Saturday, October 20, 2007

San Francisco treasures

So I spent five lovely days in the City by the Bay buying art, eating good food, hiking an almost insurmountable hill, relaxing in The Snug and hanging out with friends (and admiring the view from their new house).

San Francisco always woos me when I go there. It is my home town, after all. There will always be a part of me that belongs to the fog, sleepy trains and ocean air. I love New York - especially the size, pace and complexity of it- but when I go back to San Francisco I remember that I have a love affair with the slower, more casual but very cosmopolitan city on the West Coast.

My friend, Jess, and I went to Chinatown and found the perfect wedding cake for me and fiance.

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or

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or

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My fiance is part Chinese and I thought the first two cakes would be a classy, understated way to make his family feel comfortable.

We saw these in the window of the A&A Bakery in Chinatown in case you're interested.

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Now possibly my favorite restaurant in the whole world - or at least in the top three - is Betelnut in San Francisco. If you are in the Bay Area for the love of good meal, go there.

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Get the Little Dragon Dumplings.

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The Korean Charbroiled Pork.

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And I recommend the Minced Chicken in Lettuce Cups (eaten too quickly to get a photo), the Emerald Fire Noodles and the Tiger Shrimp if they're on the menu. My friend and I had some sake Lemon Drops that were also divine.

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If you have never been to the Pelican Inn then your life is not complete. It is one of my favorite places on Earth and I suggest you make a reservation to stay there for a night or two posthaste. It is snuggled in the hills of Muir Beach and Muir Woods. Muir Beach is a five minute walk away, they have an English pub complete with local beer and a dart board and rooms with four poster beds, bathtubs and reading nooks. In essence, it's as close to Heaven as you're gonna get for under $300/night.

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We walked to Muir Beach and hiked up a large hill overlooking the ocean. I felt like I was going to keel over and only made it to the top thanks to the urging and lying of my friend (as to how close we were).

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This view is from very far up *the hill* which we later learned is affectionately referred to as "Heart Attack Hill". These are the Farallon Islands which my companion, a native San Franciscan (born AND bred, unlike myself) explained. There are located in a treacherous stretch of sea and rock that is a popular breeding ground for Great White Sharks. Needless to say, I'm glad I was viewing it from this far away.

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We stumbled back to the Pelican and crashed out in one of most charming places: The Snug.

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The Snug is for guests only and is located right off the bar. We had a few glasses of wine next to the fireplace sitting in arm chairs discussing life, love and how out of shape we were.

If you like fog, food and dive bars San Francisco is a good bet for a relaxing and invigorating getaway. It is indeed my home away from home.

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3 comments:

Ehme said...

classy and understated. yes then. love the new camera.

Mr. G said...

You, ma'am, have the longest blog posts in the history of blogging.

Mr. G said...

Oh, I forgot to shameless promote my own long posting blog.

www.thechumslick.com