Fab San Francisco Find: Stick with Bella...

Beej too me to Toss on Chestnut and I fell in love with this gem of a shop. They have the cutest little hostess slash birthday gifts as well as the below STICK WITH BELLA goodies... How smart to make an easy way to personalize your gear? Loving it dot com.

Everyone needs a Marc Bernstein bracelet....

Whilst shopping Two Skirts in San Francisco, I came across a case with Marc Bernstein's pirate rope and chaine bracelets. I AM OBSSESED. I am also dead broke so I didn't buy one but made Beej take one home with her... Next treat for myself will be one of these suckers.

On my restaurant list for my next trip to SF.....

Before dinner at Town Hall, we stopped by Michael Mina's Rn74 for a cocktail. I hearted that they served Martini's in extra-large french champagne glasses. I'm down with the fact that their website says that they serve "Creative modern American and interpretations of regional French cuisine." Plus, the food smelled and looked good.

GFJ (260-261) And the San Francisco debauchery continues....

Saturday: If you are visiting San Francisco, a trip to The Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar should be included on your list of things to do. Located at the Fairmont Hotel (walking distance to our after-dinner spot,Le Club) is a little piece of kitschy heaven. If you like fun drinks, seeing a floating stage, indoor rain and being called, Mr. Nick, this place is for you.

BREAKFAST: Nothing
LUNCH: Half a hotdog and some fries at Belvedere Tennis Club.
SNACK: One bag of gold... maybe two...
(Below: Bags of Gold)

DINNER: Tonga Room...
LATE NIGHT EATS: After Beej called and told me that Metts was making a quesadilla, I decided to eat some crackers and prosciutto that Metts left at the apartment for me... Don't judge.

(Below: Tonga Room - Scorpion Bowl)


(Below: This is the last thing I really remember... After this, the night got fuzzy.)


(Below: Tonga Room.. I'm not sure what this is but at some point in the night, I thought this would make an interesting picture...)


(Not pictured.. there was a bunch of other food that came out. I didn't eat any of it as I was too drunk and catching up with Bez.)


Sunday: Today I learned three things, 1. Luna Park is an amazing place to go when you want to shank yourself with a shiv, 2. People actually make burgers in Hot Dog shape... and by "people", I mean the Olympic Club in San Fran and Metts, 3. ABC = ALWAYS BE CLEANING....

Oh, actually, I learned four things. As I was sitting in the kitchen on Lake Street I was looking at all of my San Francisco friends, most of whom I've known since 'Nam and I got happy slash sad all at the same time. How lucky am I to still be friends with those that met me when I was a hot mess? My heart felt full of love (to the point where JoJo and I were hugging it out and being sentimental saps)....and then I felt sad that they all hang out like this whilst I'm hustling in NYC...

BREAKFAST: More prociutto and crackers.

LUNCH: Metts picked me up for a little hair of the dog. As soon as I got in the Kitty Cat he asked, "how do you feel about having the best mojito of your life?"

(Below: Luna Park Mojito...I've seen these plastic animals before. Never have I seen a giraffe.)


(Below: Luna Park Monte Cristo...This is what I ordered...)


(Below: Luna Park Warm Goat Cheese Fondue....This is what Metts ordered. It was dead small. He had the lady lunch and I had the man lunch.)


DINNER: Okay, so there were only two boxes of BAGS OF GOLD left. There are 8 per box and we were about 8 people at the time... Since I put in the effort to make the BAGS OF GOLD and I don't live in SF, I took it upon myself to eat three of them. Each one was heaven sent.....

At one point, Metts was like, "eff the bbq, let's just go to the Olympic Club for Sunday Buffet..." then he decided, "okay we are bbq-ing..." So, that's what we did and I tried my very first burger dog....

(Below: More Bags of Gold)


(Below: Uncooked Burger Dog..The burger dog was made up at the Olympic Club. Apparently in order to save money, they ordered hotdog buns only so they had to make the burgers fit in that bun. At first, I was grossed out...then I got into it.)


(Below: Cooked Burger Dog with toasted bun. Do you know how a Burger Dog is cooked? In a cast-iron dish on the grill... Fannytastic.)


(Below: Burger Dog part deux... This is actually Metts burger dog from tonight.. He sent me a picture. I'm posting it as the above one doesn't look too appetizing.)


(Below: When I left, this kitchen was a hot mess. By the time that I boarded the plane, Metts had cleaned the beast up and sent me a picture... He cleans his place so easily by practicing ABC, Always Be Cleaning... This means you clean throughout the entire party, making it less tedious at the end of the night... Loves it.)

One thing that stinks about San Francisco....

...is The Healthy San Francisco Surcharge they add to your restaurant bill. "This fee allows restaurateurs to help pay for the city's health care program. The small charges vary: Some are a percentage of the total (usually around 4 percent), others tack on a dollar or two.

Not all restaurants include the charge, but by city mandate, all businesses with 20-plus employees have to either offer health insurance or help pay for the city's health care access program, Healthy San Francisco. HSF isn't insurance, per se, but it does offer affordable health care for uninsured residents of the city who don't qualify for Medicare or Medi-Cal."*


*Quoted from here.

GFJ (259) I've gone from Pleasantly Plump to simply PLUMP (jack)....

Apparently I'm unintentionally on the Baby Food Diet. I had never heard of the Baby Food Diet until I fessed to Badger that I was so hungry yesterday morning (and too lazy to walk down the street to Starbucks) that I ate the only thing I found on the counter in the kitchen.... Baby S's Gerber Graduate Puffs... Don't judge me. I had a food and booze hangover plus jet-lag. I was in survival mode.

After a handful of Gerber Graduate Puffs and two Sugarfree Redbulls, I was ready for lunch at Cafe Des Amis with Beej, Metts and JoJo. With my stomach filled with a Bellini (pictured below) and some food, I realized that I've gone from Pleasantly Plump to Plump(jack). It is 100% inappropriate slash I will do NOTHING about it until I'm back on EST.


Cafe Des Amis is a new hip restaurant on Union Street. It reminds me of a Keith McNally eatery sans McNally's golden touch. Nothing shouted itself out to anyone on the menu (okay, that's a lie.. there were a few of fatty foods that were screaming my name but I was the only one that felt this way) and the food wasn't as good as Cafe Des Amis' sister restaurant, Spruce. We concluded that Cafe Des Amis would be a great place for some drinks and oysters, fromage et charcuterie and that's about it.

(Below: Cafe Des Amis - Chef Selection Oysters)


(Below: Cafe Des Amis - Crispy Trotters (which was some sort of shredded pork which was breaded in low-gluten flour and accompanied with a mustard-grain dressing)


(Below: Cafe Des Amis - Shrimp Cocktail.. Beej and I really liked their SC but Metts and JoJo felt no love for it. They like their shrimp cocktail to be crispy... These shirmpels were a little limp.)



(Below: Cafe Des Amis - Frites)


(Below: Cafe Des Amis - French Onion Soup... The four of us split this and it may have been the best thing on the menu.)


(Not pictured, the chilled half Maine Lobster with aioli)

What does one do after they've eaten so much that it would be better for all if they Ralph Macchio'd their food rather than feel sick in the stomach? You go shopping on Chestnut and Union streets, spend some QT with Baby S and then head to dinner in Larkspur.

Picco might be one of my favorite restaurants in the Bay Area. The menu is designed to share. Unlike NYC, this does not mean "bite-sized portions"... Each plate was large enough for all six of us to have more than one serving.

As with most good restaurants in the SF area, the menu is seasonal/farm-to-table. Everything was fresh and delicious. Dinner there made me sad that I don't live in San Francisco. Despite the fact that the food in NYC is quite good, it doesn't have the same freshness that food in SF does. Perhaps because we don't have the hippies slash compost?

(Below: Picco's Risotto. They make fresh risotto every 30mins. Last night's had zucchini and eggplant. It was beyond delicious.)


(Below: Picco - This Albacore Tuna with radish, cherry tomato, jalapeno served with olive oil and sea salt was a special. TDF)


(Below: Picco's TSA approved condiments)


(Below: Picco - Grass Fed Mini Burgers, caramelized onion, mushroom, pt. reyes blue cheese sauce)


(Below: Picco - Avocado Bruschetta, manodori balsamic, sea salt and chorizo leon. You need to eat this one with the chorizo... It transforms a good bite into a party in your mouth.)





(Below: Picco - Cauliflower Gratin, cheddar cheese, caramelized onion, breadcrumbs. We ordered this bad boy way too late in the game. By the time it came to the table, we were all in food coma... Obvi we still ate it.)


(Below: Picco - Straus Dairy Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. One with chocolate sauce (which was basically like a gourmet Mister Softee) and the other with Olive Oil and Sea Salt..)

If you are shopping on Chestnut in San Francisco and need a pick-me-up...

Stop by the San Francisco location of LA's Susie Cake's.

I got a mini-red velvet. It was a perfect two-bite treat.

I'm inappropriately obsessed with JUST THE TIP....

Yesterday Metts took the ladies (JoJo, Beej and myself) out to lunch at Cafe Des Amis. As he was outnumbered by 3-1, he sat quietly at the table, emailing his buddies, listening to our stories and probably thinking "women are crazy"... After he had paid the bill, Metts quietly (and with signature sh*t-eating grin on his mug) slid over the customer copy of the receipt... I die that he wrote "JUST THE" next to Tip.. DIE!!!!!




As I am inappropriately OBSESSED with JTT, I took it upon myself to write on the chalkboard loo wall in the Silver Peso, in Larkspur, "JUST THE TIP"...

GFJ (257-258) And the eating tour of San Francisco has commenced....

WEDNESDAY - NYC
BREAKFAST: Gluten Free Oatmeal
LUNCH: Leftover Pad Thai
DINNER: K-Town with Coco... We tried out Madangsui (CH's suggestions)... It was good.

THURSDAY: I am on an eating tour of the San Francisco area... I am beyond lucky slash will have to starve myself for a good week or two when I return to NYC....



BREAKFAST: A bite of a sausage biscuit from Burger King at the airport.. I thought it would be like the McDonald's one.. NOT SO MUCH...

SNACK ON PLANE: Fromage and Fruit.

LUNCH: I've been to plenty of amazing sushi restaurants in my day and I have to say that Sushi Sam's in San Mateo is the BEST sushi I've ever had.. There is nothing flashy or showy with the sushi, it is simply fresh and creative. It was so good that even after being dead full, I gave Metts the nod to reorder a the Butterfish and Baby Lobster Tail sushi's... I will be dreaming of this place for the rest of my life.

(Below: Metts' favorite, Butterfish)

(Below: Bonito Sushi)


(Below: Blue Shrimp)

(Below: Baby Lobster Sushi... Quite honestly the most amazing thing I've ever tasted. I really wish my mom had been with me yesterday. She would have so appreciated it.)


(Below: Special Unagi)


(Below: Red Snapper)


(Below: Fried Shrimp Heads... Yes, they look kind of gross however they taste AMAZING)


DINNER: Beej, Metts and moi went to town at TOWN HALL. We thought we'd be good by ordering three starters, two main dishes and three sides... Mind you, THERE WERE ONLY THREE OF US...

(Below: Faith’s warm ham and cheese toast, poached egg, jalapeño cream... Maybe that jalapeño cream was so good that we dipped our bread in it..MAYBE)


(Below: Crispy stuffed zucchini blossoms, spicy tomato sofrito, basil cream)


(Below: Tuna tartare, cornmeal fried green tomatoes, garlic chips, Tabasco green onion vinaigrette)


(Below: Liberty farms duck confit, white corn, farro, blackberry jus)


(Below: Buttermilk fried chicken, chayote, mushroom and corn bread pudding, home-style bacon gravy)

(Below: Grilled artichoke, rosemary lemon aioli)

(Below: Warm jalapeño cornbread)


(Not pictured, the Smoked Andouille Jumbalaya)


(Below: Butterscotch and Chocolate Pot de Creme... Not gonna lie, this was a misfire of an order.. The donuts were so much better)


(Below: “Coffee and Doughnuts” warm cinnamon-sugar donuts, Blue Bottle coffee ice cream, chicory streusel)