Weekend in San Francisco

This last weekend I visited San Francisco for a conference. Though I was wrapped up with work much of the time, you can bet that I made every meal count!

In this post I review the restaurants I tried (which include Madeline's, Clift Bar, Ame, Crepe o Chocolate, Ferry Plaza Seafood, King of Thai, Cafe de la Presse, and Canteen).

San Francisco Weekend - Madeline's

Thursday, 3pm: late lunch at Madeline's
43 O'Farrell Street (between Grant and Market)

After my long flight across the country, I was ravenous (American Airlines doesn't even bother to pretend to offer you "food" for purchase...). After checking in to the Westin Market Street, I descended on Cafe Madeline (not far from the hotel) like a wild jackal and immediately pounced on one of their scrumptious looking, freshly made-to-order sandwiches (Camembert and proscuitto with aioli and field greens on an onion ciabatta roll). It was very tasty and of an ample size. But, (and I never thought I'd say such a thing), I think there was just too much proscuitto and as a result the sandwich was overly salty. I didn't try any of the delicious looking pastries.

San Francisco Weekend - Redwood Room

Thursday, 6pm: drinks at the Redwood Room at the Clift Hotel495 Geary Street
My friend Pam and her husband had stayed at the Clift Hotel on a previous visit to San Francisco and she was eager to take me to the Redwood Room, a beautiful bar in the hotel that is paneled entirely in....you guessed it: redwood. As you might imagine, it is lustrous and fabulous in all its non-PC glory. Drinks here are expensive (about $15 each) and the staff are little high on their own horses, but its well worth it to recline on the comfy sofas or lounge at the bar.

San Francisco Weekend - Ame

Thursday, 7pm: dinner at Ame
689 Mission Street

Ame is billed as fancy-pants New American cuisine, but it has a definite Asian flavor to it (from the sashimi bar to the yuzo and sake flavoring many dishes). Pam and I wandered in here without a reservation but had no trouble getting a table at such an early hour on a Thursday. The staff were a little stiff (it *is* an elegant place with lots of high-backed chairs and heavy drapes) but welcoming enough. I think we may have been a bit of a disappointment to them, only ordering entrees and a single glass of wine (about which the waiter practically insisted that Pam order a Pinot Noir with her Black Cod. Little did he know Pam - she got what she wanted, which wasn't a Pinot).

The food here is very good, with plenty of subtle flavors and interesting ingredients. Pam had the house signature dish, the Broiled Sake Marinated Alaskan Black Cod and Shrimp Dumplings in Shiso Broth. It was very fabulous - all the flavors balanced just right. I tried the Seared Maine Diver Scallops on Cauliflower Puree with Bacon Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Truffle Sauce. The scallops were sweet, tender, and lovely - and were cooked perfectly. Other elements of the dish were more of a miss. The cauliflower puree, for example, tasted a little musty (and not in the good truffley way one might hope, but in an odd basement-smell kind of way). Also, the brussel sprouts were thin on the ground, as was the bacon.

San Francisco Weekend - Crepe o Chocolate

Friday, 12:30pm: lunch at Crepe o Chocolate
75 O'Farrell Street

This tiny sidewalk cafe is awesome. Awesome, I tell you. They serve crepes (sweet only), omelettes filled all manner of goodness (think black forest ham, gruyere, fresh veggies, and so on), gorgeous sandwiches with figs, proscuitto, saucisson...you get the idea. They also make these wonderful foamy hot drinks that are works of art. When Pam ordered a hot chocolate, we watched in contentment as the barista ladled gloppy, freshly melted chocolate from a deep ceramic bowl into the cup. It was as good as it looked - maybe better.

San Francisco Weekend - King of Thai

Friday, 6pm: dinner at King of Thai
420 Geary Street (plus other locations)

This hole-in-the wall Thai joint has several locations throughout San Francisco. It is small (probably only about 8 tables) and pretty dingy, but they serve up piping hot, heaping portions of pretty good Thai food for dirt cheap prices (our dinner at King of Thai was less than our drinks at the Redwood Room). We ordered a seemingly bottomless bowl of dumpling soup swimming with wide noodles, the Pad Thai with Shrimps (noodles flavorful and good, shrimps not great), Stir fried wide noodles, and fried spring rolls. This was a good spot for quick, hot, and flavorful food but was far from the best Thai I've had.

San Francisco Weekend - Ferry Plaza Seafood

Saturday, 12:30pm: lunch at Ferry Plaza Seafood
Located in the Ferry Building

With a great panorama of the San Francisco Bay and simple, fresh seafood preparations, this little restaurant is worth fighting the crowds in the Ferry Building for (and, indeed, the Ferry Building itself - a formalized indoor market - is well worth a visit). Pam and I popped in here for a quick lunch. She had the oysters on the half shell (two types of Washington oysters served with three different sauces which she slurped down with a pretty happy look on her face) and the smoked salmon (several smoked preparations served with toast). I had the crab cake, which more closely resembled a timbale of fresh crab meat with a very light sear on the top. While I was more than happy to devour this, I had actually hoped for a more cake-like crab cake; this seemed in the vein of heated crab salad. But, hey, it was fresh and full of crabby sweetness.

San Francisco Weekend - Cafe de la Presse

Saturday, 5:30pm: dinner at Cafe de la Presse
352 Grant Street

After a long day at the conference we were attending, four of us headed over to Cafe de la Presse (located just outside the Chinatown Gate) for dinner. I had made a reservation here but was a little nervous about how it would turn out because the reviews on Zagat and Yelp had been somewhat lukewarm. I need not have worried - we had a utterly satisfying meal at this charming Parisian-style bistro.

Between the four of us, we tried the escargot, the French Onion Soup, and the Steak Frites. I did not personally sample the escargot but I can attest that they looked and smelled fabulous (redolent of garlic and parsley, sizzling, beautiful) and Jane, who ordered them, dispatched them with relish and contentment. The soup, chosen by Ellen, Jane and Pam, was great - not overly bready (as so many sad French Onion Soups are) and not under-salted (another common offense). The broth was complex - both tangy and oniony-sweet. If anything could have been modified here, I think a little more cheese would have been in order. The Steak Frites was also great. The frites were perfect (a little bigger than shoestring, golden, not at all greasy and scattered with parsley). They were served with aioli. The steak was incredibly flavorful and was served with a peppercorn gravy but it was overcooked a little (I had asked for rare to medium rare and it was probably closer to medium-rare to medium). It was also an odd, unidentifiable cut. Definitely not a hanger steak. But, hey, it tasted good. With all of this we enjoyed a Sancerre - always a crowd-pleaser and a clear choice given that the wine list seemed to be composed almost entirely of wines that were either $30 or $150 (the Sancerre was one of the few in between).

San Francisco Weekend - Canteen

Sunday, 9am: breakfast at Canteen
817 Sutter Street

And now, as on my trip (though unwittingly), I have saved the best for last. On my final morning in San Francisco I tottered out of bed and headed out by myself for breakfast at Canteen. A brisk, early morning stroll up the hill from the hotel primed my appetite for one of the most fabulous breakfasts I have ever eaten.

Canteen, first off, is adorable. Only four booths and a long formica counter, the whole place was being serviced by one waitress and two cooks. Everything was cozy and welcoming. And the food....oh my God. Honestly, I don't think I've ever had hollandaise sauce quite like that before. It was tangy and ethereal, pillowy, cloudy (get the idea?). The Hollandaise was floating atop two perfectly poached eggs nestled on thin crisps of english muffin and thick, salty ham. This was honestly the most awesome Eggs Benedict of all time. On the side was a small congregation of perfectly cooked home fries flavored with green onions (a really great addition that I'll be trying at home soon). A foamy, bittersweet hot chocolate rounded things out. Sitting at the counter, I was able to easily ogle the other dishes. A little girl sitting next to me ordered the pancakes, which were filled with creme anglaise and apples. She looked pretty damn happy, and who can blame her?



I waddled back down the hill wishing I had the time to try Canteen for lunch or dinner before I left. But, alas, it was not to be. The airport - and the chill of the east coast winter - awaited.