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San FranciscoThe City by the BayBy Carole Kotkin
The crowd begins to gather early Saturday at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market between Front and Green Streets, in the Embarcadero section, where you’ll enjoy the simple, true flavors of locally grown products. Under a cluster of colorful tents various local artisans and farmers offer honey, artisanal breads, cheese, sausages, breads, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes and a vast array of vegetables. At the edge of the market are the food stalls with offerings from many popular restaurants. The Farmers Market was one high point of a long culinary weekend in San Francisco—three dinners, three lunches and three breakfasts, interspersed with visits to local markets and specialty food shops.
In this city that loves to eat, there is no shortage of culinary delights available from both classic restaurants and innovative newcomers. San Francisco is also fortunate to have a core of established eating spots that are sure bets. Take, for example, Scala’s Bistro, adjacent to the historic Sir Francis Drake Hotel, founded in 1995. In this old-world bistro atmosphere you’ll feast on seasonal dishes inspired by Italian and French regional cuisines. Absinthe, in the shadow of the Performing Arts Center, is a lively perfect little brasserie that looks as if it was transplanted into San Francisco from the south of France around 1900. The menu centers on French standards done well--deep, rich coq au vin or cassoulet made with duck confit and house made sausage for example. San Francisco Magazine named pastry chef Murielle Roux The Critic’s Choice Best Pastry Chef for 2002. McCormick & Kuleto’s Seafood Restaurant located on Fisherman’s Wharf, in Ghiradelli Square, offers some of the best views of the bay in the city. The fresh seafood menu changes daily and you will taste some San Francisco specialties like hugeness crabs and petrale sole. The Four Seasons Hotel is two blocks from Union Square, the heart of San Francisco. After a morning at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art or shopping on Sutter Street, Seasons restaurant is a welcome haven for lunch. The cuisine is a regional California style, which incorporates French cooking techniques.
Where to Eat:Absinthe, 398 Hayes St. 415-551-1590 Where to Stay:Majestic Hotel, 1500 Sutter St., 415-441-1100,
800-869-8966 |
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TM
San Francisco is without a doubt, this country’s top
place to visit for people who love food. As much as New York or Paris, San
Francisco is a city that lives to eat, and its restaurants are a big part of
its appeal to visitors. Right now the restaurant scene is booming. San
Francisco boasts more restaurants per capita than any other city in the
world. Twenty-five percent of all visitors to San Francisco identify dining
as the primary reason for visiting the city. There are, of course, other
reasons to visit, such as the scenic beauty, refreshing climate, and
multicultural communities that fuel the cuisine. It is a place where
it is almost impossible not to eat beautifully. With prime North Coast
vineyards nearby and the bounty of California’s farm fields and orchards
within easy reach, it seems that San Francisco’s success as a great wining
and dining city was preordained. Add a lively mix of cultures and it’s easy
to see why the city by the bay is one of America’s culinary capitals. 
For
contemporary-style hotels, it’s hard to out-do The Argent Hotel. It stands
high above San Francisco’s new downtown—the artistically cosmopolitan-chic
South of Market Area (SOMA). With breathtaking floor-to-ceiling windows, the
Argent offers panoramic views of the city. 
The grande dame hotels of yesteryear are still here.
Originally built in 1902, the Hotel Majestic, was one of San Francisco’s
earliest luxurious hotels. Restored beyond its initial elegance and
grandeur, the Hotel Majestic has been honored with the prestigious
Certification of Recognition for Architectural Preservation and Restoration
by the California Heritage Council. Quiet, impeccable, old world manners
reign in this magnificent five-story Edwardian structure. Ideally located in
the Pacific Heights district, the Hotel Majestic is a symbol of the very
best of San Francisco’s historic beauty. Executive Chef Christopher Steinbok prepares innovative seasonal American cuisine in the Majestic’s
Perlot restaurant. 
When you’re ready to venture from your hotel for a bite
of San Francisco, you might want to try the hottest hot spot first. And that
has to be the eponymous restaurant, Gary Danko, a quietly elegant temple of
fine dining. Chef Gary Danko presents a menu of everything that’s right
about modern American cuisine. The restaurant occupies an
understated luxurious corner storefront just a block up the hill from
Fisherman’s Wharf. The restaurant Gary Danko won the James Beard award in
2000 as the best new restaurant in America. Danko previously was chef at
Beringer Vineyards where he studied with the famed teacher, Madeleine Kamman.
He then earned praise as executive chef at San Francisco’s Ritz Carlton. Now
in its third year, Gary Danko has received its third Five Star
rating from Mobil as well as a Relais & Chateau designation. Danko’s cooking
centers on lively seasonal dishes prepared with a careful eye toward
classical technique. Danko compares dining as theater, “We work hard to
ensure that each evening’s ‘performance’ is seamless and magical.” Danko
boasts a 1,300-selection wine cellar. Be sure to call ahead for
reservations. 
The weekend was capped with dinner at Boulevard, a
stylish but informal brasserie at the foot of Mission Street. Chef
Nancy Oaks and designer Pat Kuleto have created a landmark in the lovingly
preserved Art Nouveau Audiffred Building. The room is suitably grand with
gently arched ceilings of blond brick and there are the usual curved wood
painted mirrors and plate-glass windows one associates with a brasserie.
Oakes has created a winning formula. Boulevard was chosen as the best
San Francisco restaurant for 1999 in The San Francisco Chronicle’s Readers’
Choice poll. Chef Oakes’ hearty, flavorful, beautiful, cuisine captures
American regional flavors. “In our kitchen, we all feel a reverence for the
ingredients we use and share San Francisco’s love and commitment to good
food,” she says.