Ferry Building

Walking around the Ferry Building on a Saturday morning is one of the best culinary experiences in San Francisco. That's when the Farmer's Market takes place. People buy their produce and other food items. Inside the building itself are many retail stores and restaurants. Cheeses, breads, pastries, ice creams, salumi, teas, etc. You name it, it's probably there in the Ferry Building.

Wait a minute! I forgot Scharffen Berger Chocolate ...

Here are a couple of places where I bought some food. Frog Hollow Farm had some morning pastries fresh out of the oven, that I couldn't resist. Across from that place, I bought some prepared food for my lunch. I suppose that by looking at the bag, some can tell where I got these items. I'll tell you later.

My lunch consisted of a gratin with truffles, pork tenderloin slices, a tart with pluot & frangipane (I think), and a savory kugelhopf. Include the view from the first picture and some jazz clarinet music from one of the old-time street musicians wearing a suit and you got yourself a wonderful dining experience.


Here's where I bought my lunch.

Boulettes Larder was recommended to me by a friend. It's not a restaurant, actually. It's a kitchen where they cook and bake all the food items for customers who want to buy some things to take away and eat at home or wherever.

Ferry Building Marketplace
One Ferry Building
San Francisco, California 94111
(415) 983-8000

http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/

Dining in "The City" on a Friday

On Friday back in Nov. 2008, I took BART into "The City", San Francisco, and walked to Tartine for a little breakfast.



Tartine Bakery
600 Guerrero St. (18th St.)
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.487.2600

http://www.tartinebakery.com



For lunch, I ate at Zuni Cafe, upstairs. Here are a few photos of the place:

The salad was fine, the pork chop was very delicious, and the apple galette was underwhelming.


Zuni Cafe
1658 Market St. (between Franklin and Gough)
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.552.2522

http://www.zunicafe.com/




Dinner was in The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. Below are two outside pictures, due to the restaurant's no-photography policy:

I had the Salt & Pepper tasting menu:

JAPANESE DEEP OCEAN SALT & WASABI

kindai tuna sashimi, miso gelée, ponzu gelée

YOUNG GINGER SALT & RED SZECHUAN PEPPER

abalone, mango, hearts of palm, cilantro purée

VANILLA SALT & TELLICHERRY PEPPERCORN

foie gras medallion, pickled cherries, pineapple jus

ANISE HYSSOP SEA SALT & ALEPEPO PEPPER

maine lobster, pork belly, heirloom tomatoes, basil oil

LEMON VERBENA SALT & TASMANIAN PEPPERCORN

poussin, stone fruit salad, sweet and sour

BOLIVIAN ROCK SALT & GREEN PEPPERCORN

beef ribeye, english pea purée, green beans, assorted mushrooms

MELON SEA SALT AND WHITE MUNTOCK PEPPERCORN

strawberry sorbet, melon seltzer

SOY SALT & PINK PEPPERCORN

white chocolate pavé, fresh raspberries, milk chocolate cream, coconut foam

The dinner was fine. During the middle of the meal, however, I asked if something could be done regarding the sounds coming from the bar. The group that was in the bar could be heard quite well from where I was sitting. The manager made the arrangements at a convenient break during the tasting menu. I was able to enjoy my dinner afterwords.

The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton
600 Stockton St.
San Francisco, CA 94108
415.773.6168

http://www.ritzcarltondiningroom.com/home.html

Monterey, Millbrae & San Fran .... Cisco

Continuing on my Nov. vacation from Monterey, the pastry chef from L'Auberge Carmel recommended this bakery as I head up north to the Bay Area:

Parker-Lusseau Pastries
731 Munras Ave.
Monterey, CA 93940
(831) 643-6300

http://www.parker-lusseaupastries.com

Once I arrived to my hotel near the San Francisco Airport, I decided to have some dim sum at Zen Peninsula.

There were no carts strolling by. I had to order from a list. I only chose a few things, since I had early dinner reservations at 5:30 p.m.




The jellyfish & seaweed salad tasted really good, nice balanced flavor. Overall, my lunch was pretty good. I would go back. If you want to see what I ordered, here's the list:

Don't ask me to translate. I don't read Chinese.

Zen Peninsula
1180 El Camino Real
Millbrae, CA 94030
(650) 616-9388

http://www.zenpeninsula.com/

For dinner, I went to Quince Restaurant. I ordered the tasting menu. Unfortunately, I don't remember what I ate exactly, I didn't ask for a copy of the menu and I was informed of Quince's policy of no photography of the cuisine. Mind you, here are the pictures I was able to take that evening.

The meal was wonderful. The pasta dish was what I remembered most, very delicious. Afterwards, I expressed to the host my appreciation of the tasting menu, as well as my condolences of Quince's current absence of its Michelin star. The host mentioned that it was more of a suspension until the Michelin inspectors can dine at Quince's new location later in 2009 near the Financial District. Nevertheless, I will look forward to dining there as well.

Quince
1701 Octavia
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 775-8500

http://www.quincerestaurant.com

Urasawa

I've heard about this restaurant called Urasawa for a long while. The whole place seats about ten people, thirteen tops. Dinner by reservation only. No website. $300 per person, food only. One restaurant owner told me Urasawa should be a three-star Michelin restaurant.

I made a dinner reservation for that evening and I went. I drove over to Beverly Hills to a valet parking garage. Once I got out of my car, I take the elevator to the second floor, where Urasawa is located. From there, I walk down a hallway until I see ...

... the entrance of the restaurant, I suppose. It looked bare and simple, definitely not over-the-top. Then, the door opens by this female Japanese server/attendant. I think I was the first one to arrive that evening. Around the same time, maybe before, a young Korean couple enters. There will be another couple arriving about one hour later. Five customers, one chef, two assistants, and one server/attendant. And that was it!

Chef Hiro Urasawa is a quiet man with a slight sense of humor. After initial introductions, I asked if I could take pictures. "Yes, that will be five dollars," he replied with a wink in his eyes. This is going to be a wonderful experience.

Hiro-san's domain and my place setting

Even though I did take pictures, I didn't take any notes. So, enjoy the pictures!

This is a magical sushi platter.

Every so often, a piece of sushi made by Hiro-san appears on this platter.
It needs to be eaten within ten seconds.
At this point, I stopped taking pictures.

Uni & Mushrooms

These were a couple of the many different kinds of sushi that appeared on that magical sushi platter. One of the highlights of my Urasawa dining experience was Hiro-san's lesson on eating sushi with my fingers, no chopsticks.
If you want to know, get over to Urasawa and experience this place yourself!


Desserts

green tea, barley tea and the end of a wonderful meal

Hiro-san

Urasawa
218 N. Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 247-8939