care that they’re all corporate blah, blah, blah. The window design and displays in that store are absolutely the most fantastically inspiring things I have ever seen. And since I go to SF infrequently they are new every time I go.  Seriously unbelievable. I, of course, forgot to take a photo of the window display.

Odds and ends:

• After owning my phone for nearly 3 years I learned how to 1. take a photo 2. send the photo to an email address and 3. access previously taken photos. I found photos of Biscuit from 2006 in there.
• A man gave me his seat on the bus “because of my condition.” No, I’m not pregnant (but I took the seat). He felt properly embarrassed and spent the rest of the ride apologizing while I semi-regretted the cheesecake at Luella.
• The ice cream flavors I got at Bi Rite were: salted caramel and malted vanilla with peanut brittle. The honey lavender was also delish.

Jamie’s recommendations:
Her blog: Adventures in SF
Her suggestions (in original, messy handwriting, bad spelling form):

Hopefully she'll put up a list of real links and info on her blog.

Finally. Finally! If you like crafts and will be going for your own SF adventure, check out Sarah's excellent post on places not to be missed. Thanks for the tips, Sarah!

Comments

[jamie]

I fixed the comment on the Amuse Bouche photo! Thanks for catching the error...no more posting late night post-five courses! :)

[Claire]

Fun! I love Tartine and that ice cream place. I think I got the honey lavender when I was there and since I went to Tartine with two others we each ordered one or two things and ate off each others plates. It was wonderful!

[lauren]

Okay, now I'm seriously considering becoming a vegetarian. After going to Ichiban last weekend, you're lucky I left some stuff for you to buy! Yes, I went beserk. That place is awesome...shh..let's not tell anyone.

[Sarah]

We missed each other by just a couple days! We were at Ichiban Kan on Saturday. I just love it there... so much Pocky...

Thanks for the recommendations! There's so much in SF that it's just a bit overwhelming.

And about the Mission: have you had papusas yet??

[farfromca]

Ahhh... so many fun places. I am a little bit jealous. I love the ice cream place, and I can't remember then name either. Sounds like a wonderful weekend!!! I will have to check out the links another time, you used up all my "taking a break from packing" time. :)

[Amy]

Thanks, I don't think I'll be doing any "head to tail" OR "nose to tail" meals any time in the near future! You were right on with your description of Amuse Bouche (I saw it on Top Chef. LOL). Sounds like you had fun. I want to go to Japan Town.