- San Francisco
- (164)
-
United States
Unique setting and ambiance. Unlike any other B&B you have ever tried. Convenient to the Pt. Reyes national seashore, and described as a "treetop fantasy" in a write up in the travel section of Time Magazine.
Hog Island Oyster Company is about 10 miles north of the town of Point Reyes on Highway 1. There are tables and grills where you can shuck your own oysters at the edge of Tomales Bay. In Pt. Reyes, you can buy a baguette at the Bovine Bakery, some local cheese at the Cowgirl Creamery and some wine or beer.
Then drive north to Hog Island. The ocean fog often burns off in the late afternoon. A marvelous way to induce a sense of wellbeing.
Pasta Moon in Half Moon Bay, which is on Hwy 1 just a short drive from San Francisco, serves some of the best Italian food to be had anywhere.
It is not cheap but for Brits with the exchange rate as it is now, it is very inexpensive. Go for the seafood/fishy options. Seafood risotto is superb.
I could go on and on, but if you appreciate great Italian cooking - GO THERE! It made a great start to our Pacific Coast Hwy trip.
A great scenic drive. I recommend heading south on the ocean side. Allow LOTS OF TIME. We took a week from San Francisco to LA and we could have taken a year. There are lots of very good and cheap motels along the way so no need to bother about booking ahead.
Just make EARLY STARTS and make the stopovers by mid afternoon for the best choices. We never spent as much as $100 per double per night including breakfast and inclusive of all taxes for often quite luxurious accommodation. Driving in USA can be a pleasure rather than a chore and on Hwy 1 very few people are in a hurry.
Check www.broadjam.com/delton and listen to "Looking For America - Land Of The Free" for the full story.
This very unique little valley, crammed with vineyards and beautiful houses, cannot be discovered in a single day. Following the advice of a girl who had once lived there, a friend and myself decided to start the day off at ARTESA, a discreet modern building surrounded by lovely fountains, overlooking a spectacular view of the rolling hills of Napa.
I am not a wine expert, but what I wanted to share was the warmth of the sun, the friendliness of the locals, the green and golden beauty of the view, along with the wonderful fumes of the wine, some made from vines grown from samples that came all the way from my native country, Spain. I felt as if I had been drinking from the fountain of eternal youth, life in its purest form. It was a glorious, wonderful feeling. I'll toast to that mid-February day, over and over again. Cheers.
This restaurant is linked with Green Gulch Farm, a Zen centre and farm which provides organic produce. The restaurant serves outstanding vegetarian haute cuisine. The cookbooks by two of its cooks, Deborah Madison (Greens, Vegetarian Cooking for everyone) and Annie Somerville (Fields of Greens) have been my best friends in the kitchen for many years.
On the waterfront in San Francisco
A fairly eccentric but informative blog about unusual aspects of San Francisco.
This is a restaurant located in the Ferry Building. They serve great, great food.
Watch out for the dog, though. He is not dangerous, but the owners are not polite enough to keep the dog away from the communal table, which I think is weird.
You have a straight view on the Bay Bridge, which doesn't have the fame of the Golden Gate, but is still well worth looking at.
Right in the Ferry Building. Tons of trams and buses go there.
You will never find it on a map or a guide book but 20th & Vermont Street makes Lombard Street look straight.
No Japanese tourists but your backseat passengers might get sick if you go too fast.
Potero Hill
Vermont Street and 20th.
Look for the sign that looks like a snake and a street that disappears straight down
This restaurant has the most amazing views of San Francisco. Perched on top of the Hyatt, across from the Ferry Building in the Embarcadero area, Equinox offers stunning views of the bay, the financial district and the Bay Bridge. But this is not all, for not only is the view fantastic, but the restaurant does a 360-degree rotation in about 45 minutes; whilst you’re savouring your meal you can enjoy the beautiful skyline of the city.
The food at the Equinox is of very good quality. For starters their crab cakes and their oysters are simply superb. Their filet as a main is tender and it melts in your mouth; their salmon is simply-cooked and yet it has a taste of uniqueness. The desserts come in big portions, or bigger than you’d expect at such a restaurant; and by the time you’ve got to leave you feel just right and not in need of any extra nibbles. Prices are a bit high, but if you’ve got the chance to set some money aside before you leave San Francisco, the place is worth a visit.
If money is an issue, we noticed that some people also go in to have a drink and some dessert rather than a whole meal. The one drawback we thought Equinox has is that the menu is not as extensive as one might like, especially if you’re a vegetarian: you might find there’s nothing for you to choose from.
sanfranciscoregency.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/entertainment/restaurants/index.jsp
Equinox, at the Hyatt Regency
5 Embarcadero Center,
San Francisco,
California 94111
Equinox Reservations: (415) 291-6619
For all Hitchcock freaks!
Santa Rosa lies north of the Golden Gate Bridge about 1.15 hours up on the 101 FWY. It is the city where Hitchcock filmed his personal favourite, "Shadow of a Doubt" (1942) with, among others, Joseph Cotten in an against-type villainous role.
Those of us familiar with the film (and those who aren't, see it!) will recall the white family house where a lot of the action takes place, and it can be found on MacDonald Street, in the historic district. It basically looks like the same house even now, though the back of the house where young Charlie falls on the outside steps, has a high white fence surrounding the garden, to stop film buffs encroaching on the owners' privacy.
There are many location shoots one can spot in Santa Rosa, including the old train station (no longer in use) where the infamous Uncle Charlie arrives and departs. Unfortunately, the old library and also the "Till Two" bar are no longer there, but there's enough for any Hitchcock fan to delight in finding numerous locations where The Great Man shot his personal favourite film.
Just up the street from the house is a huge mansion where "Polyanna" (with Hayley Mills) was shot.
Do yourself a favor if you go: pick up a copy of "Footsteps in the Fog," a wonderful book that gives information on all Hitchcock's location shoots in northern California. Also, if you drive out to the coast and south about an hour, you'll find the small town of Bodega Bay, and the Hamlet of Bodega (about 4 miles inland), where Hitch shot "The Birds" in 1963. The famous "Tides" resturant is still there, though it's been modified quite a bit. The old white schoolhouse still looks the same, and can be found in Bodega, inland. Enjoy!
Santa Rosa: North on 101 FWY about 1 1/4 hours from Golden gate Bridge in San Francisco. MacDonald Street is in Historic District; train station is at back of shopping mall, a few blocks west of 101 FWY.
Cute cafe and wine bar in North Beach run by a Brit. Cold beer and decent wines. Free Wi-Fi, Premiership on the telly, great sandwiches, delicious fondue. On Mondays and Fridays local musicians and poets perform.
www.melt-cafe.com
Melt!
700 Columbus Ave @ Filbert
San Francisco
Tel: (415) 392-9290
Just the name would be enough for a recommendation, but this cafe/diner also has locals and visitors queueing down the street on weekends. The pulled pork, bacon and ham is clearly a main feature, but there's plenty on the typically diner style menu for non-pork or meat eaters.
1451 Haight St
Connoisseurs will turn up their noses, but this is one of my favourite places to go for good, inexpensive, and fun sushi. I have brought people here who are wary of sushi but find themselves enjoying rolls with creamed cheese, fried salmon skin, and other not-very-authentic additions.
And I've never paid more than $30 for two people to be stuffed at the end of the meal.
Valencia/22nd st, San Francisco
A county park that bisects the peninsula south of the main city, San Bruno mountain is accessible by car and has loads of walking and biking trails. The Saddle Trail goes through woods and leads to fantastic views of the city.
It's particularly convenient for the airport, which is why if you've got a couple of hours to kill before or after a flight it's a great antidote to the stress of air travel. Parking is $5.
Guadalupe Canyon Parkway;
For directions see www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/smc/department/home/0,,5556687_12313315_12345092,00.html#Directions
San Francisco has 42 hills, many of them are so steep that streets become stairways. Adah Bakalinsky has written a great walking guidebook, Stairway Walks in San Francisco. It covers more than 350 stairways in 24 walks with maps. Some are in popular tourist neighbourhoods and some are off-the-beaten path.
The Waterstones/Amazon.co.uk link is for the 5th ed. (2004). A 6th ed. is scheduled for publication in late 2006 in the States.
The Amazon.com link lets you preview a few pages.
tinyurl.com/3gtkyt
www.amazon.com/gp/product/0899973566/sr=1-1/qid=1153526232/ref=sr_1_1/002-2324599-7462463?ie=UTF8&s=books
The world's last surviving cable car powerhouse and carbarn (1887) houses a free cable car museum.
In addition to historic cable cars (including an original 1873 cable car), displays, informational video and souvenirs, you can watch and hear the motors and sheave wheels moving the cables underneath the three remaining cable car lines of one of America's few moving National Historic Landmarks (1964).
1201 Mason St (at Washington St), Nob Hill, San Francisco;
tel: (415) 474 1887
To get there ride Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde cable cars to Washington and Mason car stop;
www.cablecarmuseum.org
Cha Cha Cha is a restaurant on Haight Street. The food is Caribbean - my favorite is the red snapper wrapped in banana leaves with black beans and plantains - but no matter what you eat, or even if you're not hungry, DO NOT MISS the sangria (just make sure you don't have to drive afterwards).
As the Frommers website says, Cha Cha Cha is not a meal, it's an experience. Moderately priced. No reservations. Weird people, weird neighborhood, great food and wine (not a full bar).
1801 Haight Street (nearest intersection: Schrader street) - a few blocks from Ashbury and half a block from Golden Gate Park;.
tel: (415) 386-7670
public transport: bus 71 stops less than a block away
The Inn is situated overlooking Washington Square Park, which is halfway between touristy, tacky Fisherman's Wharf and Downtown. We managed both with a 15 minute stroll in either direction. The park is frequented early morning and late afternoon by large groups of Chinese men and women doing tai chi, which was very restful to watch. The Inn is in a residential area with good restaurants, bars and independent shops nearby. It is also a short, but exceedingly steep walk from the hotel to the Coit Tower, which offers great views of the city and bay area. Breakfast was great, especially the fresh muffins. Highly recommended.
1660 Stockton Street;
tel: (415) 981-4220, or toll free in the US: (800) 388-0220;
fax: (415) 397 7242
email: info@wsisf.com;
www.wsisf.com
One of the pleasant surprises about visiting San Francisco is that it has fantastic food. Not indigenous US food, but the food-culture imported by its immigrants from south of the border. Taquerias provides authentic, very tasty, cheap Mexican-style food to locals everywhere - especially in The Mission District. The best one is El Toro Taqueria on Valencia St. It is vegetarian-friendly (ie: it definitely doesn't cook beans in lard).
El Toro Taqueria: 598 Valencia St;
tel: (415) 431-2535;
Here's a photo: www.flickr.com/photos/bryceedwards/134769479/
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
Search Been there
Your tips about San Francisco