Had a great time in SFO on my trip a couple of months ago (it took me a while to finish up this post, obviously). Learned a lot of relevant professional stuff at the conference I was attending (the International Studies Association annual meeting), but also had a lovely time eating and drinking with friends (some old, some new) at all kinds of establishments.Alembic Bar - Went with a bunch of folks to this funky bar on Haight St. The food we had was fabulous -- I had bavette steak with chimichurri sauce (photo left). I had a couple of Belgian beers. Mmm. 1725 Haight St.
Cafe Prague - I had Hungarian Szeged Goulash with dumplings (great), the beers were great, and we thought our Czech waiter was adorable. Not a great vegetarian selection so my friend got fried cheese. Yelpers give it mixed reviews, but I'd probably go again. (We had intended to go back for the accordion party on Friday, but ended up doing something else.) 584 Pacific Ave.
Colibrà - a lovely Mexican restaurant. I had green mole and duck. And the guacamole we had with our margarita course was amazing. 438 Geary St.Cafe Mason - Chosen for its proximity to my hotel because I needed to check out right after breakfast. As I picked it over other more popular options, I was relieved that it ended up being a pretty great little breakfast spot. I got some sort of crepe and fruit thing and it was fabulous. Coffee was good too. I think all of the waitresses were from the same Eastern European or former Soviet country. It was great.
Cafe Trieste (North Beach) - Very cool coffee shop with very good coffee and excellent pastries. 609 Vellejo Ave.
Hana Zen - We were very hungry and cold and the udon noodle soup with vegetable tempura hit the spot. So did the sake.
Hidden Vine - A real hole in the wall kind of place, but great. My friend and I learned not to assume we won't like a wine if it's from California (although I'll still say it'd be an exception if I really like it). If I'm remembering correctly, our eye-opening red wine was from Bighorn Cellars, but I no longer remember the varietal...John's Grill - a meat-and-potatoes kind of place, touristy, but it seemed like it would be fun to go. It is a setting in The Maltese Falcon and is -- or, rather, was -- the home of one of signed publicity copies of the movie's falcon statue.
King of Thai - looking for a quick-ish lunch on a break and stumbled into this place. It was packed when we arrived, so we'd ordered 'to go,' but by the time our food was ready, there were plenty of seats so we ate in. (Which was good, as we really didn't have any place to go to eat our take-away!) We were quite happy with our meals and it was very reasonable. And I loved the green plates.
3 comments:
Good times! How I long for SF....
So you go to International Studies conferences?
Yup. As an exhibitor. This year I had a fellow staff member so I was able to attend sessions which made it a much more valuable experience. Also I had a friend (rmac) living in SF at the time (I still have the friend, but she's in DC now), and my buddy from Financial Times that I met at last year's ISA was there too. So this year I got to learn stuff AND had fun. (In Chicago, I just had fun. And went to the Frontera Grill and drank tequila.)
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