San Francisco For The “Foodie” In You
June 17, 2009
The Height at Night
Everyone knows about the Golden Gate Bridge, Height-Asbury (”The Height”, as the locals call it), the Transamerica building, and the wondrous Cable Cars. But, when I think of San Francisco, I think FOOD. You’ll have to travel a little to get the best, but it’s worth it.
“Greens” restaurant is Annie Somerville’s glorious contribution to the epicurean scene on the waterfront of San Francisco.
All of the food is grown locally, and “Greens” was one of the country’s first vegetarian restaurant. It set the trend for working with locally grown, organic foods which when combined with a bit of imagination and ingenuity, could become as tasty a dish as you could find at other ‘normal’ restaurants. My experience there was amazing. We sat on the left-side of the dining room, and watched the sun set over the marina, with the Golden Gate Bridge perched in the background.
Be sure to call ahead and reserve. “Greens” fills every night. Also, you want to insure your seat by the window. It makes for an idyllic and healthy night out.
Take an evening and travel to Berkeley, where you must experience Alice Waters’ “Chez Panisse”.
When you arrive, you will instantly feel how special this restaurant is. First of all, there is the wooden exterior which allows you to enter into the ‘natural’ environment right from the start. When inside, you can immediately sense the quality of “Chez Panisse”. Everything is immaculate, clean and professional. Like “Greens”, it opened in the early 1970s, and became a flagship for the growing organic revolution.
The menus are all 4-course meals, with a fixed price. Every menu is conceived as a total experience. For this, you pay a bit more than other restaurants, but it’s worth it. Very rarely can you digest an entire meal which works together so well. And the staff is mostly friendly and highly knowledgeable about the food combinations. This is a refreshing change for those of us visiting from the east coast!
Finally, if your plans take you through the Napa Valley (and they certainly should), then carve out an evening for one of the nation’s true culinary jewels, “The French Laundry”.
Opened in 1994, this French-style country restaurant is Thomas Keller’s masterpiece. The food is American, but with a French flair. Everything on the menu is superb, but the environment and energy of the building, décor and staff is what sets this place apart.
Each meal consists of 9 courses (yes, nine). Before you rule it out as being ‘too much’, consider that each course is a ‘tasting’. They are rather small, but exquisite. Incredibly, not one ingredient is repeated throughout the meal, and yet every dish builds on the previous. It’s the finest blend of culinary mastery and creativity in the US today (in my view). The grounds are wondrous, and one feels transported to Provence or the outskirts of Normandy. No trip to the San Francisco area is complete without a day spent in the Napa Valley. And no trip to the Napa Valley is worth it without dinner at “The French Laundry”.
Comments
One Response to “San Francisco For The “Foodie” In You”
Got something to say?
San Francisco For The “Foodie” In You…
Everyone knows about the Golden Gate Bridge, Height-Asbury (”The Height”, as the locals call it), the Transamerica building, and the wondrous Cable Cars. But, when I think of San Francisco, I think FOOD. You’ll have to travel a little to get the …