San Francisco Part II: The Food!

Sorry for the extended hiatus. With the near death of my home computer and the beginning of a new school year, things have been a bit hectic. We (meaning me, myself, and I) shall try to make sure we get up one post a week during the academic year. Between planning my outfits, teaching, reading scientific articles, and working in the lab, writing will be difficult. Alas, this is not a blog about life as a graduate student; thus, I digress.

Moving on! As long-ago promised, this post discusses some of the amazing food we experienced on our San Francisco trek. Let's do this chronologically.

Night #1: Fino Ristorante & Bar

Hello! This meal was fantastic! Located two blocks from Union Square in the vintage-looking Andrew's Hotel, this restaurant served up some of the finest traditional Italian cuisine I've had in a long time. Again, this was the trip after which I discovered I needed to be more bold in my picture taking, but this kind of place deserved some manners. I didn't think snapping pictures in the middle of our meal was the most polite course of action. Regardless, I don't have pictures of my meal, but the Fino website has a decent gallery.

Our group started with a beef carpaccio served with baby arugula, parmesan, and a drizzle of olive oil with a touch of freshly grated black pepper. Simple. Traditional. Melt in your mouth yet alive with bright, peppery flavor brought about by the citrus-y, earthy olive oil. The baby arugula shared similar characteristics while the creaminess of the aged parmesan cut through the pepper. And of course, the beef-- the most beautiful marbling on very delicate, thin slices of meat.

I acquired a vegetable medley and prawn risotto as my main dish. The texture was creamy, yet the grains still al dente. The vegetables still crisp, yet kept from watering the dish! The prawns were buttery and still tender. Let me just say: I am picky when it comes to my restaurant shrimp. I find few places really do them right; they're often over-cooked. This place did shrimp right! I was impressed, to say the least, with the quality of my prawn and vegetable risotto. Incredible. I will finish Night #1 by saying the rest of my party was equally impressed with their dishes, the prices were reasonable, and the service was truly impeccable. We couldn't even get up to the restroom without our napkins folded immediately; this even occurred multiple times without any attention drawn until noticed by the returning restroom go-er.

Morning #1: Scala's Bistro

Scala's is located just a block up from Union Square on Powell. Upon entering, one is greeted by an elegant yet rustic ambiance. The open kitchen is lined with rows and rows of copper pots along the walls and boasts at least one brick oven. Scala's food is so fabulous, they are deservingly confident. (I think I just made up a word). Their menu is short. Just a few items in each category. But, you don't need any more options! Everything they do is great, from the brunch to the breakfast cocktails and specialty coffees.

This was the first of my two eggs benedicts from that weekend. Confession: never had eggs benedict before Scala's. Oh, yes, I've had sunny-side up eggs, and I've always wanted to try the benedicto (I think I just made up another word). Anyways, Scala's was a beautiful introduction:

Scala's eggs benedict served with roasted potatoes
(The image doesn't do the dish justice)

Among the other brunch items were brioche French toast (can we say rich?) and a beautifully laid bagel and lox with brie.

My husband's bagel and lox

Ok, gotta keep goin. This is getting long. Forgive my verbose nature.

Night #2: Farallon

Oh geez. This deserves its own post. How do I condense this? Should I condense it? Nope. Nevermind. I will return. This is just too good to shorten.

Morning #2: Cafe Mason (no website)
This unassuming restaurant offers diner food elevated to California Cuisine. The service staff is friendly, down-to-earth, and attentive. The breakfast menu is offered all day long, and the reviews rave. Cafe Mason is a great place to relax and still get exquisite eats.

My second eggs benedict was non-traditional. Still with an English muffin, but the poached egg was placed on a creamy mixture of fresh Dungeness crab and bay shrimp. Of course, topped with a perfect hollandaise. Decadent.

Need I say more?

Cafe Tip: If you're looking for a fun place to get a cup of great coffee, go to the SF MOMA Rooftop Coffee Bar by Bluebottle Coffee Company! Yes, it's expensive for a ticket just to get some coffee...so don't just get coffee! Go, explore 5 floors of art, and when you need a pick-me-up go to the cafe on the roof.


This post wouldn't be possible if it weren't for my husband. Let's give credit where credit is due. He spent quite literally hours researching, reading reviews, and selecting some of the most excellent restaurants in San Francisco. Yay husband! :)

Freezing

Well, I don't have time for a full post right now. Hopefully within the next couple of days. But I thought I'd share this with all of you really only to highlight the sometimes sad, sad nature of my nerdy-ness.

For my graduate research, I am having to use streptavidin-coated sepharose beads. (It's not as complicated as it sounds.) Anyways, I'm trying to figure out how best to store these guys long term. Probably this process will involve freezing the beads in a mix of chemicals designed to preserve. So I start typing into the Google search bar "freezing", of course meaning to finish this with "streptavidin beads" or some other variation of the name.

You know how Google tries to guess what you are searching for? Well, Google guesses: apricots, peaches, green beans, plums, blueberries, corn on the cob...etc. You get the drift, yes? THANK YOU, GOOGLE. Go ahead, rub it in. Let's just make me painfully aware that my nerd nature has once again interfered with the things I'd love to have the time for. Instead of making frozen stocks of wonderful fresh produce and homemade chicken stock (which we've done by the way; more on that later), I am looking up how to freeze some crazy chemical beads that no one normally searching in Google has ever typed in!! Welcome to my world, welcome to my world.