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Something I hear often is “you should try this place because they have the best bloody marys.” Everyone thinks they know where to get the best bloody marys. So I’m a little skeptical about this list, but I’m willing to try one at every one of these places. Any excuse for a drink!
For those of you who live in SF. You’re welcome.
I need to find an LA version, an SD version, and soon, a Houston version. Once I find people to share meals with in Houston. :(
I forget which genius suggested this place for our final brunch in San Francisco, but I need to return. It was a wonderful way to finish the trip. Simple and delicious. No frills, all flavor.
This lovely delight is my duck hash with fingerling potatoes, red bell, shallots, poached eggs, and whole wheat toast. I have no idea what the toast was like because I was busy devouring the hash. Right when my meal arrived, I looked at the plate and my heart sank. I thought, “Silly me. I forgot that I don’t like hash. I hate eating chunks of potato.” There were chunks of potatoes, pieces of fatty, tender, juicy duck meat, tossed with red bell and shallots. It was topped with a couple of poached eggs, which I ate first. I decided to try to the potatoes anyway, and I was surprised. I didn’t know old-fashioned hash could have so much flavor, so little starch, and not be dry. I had forgotten that I love fingerling potatoes (provided they’re prepared well). I don’t know what sauce or seasoning they used, but it was Delicious. The duck was also perfect - fatty, soft, full of duck flavor. I could go on and on, but at some point, my stomach made me stop. You can order this dish and know that you’ll walk away happy. I can guarantee it.
I want to mention that I loved their coffee as well - I would have had several more cups if I had thought that I could have handled it. I also love it when restaurants provide Sugar in the Raw. It’s just one of those things.
Here are some photos of my eating companions, who woke up early and walked out in the rain to join us before we left - thank you so much!
I should also note that Ju Yon and Doris recommended the duck hash to me as a winner.
127 Clement Street (between 2nd and 3rd Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94118
I’m not sure I categorized this correctly, but some people did order food. I am posting about the Irish Bank for 2 reasons: 1) the best Bloody Mary in the world; 2) I had a great time with my SF friends here and wanted to post a few pics to remember the night.
I didn’t think to photograph the drink, but I have to rave about it. First of all, I hate Bloody Mary cocktails. I hate tomato juice, I hate drinking salty beverages, and I am very wary of most cocktails. That being said, the Irish Bank Bloody Mary was unbelievably delicious. It was spicy, tangy - I can’t describe it in a way that will do it justice. Put down the $7 and order this drink to see for yourself what the hype is about.
A few of my closest friends:
I love that Johann has somehow managed to mirror both Jason’s gesture and Doris’s expression simultaneously.
Ju Yon once described these two handsome young men as looking like Rent-A-Dates:
I have no idea if she intended that as a compliment, a complaint, or an insult. I have known these guys since the 9th grade, and my mom still asks me which one is which.
I would say this was a new face, but you can’t see it, so I can’t:
This is Julius, a new friend whom I torment far beyond what our limited time together should entail. That photo was taken the first time we met in person, and he is already too frustrated with me to look at me.
If you’re looking for a chill place to hang out for hours while nursing one drink, this is the place for you. I can’t wait to go back.
Sorry if these posts seem brief and uninformative, but I’m trying to get through weeks of restaurants.
Zare at Fly Trap! Unfortunately, we were still full from T-Rex, so we didn’t order very much. The food we did order was good, though. I wish we could have ordered more entrees, but our stomachs would have turned inside-out.
My first dish was called Menage a Foie: 1) foie gras, huckleberry compote; 2) sheep liver, pickled jalapeno, roasted roma tomatoes; 3) chicken liver, onion marmalade, aged balsamic
The chicken liver is on the left, the sheep in the middle, and the foie gras is on the right. The chicken liver tasted exactly like what it is: slightly earthy, but still relatively delicate, as it is a fowl liver. The sheep’s liver was strong and earthy - almost muddy in flavor. I wasn’t a big fan of it, but the roma tomato on which it was served was tart, soft, and delicious. The foie gras was good, of course, but I have had better. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed my dish. I also liked that they included little palate cleansers to separate each liver.
Green beans, tomato confit, barrel-aged feta:
These were delicious, but I haven’t really had “bad” green beans. I love green beans. The tomato confit opened my eyes, though. I mean, I went wide-eyed with delight. The flavor was literally eye-opening. Also, I tend to not like feta, but this was good stuff. I didn’t notice any disagreeable flavor, the way I usually do. Also, the fact that Cat was eating the feta straight up with a fork shows how palatable it was.
Jason’s smoked trout, cucumber “linguini”, trout roe, dill creme fraiche:
I don’t really remember the flavors of this dish. Jason will have to let you know via the comment page. I did like the quality of the roe: they were tight and fresh.
I am guessing the above dish is the butternut squash: orzo, sultana raisins, pine nuts, and sage. I don’t remember this dish, either. Jason will have to comment on it.
Chocolate profiteroles for dessert:
House-made chocolate ice cream, raspberry cream sauce, melted chocolate drizzled on top, and finished with white chocolate shavings. Yum. Tasted like cream puffs filled with chocolate ice cream. We finished this dish.
Cat often comments on my blog, and this night she and her husband Brandon joined us for dinner!
It was nice to hang out and enjoy a good meal with them, because I hadn’t seen them since their wedding.
606 Folsom St. (at Second Street), San Francisco, CA 94107
415-243-0580
Good lord, it blows my mind to think about how much eating we got done over the weekend. After Hangar One, we had some time to kill before our reservation at Fly Trap, so we decided to soak up the vodka with some good ol’ bbq. Once I saw the menu, I couldn’t resist getting a meal and I really really want to come back to this place because I want to try so many more things on the menu.
Grilled Lamb Burger with Cucumber Yogurt, Cilantro and BBQ Potato Chips: $13
If you think that’s expensive for a burger, you haven’t tried this. It destroyed us. The lamb was cooked perfectly and the sauce was the perfect complement to the lamb flavor, which wasn’t overpowering. I cannot describe this dish to you, I can only crave it. Oh, God.
Macaroni and Cheese with Sharp Cheddar and Parmesan $8 add Ham $2
This is the side of mac and cheese. It’s called a side, but I couldn’t finish it, even with several friends helping me out. I poured spicy bbq sauce on top and it was heavenly, giving each gooey cheesy bite a tangy, spicy flavor. I tend to be picky about macaroni that has bread crumbs or is baked, but this wasn’t dry at all.
That is how we all felt when we couldn’t eat any more. There was plenty left over, but we knew we had to save some room for our dinner. Hahaha. I didn’t take a picture, because we had eaten most of it before I thought to photograph it, but we ended with Belma Bucket’s Cornbread with Honey Butter ($5), and it was unbelievably good. It sat in a pool of syrup, and by the time we got to it, the bread had soaked it all up. The flavors were so sweet and hearty without being rich. Yum!
The waitress said she was impressed with how much food we put away. This place was casual but had a very modern look to its architecture. Very clean, with good service.
1300 Tenth Street (Cross St. Gilman)
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 527- 0099
A must-read article on the soul food that is emerging in northern California.
We actually stopped by a place called the Pork Store for brunch before heading over for the Hangar One vodka tour, but I got a little sick from this greasy spoon and couldn’t eat much. I felt a little strange all day, because you don’t want to drink much vodka when all you’ve got in your stomach is a handful of grease. I think this is a good greasy spoon joint, but I can’t take such a blow first thing in the morning and I’m more of a fat, rather than grease, person. I like my fat to have texture.
Anyway, I will document our trip to Hangar One with photos!
Thank you, Doris, for volunteering to be the designated driver for such an epic trip. I love this picture because even though Johann is the one that got crammed onto the hump seat, he looks the happiest. Ju Yon looks like she’s about to yell at him.
The following picture pretty much sums up what Jason and Johann were like throughout the trip:
It is also the picture that most closely captures what they truly look like in person.
Here we are, before the tour:
Yes, they look happy because they’ve had a few samples by this point.
Here’s Jason, trying to get the bartender’s attention:
Not surprisingly, the bartender chose to ignore him.
Johann is the only one who noticed me with the camera, but he smiled AFTER I took the photo. Reflexes a little slow at this point.
Last sample of the tasting, which was also the tastiest:
Our tour guide was hilarious. She was witty and had a very guy’s-guy sense of humor. I will post our sample list of what we tasted at Hangar One. I was impressed with their drinks, and I will be likely to order drinks containing their brand. I would highly recommend the tour and tasting. I had a great time, and it was a nice way to spend an early afternoon with my friends.
After Gitane, we went to Candy Bar for some drinks and extremely competitive board games.
We shared a dessert: Poached blood orange and lychee fruit salad, with lychee granita and lavender ice cream.
After such a spicy and big meal at Gitane, it was very refreshing to end with fresh, sweet, flavorful fruit. We also drank blood orange bellinis (sparkling wine, blood orange bitters, blood orange sorbet) with it.
Doris and I engaged in some hardcore Chutes and Ladders, as well as our new Speed Candyland. Doris was the first to win 5 games, to my 3, and I humbly acknowledge Doris as the queen of Candyland. Speed Candyland. Ju Yon enjoyed watching, and she had to step in as regulator and referee more than once. Thank you, Ju Yon, for preserving the peace.
This place was relatively quiet, besides the roar of game-playing adults. I would say that the clientele consists of people our own age, slightly sophisticated, but not intimidatingly so. Definitely not crowded.
1335 Fulton Street at Divisadero
San Francisco, 94117
After spending a wonderful and hilarious day at the Academy of Science, we met up with Ju Yon at Gitane for some more delicious food during our girls night out. We must thank Ju Yon for ordering for us. Everything was fantastic.
Eggplant: Sliced grilled eggplant salad, chilled and rolled with herbed goat cheese, arugula salad, balsamic reduction.
Usually I don’t like goat cheese, but this was good goat cheese, and it complemented the eggplant very well. It wasn’t overpowering or too strong, and the creaminess was just delicious.
Bacon bon bons: sauteed prunes stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in smoked bacon, anis and cinnamon port sauce.
Yummy! I like bacon-wrapped dates everywhere that I’ve had them. These were fantastic poppers. Salty bacon, sweet sauce, and mild goat cheese with sweet dates. Drool…
Bastilla: sweet and savory, crispy pastry with duck, chicken, raisins, almonds, moroccan spices, orange gastrique.
This was my favorite dish of the night. The fillings were ground up pretty finely, and they mixed very well. Mostly on the savory side, but the sweet sauce and powdered sugar dusting along with the phyllo complemented the filling amazingly well. It tasted Moroccan. The dish was filled with roasted peppers, and those were delicious, too.
Ribs: hill natural pork back ribs, honey-soy glaze, brussels sprouts leaves, parsnip puree, serrano chip.
Meat slid right off the bone, and it was fatty, juicy, and oh-so tender. The brussels sprouts were extremely addicting. I love brussels sprouts to begin with, and these were cooked to a great texture, and lightly seasoned with pepper and salt, preserving the nutty flavor. Parsnip! We were trying to figure out what the puree was; it was a familiar taste and we couldn’t put our finger on it. Slightly sweet, but I didn’t try the serrano.
Chicken ta jine: pan seared free range chicken breast, spiced broth, prunes, carrots, turnips, zucchini, cous cous.
I didn’t take a picture of the cous cous, because it was just a mountain of cous cous with a mint leaf on top. This dish was good, but I felt it paled in comparison to everything else because the other dishes had so much flavor. I’m also not a fan of dates in broth. The broth was both sweet and spicy, like most of the dishes, but I’m a fan of savory broths, as opposed to sweet, so it wasn’t quite for me.
Serrano: wood-fire white pizza, house-made mozzarella, garlic, oregano, organic arugula, redondo iglesia serrano ham.
Very good pizza! We were already pretty full when this arrived, so I only had a slice and was done. I don’t have Ju Yon’s skyrocketing metabolism. The ham was my favorite part of it: very good quality.
I had a delicious Gypsy cocktail, that had distinct herbal notes to it. It was one of the most unique cocktails that I have ever had. I would order it again in a heartbeat.
I wish I could post a picture of me with Doris and Ju Yon, but we took the photo with Ju’s camera, so we’ll just have to wait.
Gitane is highly recommended! I would also highly recommend eating in the style that we did: order some cocktails and order food tapas-style and share.
Gitane
6 Claude Lane
San Francisco, CA 94108
I spent a weekend up in the Bay Area, and as you can imagine, it was a culinary blow-out. We had so many good meals (thank you Doris, Ju Yon, Ken, and Johann). The first night was spent at Yancy’s Saloon, and what was supposed to be a quick hand-off (letting Johann pick up Jason) somehow turned into an hour of drinking and chatting.
The next morning, Doris took us to Zazie, a “french bistro in the heart of Cole Valley.”
All right, this was arguably one of my favorite dishes of the entire trip. I noticed that this dish is not on their site menu, as it is one of their week-day specials. It was called Eggs en Fonte, and this picture does not do it justice. Two poached eggs atop a fried, then baked polenta cake, drizzled with buttery mushrooms and spinach. The home fries were served with roasted cloves of garlic that had cooked into a garlic paste that was delicious.
This was what Doris ordered:
I can’t find Doris’ dish on the menu, either, so it must have been a special as well. This was my second choice: eggs benedict with bacon and avocado… mmm.
Jason’s dish:
I think it’s the Challah French Toast, but Jason will have to confirm. He scraped his plate clean, so I’m guessing it was delicious. I highly doubt Zazie serves anything that isn’t, though.
You should visit this place, and preferably on a weekday, so that you can order the Eggs en Fonte! I would order that dish any time of day.
Zazie
941 Cole Street
between Parnassus and Carl
San Francisco, CA 94117
415-564-5332
