San Francisco (May 2009)

May 2009

Hotel:

• Intercontinental Mark Hopkins 

Restaurants :

• The French Laundry 
• Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen
• Laiola 
• Tipsy Pig 

Activities:

• Schramsberg
• Hall Rutherford
• Mt Tamalpais Don Quioxte

San Francisco: InterContinental Mark Hopkins (May 2009)

I spent four nights at the Mark Hopkins over Memorial Day weekend (May 2009). It was a good choice, location-wise, although we did not do the typical touristy sightseeing. It's located at the top of Nob Hill, so while everything is found downhill from the hotel, afterwards, you do have to find your way back up somehow. There are good views of the TransAmerica building from the hotel. The Nob Hill location is very windy, particulary at night and then less so in the early morning. Cabs were plentiful at the hotel and throughout the city; there's a doorman to hail them for you. He can also hail the cable cars in front of the hotel using his whistle. There is underground parking at the hotel (but it's expensive at approximately $50 per day), as well as a small lot outside the lobby for pick-ups and drop-offs (rather than having to do it on the busy street). The lobby area is attractive, and there's a business center, café, and fitness center on the floor below. The gift shop closed a few months ago, so if you need anything, you must walk across to the Fairmont Hotel to use theirs--which is slightly annoying for a hotel of this renown. There are no mini-mart type stores immediately surrounding the hotel, but just walk a few blocks. The Top of the Mark is popular with hotel guests and others. We only peeked in on a Sunday night, but we did not drink or dine there. I believe that they have a prix-fixe menu on certain nights of the week, along with live music later on in the evenings for a $10 cover charge. My room was nicely decorated but on the small size (and I was upgraded to a deluxe room because I'm a Priority Club member, so I'm not sure what the standard rooms are like; the deluxe category may be the floor location rather than size, however), but the bathroom was well-appointed and large. There were decent toiletries, towels, sheets, iron, umbrella, alarm clock, minibar, hairdryer. The room décor is modern but not completely so--there was a CD player (not an iPod docking station) and a regular TV (not a flat-screen). Internet was about $12 for 24-hours, which could be used over your entire stay, not necessarily concurrently over the course of just one day. A cab from the airport was $45 and took approximately 20-30 minutes (without traffic). We got a great rate of approximately $120 per night, certainly due to the bad economy and lack of travelers. I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again, especially at those prices!

San Francisco: Tipsy Pig (May 2009)

My spouse and I dined at Tipsy Pig for dinner on a Sunday in late May 2009 with another couple. The Tipsy Pig is an American Gastrotavern and home away from home. The restaurant prides itself on a large and unique beer selection as well as an ever-changing seasonal gastro menu. The restaurant was recently awarded the distinction of Top 10 New Restaurants and Top 100 Restaurants in the Bay Area. For those who think of an English pub as indulgent and rowdy, this new restaurant fulfills expectations. It's the fourth place from the guys behind Umami, Mamacita, and Blue Barn. They know how to tweak a trendy concept and draw in the crowds. A room behind the bar, with just seven tables, isn't as raucous as the front dining area. It looks like a European-inspired library, with shelves filled with old books and a scarred wood floor, leading to a nicely landscaped back patio. Still, my decibel meter stuck at 90, which is the equivalent to sitting next to a gas-powered lawn mower - and that's the quieter of the rooms. If you can't stand the noise but love this type of food, go early in the evening and early in the week. At other times, wear earplugs. The food tantalizes with familiar flavors.

San Francisco: Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen (May 2009)

My spouse and I dined at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen for lunch on a Saturday in late May 2009 with another couple. Located in charming downtown St. Helena, in the heart of the Napa Valley, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen combines the sophistication of a supper club with the flair of a speakeasy to create the perfect upscale eatery and neighborhood hang-out. Created by Cindy Pawlcyn, the James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, chef-owner of Napa Valley’s Mustards Grill and co-creator of many renowned Bay Area restaurants (including Fog City Diner, Bix, Roti, Tra Vigne, and Buckeye Roadhouse), Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen first opened its doors in 2003. Since then, the restaurant has become a beloved destination for locals and visitors alike, featuring a menu where the food is delicious, heartfelt and cooked from scratch with authentic highest quality ingredients. The service is unpretentious and warm, and the atmosphere is festive and comfortable. The site of Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen is steeped in wine country history. The historic 1800s building was once a 1920s bordello, a cooperage that supplied barrels and casks for local growers, and in its last incarnation, a restaurant called Miramonte, which hosted the first Napa Valley Vintner’s Association meeting. To achieve its current contemporary yet comfortable look, Cindy enlisted Howard Backen of Backen Gillam Architects to re-design the interiors. Backen retained the best elements of the structure and created a warm, comfortable, California-casual atmosphere to complement Cindy’s creative fare. Guests enter the restaurant through the brick patio, which features several tables for alfresco dining, shaded by a 100-year-old fig tree and warmed by the kitchen’s wood-burning oven. Once inside, the lively bar area, with its zinc top, wood floors and cozy banquettes serves up classic and hip cocktails alike, creating the perfect place for a quick lunch, drinks or coffee and dessert after a movie. The downstairs dining room has handmade wooden booths with crisp striped fabric-backed seats next to big windows with lushly planted flower boxes. Floral wall paper and dark checkerboard stained hardwood floors add a touch of speakeasy drama, while cozy built-in cabinets display Cindy’s travel artifacts and a selection of her own handmade pottery.

San Francisco: Laiola (May 2009)

My spouse and I dined at Laiola for dinner on a Friday in late May 2009 with another couple. The food was delicious, and we particularly remember an amazing Brussel sprout dish. Sitting at a window seat at Laiola feels like being in a set for a West Coast "Friends" reunion movie. The crowd is young and energetic, sucking down cocktails and beautifully prepared Spanish-inspired food at the 18-seat copper-topped bar, or at a few tables in the back of the restaurant. Laiola opened in mid-2007, and derives its name from an archaic Franco-Basque word that means a small gathering place. Everything on the menu is meant for sharing and served family style.

For serious gourmands, the prospect of eating at Laiola, the extraordinary new tapas bar in the Marina, can be scary. Located in the smallish former space of an Asian noodle bar, Laiola only seats at a shiny copper bar or at a handful of high tables with stools, and these places cannot be reserved. Yet, because chef Mark Denham’s cooking is so spot-on delectable, patrons are willing to wait their turn and scale the furniture. Laiola delivers a high-end experience in a casual format. The formula works. patrons wait in line; patrons eat at the bar; patrons come early; patrons pay the not-insignificant check. Laiola is worth it.

San Francisco: The French Laundry (May 2009)

My spouse and I dined at The French Laundry for lunch on a Friday in late May 2009. We were so lucky to get this reservation! At first, we were placed on a waitlist because of lack of availability, but several days before we departed for California, we received a call that a spot had opened up! This meal began a culinary quest that would last for years to come!

Chef Thomas Keller visited Yountville, California, in the early 1990s to find a space to fulfill a longtime culinary dream: to establish a destination for fine French cuisine in the Napa Valley. In his travels, he came across a rustic two-story stone cottage. As he walked into the restaurant’s quaint courtyard, he knew it was where he had been headed throughout his career. The French Laundry, a 1,600 square-foot structure constructed of river rock and timbers, was built as a saloon in 1900 by a Scottish stonemason. The building later served as a residence, and during the 1920s operated as a French steam laundry. In 1978, town mayor Don Schmitt and his wife Sally renovated the structure into a restaurant, which Keller then purchased in 1994. The French Laundry has received numerous honors and accolades. Most recently, the Michelin Guide San Francisco awarded The French Laundry their highest rating of three stars for the sixth year in a row, making Thomas Keller the only American-born chef to have two three-starred Michelin restaurants. In 2006, the James Beard Foundation gave The French Laundry the highly coveted “Outstanding Restaurant Award” and awarded Chef Thomas Keller “Outstanding Restaurateur” in 2007. The French Laundry is a member of French-based Relais and Chateaux, Relais Gourmands, and Traditions and Qualite; organizations recognized for their dedication to maintaining the highest international standards for hospitality and culinary excellence. Through The French Laundry’s menu, which changes daily, the restaurant commits itself to creating classic French cuisine with the finest quality ingredients, along with a similarly intense focus on impeccable guest service. In 2007, the Michelin Guide came to San Francisco and The French Laundry received its first 3-star rating, which it has maintained every year since 2007. Chef Keller received the "Outstanding Restaurateur" award from the James Beard Foundation. Since 2003, The French Laundry has remained on "The World's 50 Best Restaurants" "Best in the Americas”.