Wayne and I were fortunate enough to get away for a week in San Francisco. We spent a glorious 6 days eating, drinking, walking, eating, site seeing and then drinking some more. Here is a recap of our stay which is a little long but will help if you are planning a trip, which we would highly recommend to anyone who is looking for a city adventure.

Day 1

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon, at which point we immediately ventured out for a walk to situate ourselves. We went through the touristy part of chinatown which is filled with shops, restaurants and more than you can visually take in at once. We stopped in at Capital Restaurant for some of the crispiest, tastiest chicken wings we have ever had. The only reservation we made for the trip was this evening at Rich Table, a great small restaurant in the Hayes Valley area full of character and delicious dishes. The homemade donuts sprinkled with porcini dust and dipped in raclette was one of the best dishes of the trip.

Day 2

We were very lucky that my lovely cousin Michael, who not only lived in San Fran for many years but was also in town the same time that we were, gave us more than fabulous suggestions. He emailed us the “ultimate walking tour” which is what we set out on Sunday morning. I credit this section to him as he provided us with these tips that made for an awesome Sunday. One thing I will say is that if you ever visit this city bring some runners, I wore my Nikes for 5 days, which is very unlike me but the uphill climbs and hours of walking would have been impossible without them.

From the Civic Center area where we were staying, we walked through Hayes Valley — Hayes Street from about Van Ness west to about Fillmore. There were tons of great little shops and restaurants here including a little bar called Brass Tacks that had fantastic cocktails, a juice truck called Juice Shop that sold a wide array of freshly squeezed juices and elixirs, an ice cream shop called Smitten that made fresh ice cream on the spot by mixing fresh ingredients and pumping them with liquid nitrogen.
Next we walked through the Castro district which is the gay district that has famous theatres, shops and is a great people watching area. Although we did not make it there, we were told that the Orbit Room on Market near Laguna has amazing cocktails.

From the Castro, we walked east down 18th street to Dolores Park. On a sunny Sunday it is packed with hipsters, families, mexican birthday parties and everything in between. It’s basically the place to be. We went for dinner in this area to a restaurant called Bar Taritne which was delicious. Everything was farm to fork, with most ingredients being made in house including their own sodas. If it was not made by the chefs themselves then it is definitely sourced local.

From the Dolores Park area, we continued east to Valencia. We then walked north on Valencia up to 14th street and then circled back south to 24th. One of our most favourite stops was our afternoon beers at Zeitgeist which is a somewhat shady dive bar with a huge beer garden and legendary Bloody Marys. It is hipster city, an episode of Portlandia could surely be filmed here.

This walking tour was a great way to see the city, which was something we would never have experienced on a city tour bus!

Day 3

This was our best day for sure, my cousin Michael and his wife Jessica took us on a wine tour through Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma. We stopped at five wineries, some boutique which were our favourite and some bigger, but all a fantastic experience. Highlights included Unti which is a boutique winery that focuses on Italian varietals. We took two bottles with us from here, a Rosé and a Sangiovese. We stopped at Truett Hurst for a picnic on Dry Creek in the sunshine which was the moment when we never wanted to come home again.

For dinner we went to Burma Superstar which was another favourite of the trip. Burmese food is a blend of Indian and Asian food with lots of spice and flavour. Paired with pitchers of Burma Coolers (beer, lime juice and something else delicious) or mango margaritas, it was the perfect cap to our warm, wine filled day.

Day 4

We started day 4 with one of our most favourite meals of the trip; Swan Oyster Depot. This 20 seat, counter only restaurant just serves fresh seafood, nothing is cooked, all food is prepared to order and it was an awesome experience. I think oysters, seafood salad, and white wine should be a weekly breakfast staple.

Next we did the touristy thing and went to Alcatraz, which although was very crowded was totally worth the trip. It was a very cool and eery experience to walk through the building and hear about the history. Buy your tickets in advance if you want to do this one as it sells out quick!

Our evening was dubbed the sketchy night as we walked far down Mission St in search of a taqueria that was recommended. Although we doubted it along the way, the night turned out to be fantastic as Mission St has a lot of authentic restaurants, bars and more to explore. We followed up our tacos with pitchers of Sangria at Cha Cha Cha, a restaurant and lounge with 100 seats at the bar top alone. A brazilian drumming band even appeared out of nowhere for a live performance. All topped off with a for-reals latino dance bar the size of your living room, the day was a success.

Day 5

All touristed out from our trip to Alcatraz, we rented a car and drove to Muir Woods, which is an amazingly beautiful National Park that is home to thousands of Red Wood trees. Next we drove the California 1 highway to Stinson Beach, another breathtaking experience and adventure through winding one lane highways through the hills, beside the ocean, feet away from a steep cliff drop off.

We had dinner with Michael and Jessica at Michael’s favourite restaurant Millennium . As Wayne and I are meatatarians, we walked away with an appreciation for this chef of a vegan restaurant with well executed dishes that you would never know were missing what is thought to be a staple in most dinners.

Day 6

And here we are at the end of the trip. We visited Off the Grid, a one stop shop for all food trucks that travels to different daily locations in SF. We had the best garlic noodles from An the Go. We wandered down to the Ferry Building that has tons of shops, a famers market and restaurants overlooking the water. (way better than the infamous wharf as it is was less touristy). Upon Wayne’s pretty much dying, wish we ate an oyster po’ boy at Hog Island Oyster and also at delicious (but a little too pricey in our opinion) tapas at Coqueta.

So as you can see we did a lot of walking, eating and drinking, which are most of our favourite things. We didn’t get to all the places on our list and would have liked to try Mission Chinese, State Bird Provisions, and Off the Grid (food trucks) at night. All in all we highly recommend visiting this city, we had a beyond fabulous time. All the cheesy songs are true.

With love, Charcoal

Words, Photos & Layout: Arielle Gurevich