I Left My Stomach in San Francisco

Last week we bounced around between San Francisco and the Napa area, taking some time off from our hectic schedules to celebrate the one year anniversary of our business. From the time we landed, I couldn't stop snapping pictures of San Francisco's dramatically hilly streets and the trolly cars that clangged up them and I got even more snap happy the day we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. We became so enamored with the structure's bright red beams against the city skyline, that we had to stop the car to get a closer look at it. 

The Ferry Building - where we spent a significant amount of time!

San Fransisco's Chinatown - we couldn't get enough of it!

Chinatown shops 

Napa, I'm convinced, is one of the most, if not the most, beutiful places in the country. There's a beautiful rusticness to it, driving through hilly vine-lined streets and stopping at beautiful tasting rooms along the way, I was so taken by the passion for the wine craft and I lined my suitcase with bottles of some of my favorites, stashing it away to savor later.

Burger Boy and I in Napa

Afternoon tasting at Mumm

To no surprise, while we did our best to hit all of the main tourist attractions, our trip was also heavily centered around food. We went to San Fransisco armed with lists of places that we wanted to go and I'm happy to report, we were able to hit most of them. These sorts of trips are so important to us because they help expose us to different styles and techniques, which help us influence our cooking. Fortunately for us, they're also crazy fun. Here's a little run down, in pictures of some of the places we visited. Sit back and relax, there's a lot of them!

Tartine- don't let the long line deter you, these goodies were worth the wait, especially the croissant. 

Ferry Building: Cowgirl Creamery - Amazing cheese and killer breakfast sandwiches. We ate this mushroom, grueyere and egg sandwich overlooking the water.

A closer look - check out all that melted cheese!

Late night bite at Mission Chinese Food - bold and very assertive with the flavors, a total twist on classic Asian fare

Mid-day Snack at Magnolia - Duck and Morel Sausage over Sunchoke Puree; paired with one of their fine beers!

One of our favorites: The Roast Chicken at Zuni Cafe: Juicy Roast Chicken that was salty in all the right ways, served over Bread Salad, which briallaintly soaked up all those chicken juices. Smart thinking.

Margherita Pizza from Pizzeria Delfina: A little disapointing, wished the crust had more crunch to it, but still a good pie

Panucho de Pollo al Pibil at Nopalito: Plump chicken, flavorful beans and a crunchy, acidic slaw, we loved it almost as much as we loved sitting at the bar and watching the busy open kitchen

Bouchon: Classic French, through and through. The French Onion Soup was one of the best I've had

The Slanted Door was another favorite, bright, crisp flavors with playful twists (we had Bergamot Cotton Candy for dessert!) 

Needless to say, we ate well! It was tough coming back to Boston, especially with all this nasty weather we've had this week, but at least we were able to break away for a bit. Aside from relaxing and just taking a a little break, it was fun to experience another city and to get a taste of some of their top spots and to arrive back at home, refreshed an inspired.