My trip to San Francisco started off with a ride on my favorite airline, Virgin America. I don't mind flying for the most part as demonstrated by the fact that I take tons of flights a year, but Virgin actually makes flying enjoyable. Their flights are never late. The staff is about as friendly as you could possibly be outside of inviting you over for dinner. The great benefit of the airline is the entertainment options. Each seat has it's own screen. You can watch live TV via Dish Network or they have plenty of on demand options for movies and music. The purple lighting also helps you to be much more relaxed as you fly. You can also order any items you might want food or drink wise from this screen.
I arrived in SFO quite hungry as I elected to sleep the whole flight away rather than eat anything on the plane. Once I was there I had one thing on my mind to eat. One of the best and possibly cheapest sandwiches I've ever had. More on that in a moment but first things first and that meant checking in to my hotel room and dropping off my bags. San Francisco is definitely one of those cities where it doesn't make good since to have a car. Parking is scarce and expensive, and public transportation in the city is beyond fast and efficient (As long as you can keep up with your BART card which I have trouble doing. I often return home and find two or three of them in my wallet). Though if you're not up for short walks (and even some of the shortest ones can be deceivingly tough thanks to the hills.
The hotel I chose to stay in was the Hilton Financial District. It was about a quarter of a mile walk from the Montgomery street BART Station. The financial district is very close to Chinatown and my walk took me past a variety of little restaurants boasting a very appetizing aroma. I got to the hotel and was upgraded to an executive room with a view of the Bay. Typically I am not a big fan of paying extra money for a good view, I don't see the value in it. That being said, this view would have been worth shelling out a little extra cash. From my room I had full view of the San Francisco Bay. I could see iconic landmarks like Coit Tower, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. The large TV in the room seemed almost unnecessary as I could gaze out of the window almost endlessly. The room was set up for form and function with a very large desk, which I made use of almost immediately as I sat down to look through my Foursquare checkins so I could be on my way to my back to get the Bahnmi sandwich I wanted so very badly.
Foursquare is a kind of fun geolocation game, but I use it more or less as a method of keeping track of the places I've been in case I ever want to go back. In this case I made the mistake of not checking in. Disaster, absolute heartbreak. I thought I would never find my beloved again. I overcame my despair by doing fervent searches for places that sold Bahnmi, however that turned out to be much of a fools errand since there was tons of places that sold bahnmi. But I didn't want an imitator, I wanted my sandwich. The one I fell in love with on first bite. The tender roast chicken. The sweet sauce that is well spiced. The shredded carrots, the bright cilantro. I wanted the chewy bread. I wanted a sandwich so good that I would easily pay ten times their $3.50 asking price. A sandwich so epic I salivate writing about it. As a stroke of almost dumb luck, I clicked on a yelp entry and saw a picture of the green menu board with tacked in white letters and I knew it was my place. Siagon Sandwich is very much a to go place not far from the UN/Civic center station. The orders are simple and straight forward , not too many options on the menu so ordering is easy. I got my two sandwiches, one pork and one roast chicken. One sandwich is more than enough to be fulfilling if I was of average everyday hunger. Still the sandwich was severed up within a minute of my ordering and before I could even take the three steps from the counter to the door I was enjoying my first bite.
I would finish my sandwich as I took the walk back to the BART station which takes you past the city hall and United Nations Plaza. In the plaza there were plenty of vendors, and I couldn't pass up on some of these amazingly sweet blood oranges and tangerines. It was too much of a bargain in my eyes at a mere $1.50 per pound. I got back to my room to further plan out my evening and I found out two great things. One was San Francisco Dine About Town was going on at the time and the other was that Wicked was in town. Dine about town offers three courses at participating locations for $40. This was perfect because I obviously love food and also I had been wanting to see wicked for ages.
I did some searching and ended up having dinner at Le Central Bistro which was just a short walk from my hotel. I looked through the menu for a short period of time before deciding on the crab cakes for my first course. The presentation was phenomenal. I just wish the flavours were equally as stunning. The burr blanc was kind of mediocre, though I must admit the crab cake was very meaty and a good portion of crab. Everything just seemed slightly under-seasoned. Things picked up with the second course. The Beef Bourguignon was a perfect marriage of tender beef and red wine. The carrots were soft yet not overdone and it was a very comforting dish for the slighty chilly northern California evening. Things continued to get better with the creme brulee. I'm not much for sweets but this one was done perfectly. I'm usually sort of unimpressed by creme brulee, by this one was perfectly creamy and not overpowering with sweetness. The smooth vanilla texture went along well with the tasty caramelized sugar. Admittedly I am a sucker for caramel.
Back to the BART and over to the Orpheum Theatre. I headed to my seat after a short wait and waited for the production to start. The play starts off a little goofy, but it is very clever and spotted with lots of witty jokes. It was a good story line but I didn't care for the voice of the leading good which Glinda. Otherwise the production was very entertaining. The drink that they served at the production that I can't recall the name of is quite tasty and has Absinthe and cucumber.
Breakfast the next morning was from Caffe DeLucchi. The Cafe is situated in the North Beach area which boasts tons of really good Italian eateries and coffee shops. The area like all of San Francisco, has tons of foot traffic so I decided to sit outside for prime people watching since it wasn't as chilly as the previous day. I really couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, and was eventually talked into the Cajun Etouffe Polenta. The polenta was excellent, rich and creamy and cheesy. The mimosa which used fresh juice and a good quality sparkling wine went perfectly with it. The andouille sausage gave things a nice spicy kick. The shrimp were nice and tender and not rubbery. You can tell the freshness of the seafood. Biting into one of the shrimp was like biting into the ocean itself.
I rented a car from National to drive down to Santa Cruz. I decided to try the Maxima, and I wish I had went with my first mind and stuck with the Camry I am used to driving. That deceivingly large screen in the vehicle wasn't a navigation system at all. No USB, no Bluetooth. I was stuck with terrestrial radio. It was only an hour drive to Santa Cruz so I toughed it out like a real trooper. As far as the car goes, it was comfortable fast and efficient, but completely lacked all of the features that I want in a car. The drive to Santa Cruz is pretty scenic and fun because of the numerous twists and turns in the road. I wish I would have had the BMW there because that car handles so much more nicely (though it is almost better that I didn't because I would have definitely got a speeding ticket).
I arrived at the Hilton Santa Cruz and there was a little bit of construction going on the Lobby. I checked in and was upgraded to a whirlpool suite. I wish the stay was longer so I could really take advantage of the room. All in all it was an incredible value. The hotel's location isn't exactly prime, being about a 10 min drive from the boardwalk, but it makes up for it with a beautiful mountain view from your room. I still can't believe how cheap the room was. I took a walk on the Santa Cruz boardwalk, browsing through a variety of different stores. My favorites were a comic book store Comicoplis, and Streetlight records. I am quite a bit of an audiophile. My music collection has over twenty thousand files. Yes, I bought all of them, mostly via CD. This place gave me a sense of nostalgia for a time long passed as I was able to browse through plenty of new and used CDs and Vinyls. I will occasionally buy music digitally, and though I listen to most of my music digitally, nothing beats that initial experience of ripping off the shrink wrap and thumbing through the album credits. I know there are digital booklets but it is not the same. It's part of the reason why I still buy the somewhat old fashioned CDs for artists I really love and go with digital purchases if I don't care as much. The comic store was kind of small but catered to my inner geek. I never really read comics, and probably would never read a comic book but it'sone of those things that is really fun to browse through.
I eventually made my way to a bar just off Pacific Avenue called 99 Bottles of Beer. I had to go just because of the name. The place is a beer drinker's heaven offering an overwhelming variety of beer. I decided to try out their cheesy garlic fries and was sadly very disappointed. The fries used that jarred garlic which gives them this unappealing vinegar taste. That being said I would be willing to go again because their service and beer list was very good. I would probably just go full. I also made a short stop at Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company. It is a very large coffee shop and the service was fast and the prices cheap. All their drinks come in one size so it makes ordering a breeze.
I always have to do at least one vegetarian dinner when I'm in California. I have toyed with the idea of going vegetarian or vegan several times and I love really good vegetarian food. The thing is when it comes to that particular genre of food, either it is very tasty and satisfying and you don't even miss meat at all or you're served some bland tasteless pile of crap that simply angers you to no end. I ended up eating a Darmha. The eggplant Parmesan was the special and I decided to go with it and a apple juice with ginger. The juice was fresh and tasty. The eggplant Parmesan was made with good quality mozzeralla that stretched forever when you took a bite. You could see and taste the fresh basil running through the rich and slightly sweet tomato sauce.
I would enjoy mostly complementary breakfast (The hotel had to loose money on my stay). Continental breakfast was free but for another $7, I was able to enjoy a full breakfast. It was nothing to brag about. Just a buffet of your standards like Bacon, eggs, potatoes, sausage, oatmeal. Exactly what you would expect and the fresh OJ was a nice addition. After checking out I took a drive up to Napa Valley and visit three wineries. I was hoping to to more but was well on the way to not being able to drive after the first three.
First up was Artesa. Artesa is a beautiful winery and as you approach you are able to see the great architecture. The steps up to the tasting room are adorned with gentle flowing water and at the top you are greeted by beautiful sculptures and flowing fountains. None of their wines that I tasted were fantastic or worth the price tag in my opinion. I'm very much go for value when buying a bottle of wine, I'm willing to pay sixty or seventy dollars for a bottle, it just better taste six or seven times better than a ten dollar bottle.
The next stop was Madonna winery. They were very friendly, and this winery only grows organic. The cab that I tasted was phenomenal and would have been worth the price. All of their wines were quite tasty and have the earthiness and big fruit that I desire in a wine. It was quite a good stop. Usually how things work whenever I visit Napa is I plan on visiting a few wineries but on the way form point a to b, you have to pass by like 3 wineries, and who can help but stop? Domaine Carneros was the priciest of the three stops on the trip. Granted I did get to taste a pretty big cheese platter and also had waiter service, I wasn't expecting the $40 price tag. Their reds were abysmal. Prototypical super light Pinot Noir. Almost non existent as far as taste goes. On the other hand, their sparkling wines were quite wonderful. Some of the best bubbly I've tried in quite some time.
Dinner was at Uva, and it didn't quite live up to what I had in my head as how good it was. It wasn't that the food wasn't good. It was quite tasty. Calamari was perfectly crisp. Pasta was a perfect al dente. The remaining portion that I heated up later was a lot tastier. I guess my first time I went here I built up an unreasonable expectation in my head. Then again I didn't get the gnocchi again. Shame on me for not sticking to the script. I'm not saying that the food there wasn't great because it was. It just isn't a go out of your way to get there place which in my mind it was the first time I went there.
Finally I checked into the Hilton Garden Inn San Francisco Airport to catch some Z's before flying out. The hotel was undergoing renovations to their lobby, so to accommodate they offered free breakfast. It is a mediocre airport hotel, nothing fancy. The breakfast buffet continued this vacation's trend of cold potatoes though. I would enjoy my flight back via first class on Virgin America. The upgrade cost me $139. Here comes me harping on how awesome of an airline Virgin is. For that price, I was able to get unlimited drinks, a three course meal and a checked bag. You also get access to all of the movies offered on demand for free. I ended up watching Premium Rush. I chose it because it was the shortest of the movies and I wanted to try to see two. It was actually a good movie especially if you have a short attention span. Simple plot and easy to follow and much better than I thought it would be. For dinner on the plane there was a beet salad with goat cheese (I love beets, but it seems like every place I go to lately has a beet salad). For the main, I chose the Waygu Cheeseburger. The burger was so huge that you would have never believed it came from an airplane. Virgin's airline food is not like your typical airline it is actually pretty tasty. I would be happy to pay for that meal in a restaurant and not on a plane.
I arrived in SFO quite hungry as I elected to sleep the whole flight away rather than eat anything on the plane. Once I was there I had one thing on my mind to eat. One of the best and possibly cheapest sandwiches I've ever had. More on that in a moment but first things first and that meant checking in to my hotel room and dropping off my bags. San Francisco is definitely one of those cities where it doesn't make good since to have a car. Parking is scarce and expensive, and public transportation in the city is beyond fast and efficient (As long as you can keep up with your BART card which I have trouble doing. I often return home and find two or three of them in my wallet). Though if you're not up for short walks (and even some of the shortest ones can be deceivingly tough thanks to the hills.
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| View from my hotel room |
The hotel I chose to stay in was the Hilton Financial District. It was about a quarter of a mile walk from the Montgomery street BART Station. The financial district is very close to Chinatown and my walk took me past a variety of little restaurants boasting a very appetizing aroma. I got to the hotel and was upgraded to an executive room with a view of the Bay. Typically I am not a big fan of paying extra money for a good view, I don't see the value in it. That being said, this view would have been worth shelling out a little extra cash. From my room I had full view of the San Francisco Bay. I could see iconic landmarks like Coit Tower, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. The large TV in the room seemed almost unnecessary as I could gaze out of the window almost endlessly. The room was set up for form and function with a very large desk, which I made use of almost immediately as I sat down to look through my Foursquare checkins so I could be on my way to my back to get the Bahnmi sandwich I wanted so very badly.
Foursquare is a kind of fun geolocation game, but I use it more or less as a method of keeping track of the places I've been in case I ever want to go back. In this case I made the mistake of not checking in. Disaster, absolute heartbreak. I thought I would never find my beloved again. I overcame my despair by doing fervent searches for places that sold Bahnmi, however that turned out to be much of a fools errand since there was tons of places that sold bahnmi. But I didn't want an imitator, I wanted my sandwich. The one I fell in love with on first bite. The tender roast chicken. The sweet sauce that is well spiced. The shredded carrots, the bright cilantro. I wanted the chewy bread. I wanted a sandwich so good that I would easily pay ten times their $3.50 asking price. A sandwich so epic I salivate writing about it. As a stroke of almost dumb luck, I clicked on a yelp entry and saw a picture of the green menu board with tacked in white letters and I knew it was my place. Siagon Sandwich is very much a to go place not far from the UN/Civic center station. The orders are simple and straight forward , not too many options on the menu so ordering is easy. I got my two sandwiches, one pork and one roast chicken. One sandwich is more than enough to be fulfilling if I was of average everyday hunger. Still the sandwich was severed up within a minute of my ordering and before I could even take the three steps from the counter to the door I was enjoying my first bite.
I would finish my sandwich as I took the walk back to the BART station which takes you past the city hall and United Nations Plaza. In the plaza there were plenty of vendors, and I couldn't pass up on some of these amazingly sweet blood oranges and tangerines. It was too much of a bargain in my eyes at a mere $1.50 per pound. I got back to my room to further plan out my evening and I found out two great things. One was San Francisco Dine About Town was going on at the time and the other was that Wicked was in town. Dine about town offers three courses at participating locations for $40. This was perfect because I obviously love food and also I had been wanting to see wicked for ages.
I did some searching and ended up having dinner at Le Central Bistro which was just a short walk from my hotel. I looked through the menu for a short period of time before deciding on the crab cakes for my first course. The presentation was phenomenal. I just wish the flavours were equally as stunning. The burr blanc was kind of mediocre, though I must admit the crab cake was very meaty and a good portion of crab. Everything just seemed slightly under-seasoned. Things picked up with the second course. The Beef Bourguignon was a perfect marriage of tender beef and red wine. The carrots were soft yet not overdone and it was a very comforting dish for the slighty chilly northern California evening. Things continued to get better with the creme brulee. I'm not much for sweets but this one was done perfectly. I'm usually sort of unimpressed by creme brulee, by this one was perfectly creamy and not overpowering with sweetness. The smooth vanilla texture went along well with the tasty caramelized sugar. Admittedly I am a sucker for caramel.
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| Outside the theatre |
Back to the BART and over to the Orpheum Theatre. I headed to my seat after a short wait and waited for the production to start. The play starts off a little goofy, but it is very clever and spotted with lots of witty jokes. It was a good story line but I didn't care for the voice of the leading good which Glinda. Otherwise the production was very entertaining. The drink that they served at the production that I can't recall the name of is quite tasty and has Absinthe and cucumber.
Breakfast the next morning was from Caffe DeLucchi. The Cafe is situated in the North Beach area which boasts tons of really good Italian eateries and coffee shops. The area like all of San Francisco, has tons of foot traffic so I decided to sit outside for prime people watching since it wasn't as chilly as the previous day. I really couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, and was eventually talked into the Cajun Etouffe Polenta. The polenta was excellent, rich and creamy and cheesy. The mimosa which used fresh juice and a good quality sparkling wine went perfectly with it. The andouille sausage gave things a nice spicy kick. The shrimp were nice and tender and not rubbery. You can tell the freshness of the seafood. Biting into one of the shrimp was like biting into the ocean itself.
I rented a car from National to drive down to Santa Cruz. I decided to try the Maxima, and I wish I had went with my first mind and stuck with the Camry I am used to driving. That deceivingly large screen in the vehicle wasn't a navigation system at all. No USB, no Bluetooth. I was stuck with terrestrial radio. It was only an hour drive to Santa Cruz so I toughed it out like a real trooper. As far as the car goes, it was comfortable fast and efficient, but completely lacked all of the features that I want in a car. The drive to Santa Cruz is pretty scenic and fun because of the numerous twists and turns in the road. I wish I would have had the BMW there because that car handles so much more nicely (though it is almost better that I didn't because I would have definitely got a speeding ticket).
I arrived at the Hilton Santa Cruz and there was a little bit of construction going on the Lobby. I checked in and was upgraded to a whirlpool suite. I wish the stay was longer so I could really take advantage of the room. All in all it was an incredible value. The hotel's location isn't exactly prime, being about a 10 min drive from the boardwalk, but it makes up for it with a beautiful mountain view from your room. I still can't believe how cheap the room was. I took a walk on the Santa Cruz boardwalk, browsing through a variety of different stores. My favorites were a comic book store Comicoplis, and Streetlight records. I am quite a bit of an audiophile. My music collection has over twenty thousand files. Yes, I bought all of them, mostly via CD. This place gave me a sense of nostalgia for a time long passed as I was able to browse through plenty of new and used CDs and Vinyls. I will occasionally buy music digitally, and though I listen to most of my music digitally, nothing beats that initial experience of ripping off the shrink wrap and thumbing through the album credits. I know there are digital booklets but it is not the same. It's part of the reason why I still buy the somewhat old fashioned CDs for artists I really love and go with digital purchases if I don't care as much. The comic store was kind of small but catered to my inner geek. I never really read comics, and probably would never read a comic book but it'sone of those things that is really fun to browse through.
I eventually made my way to a bar just off Pacific Avenue called 99 Bottles of Beer. I had to go just because of the name. The place is a beer drinker's heaven offering an overwhelming variety of beer. I decided to try out their cheesy garlic fries and was sadly very disappointed. The fries used that jarred garlic which gives them this unappealing vinegar taste. That being said I would be willing to go again because their service and beer list was very good. I would probably just go full. I also made a short stop at Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company. It is a very large coffee shop and the service was fast and the prices cheap. All their drinks come in one size so it makes ordering a breeze.
I always have to do at least one vegetarian dinner when I'm in California. I have toyed with the idea of going vegetarian or vegan several times and I love really good vegetarian food. The thing is when it comes to that particular genre of food, either it is very tasty and satisfying and you don't even miss meat at all or you're served some bland tasteless pile of crap that simply angers you to no end. I ended up eating a Darmha. The eggplant Parmesan was the special and I decided to go with it and a apple juice with ginger. The juice was fresh and tasty. The eggplant Parmesan was made with good quality mozzeralla that stretched forever when you took a bite. You could see and taste the fresh basil running through the rich and slightly sweet tomato sauce.
I would enjoy mostly complementary breakfast (The hotel had to loose money on my stay). Continental breakfast was free but for another $7, I was able to enjoy a full breakfast. It was nothing to brag about. Just a buffet of your standards like Bacon, eggs, potatoes, sausage, oatmeal. Exactly what you would expect and the fresh OJ was a nice addition. After checking out I took a drive up to Napa Valley and visit three wineries. I was hoping to to more but was well on the way to not being able to drive after the first three.
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| Sculpture at Artesa |
First up was Artesa. Artesa is a beautiful winery and as you approach you are able to see the great architecture. The steps up to the tasting room are adorned with gentle flowing water and at the top you are greeted by beautiful sculptures and flowing fountains. None of their wines that I tasted were fantastic or worth the price tag in my opinion. I'm very much go for value when buying a bottle of wine, I'm willing to pay sixty or seventy dollars for a bottle, it just better taste six or seven times better than a ten dollar bottle.
The next stop was Madonna winery. They were very friendly, and this winery only grows organic. The cab that I tasted was phenomenal and would have been worth the price. All of their wines were quite tasty and have the earthiness and big fruit that I desire in a wine. It was quite a good stop. Usually how things work whenever I visit Napa is I plan on visiting a few wineries but on the way form point a to b, you have to pass by like 3 wineries, and who can help but stop? Domaine Carneros was the priciest of the three stops on the trip. Granted I did get to taste a pretty big cheese platter and also had waiter service, I wasn't expecting the $40 price tag. Their reds were abysmal. Prototypical super light Pinot Noir. Almost non existent as far as taste goes. On the other hand, their sparkling wines were quite wonderful. Some of the best bubbly I've tried in quite some time.
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| Wine and Cheese at Domaine Carneros |
Dinner was at Uva, and it didn't quite live up to what I had in my head as how good it was. It wasn't that the food wasn't good. It was quite tasty. Calamari was perfectly crisp. Pasta was a perfect al dente. The remaining portion that I heated up later was a lot tastier. I guess my first time I went here I built up an unreasonable expectation in my head. Then again I didn't get the gnocchi again. Shame on me for not sticking to the script. I'm not saying that the food there wasn't great because it was. It just isn't a go out of your way to get there place which in my mind it was the first time I went there.
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| Domaine Carneros |
Finally I checked into the Hilton Garden Inn San Francisco Airport to catch some Z's before flying out. The hotel was undergoing renovations to their lobby, so to accommodate they offered free breakfast. It is a mediocre airport hotel, nothing fancy. The breakfast buffet continued this vacation's trend of cold potatoes though. I would enjoy my flight back via first class on Virgin America. The upgrade cost me $139. Here comes me harping on how awesome of an airline Virgin is. For that price, I was able to get unlimited drinks, a three course meal and a checked bag. You also get access to all of the movies offered on demand for free. I ended up watching Premium Rush. I chose it because it was the shortest of the movies and I wanted to try to see two. It was actually a good movie especially if you have a short attention span. Simple plot and easy to follow and much better than I thought it would be. For dinner on the plane there was a beet salad with goat cheese (I love beets, but it seems like every place I go to lately has a beet salad). For the main, I chose the Waygu Cheeseburger. The burger was so huge that you would have never believed it came from an airplane. Virgin's airline food is not like your typical airline it is actually pretty tasty. I would be happy to pay for that meal in a restaurant and not on a plane.
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