Saturday 16 March 2013

San Francisco - wrap up

Oh San Francisco, how you wooed me with your romantic hill-perched homes, your open-minded folk, your dazzling lights, your bohemian soul, and your glut of quality dining. San Francisco has more restaurants per capita than anywhere in North America, the options are endless! The Gold Rush brought people from every corner of the globe, making for a diverse and authentic dining scene. Not only is SF swanked with a fabulous Little Italy and the best China Town I’ve been too (more intriguing than NYC), this city has a Japan Town and a Korea Town, too.

Great food goes hand-in-hand with great wine, a truth that San Franciscans entirely embrace. SF is blessed with a rich wine region, whose influence sprawls beyond the Golden Gate Bridge to represent in the city’s wine bars and urban tasting rooms.

Put it down to the sunny California climate, the urban-hippie population and the self-informed locals -Vegetarians are well represented in San Francisco, as are the health and eco-conscious. ‘Farm-to-table’, ‘organic’ and ‘locally grown’ are branded on just about every bottle label, menu and shop front.

Let me share with you other common SF food themes, which you should add to a buck list when visiting this charming city…

1. Cioppino – brought to SF when the Italians emigrated after the Gold Rush, this Little Italy staple is a cauldron of tomato based broth crowded with assorted fresh seafood. TRY IT: Sotto Mare- 552 Green St, North Beach (Little Italy) San Francisco.

Grilled Sand Dabs at Sotto Mare
2. Organic espresso coffee – For the most part, American coffee is bloody rubbish. They run on Americano, black, instant coffee – and espresso is the minority, unlike like in Australia where the reverse is true. SF has some good boutique grinders, however. I managed to track down some cafes who are dispatching honest cups of joe to SF’s aficionados. TRY IT: Blue Bottle Espresso – various locations or Four Barrel – 375 Valencia st, Mission, San Francisco.

3. Organic artisan ice cream – SF has some pretty special locally-owned ice creameries making sensational small batch frozen desserts. Your mind will boggle at the out-of-the-box flavours, and explode at the taste. TRY IT: Bi-Rite Creamery - Ignite your cravings: “Lavendar Honey”, “Brown Sugar Ginger Caramel”, or the rebelliously salty-“Salted Caramel”. My favourite was the orgasmic “Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl”. Yowzas. Don't be shy to try before you buy. Also try: Mitchell’s Ice Cream for exotic imported flavours incorporating Young Coconut, Purple Yam, Green Tea, Grasshopper Pie and “Lucuma”; a tropical fruit from the Philippines. 

Fro-yo concotion at Yopi frozen yoghurt
4. Napoli style pizza – You know the kind; wood fired, bubbly, charred edges, and super thin, plaiable base. Combine with harvested locally ingredients and you have some of the finest American made “pies” (as they call them). TRY IT: Delfina - 3621 18th St , Mission, San Francisco.

5. Cal-Mex – Californias has some of the best modern Mexican food to boast. The spin is genuine flavour made with Cali-fresh ingredients, and a farmed-locally-served-organically-no-meat-necessary jam. It’s my kind of Mex. TRY IT: Gracias Madre2211 Mission St. Mission, San Francisco 

Organic kale, pumpkin, refried beans and rice at Gracias Madre

Other places I dined and loved –

NOPA: 560 Divisadero St (between Fell St & Hayes St), Lower Haight.
You’ll feel like a local when you slip inside this always-bustling late night bar restaurant. The new-age American menu is rustic and seasonal, naturally. And the atmosphere? Contagious. The house grass-fed burger and pork chops are big draws, but really, it’s all fantastic. Highly recommended* 

Moroccan tajine with lemon yoghurt, green olives, pumpkin, brussel sprouts, carrots and almonds at NOPA
Ryoko’s Sushi: 619 Taylor St San Francisco.
Funky underground late night sushi bar with daily sashimi specials, a formidable Sake list, and a magnetic atmosphere. The vibe only escalates when a DJ fires up after 10pm. This is a place where you’ll want to go for the feeling as much as the terrific food. Waiting (and there will be a wait) at the top of the stairs that descend to the underworld of coolness, there's a buzz of excitement, feeling like one of the lucky few, who are privy to this gem. I enjoyed Ryoki's so much I went there more than once.
Uber cool Sushi bar at Ryoki's
La Mediterranee: 2210 Fillmore St (between Sacramento St & Clay St), Pacific Heights 
Simple, super fresh, organic Mid-East food, in a quaint bohemian adorned dining room. Idyllic lunch spot. 

Mixed Med platter at La Mediterranee: hummus, baba ganoush, dolmades, lentils and organic veg
Anthony’s Cookies: 1417 Valencia St, Mission
No outlandish ingredients, just comforting aromas and flavours like cinnamon, oatmeal, and classic choc chip. Slightly chewy on the inside, hot out of the oven, and perfect choc chip-to-dough ratio. Just like nan used to make. Best cookies on the planet. End of discussion.

Dk choc chip cookie from Anthony's Cookies

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