A little lucky

Some times the best restaurant experiences occur spontaneously. I've planned events, made reservations and paid attention to the tiniest detail only to have a mediocre evening. No planning or research went into our dinner, only random luck. My wife and I were sitting in hotel lobby people-watching and enjoying the free wine and snacks. We had gotten up early and had full day of activity. Both of us were hungry but really didn't feel like putting a huge effort into dinner. We had looked into Ozumo, the Japanese restaurant next door, and admired the decor. No menu was posted so we had no idea what the food and prices were. We talked and took a plunge. We boldly walked next door with no reservation and asked to be seated. With smiles and flourish we were seated. The place is gorgeous and the staff is too. I felt like we had arrived on the set of a fashion magazine photo shoot. As we perused the menu I got a little nervous because I didn't know what most of the items were. Our waitress Leah Rae came over and I said "I think we may be in over our heads here." She responded with kindness and guided us to our selections. Then there was the sake issue. I have had sake before and was totally underwhelmed. Not so the case here, Leah Rae suggested the sake "flights." We had a taste of a number and each was unique with floral and fruit aromas. This is good we kept saying and probably consumed more than was necessary. We ordered off the robata grill section of the menu. April had the Mori Roku (grilled vegetables) and I had the Gyu Filet (Angus filet with shiitake mushrooms) and both were extraordinary. Not to leave well enough alone, we had dessert. The chocolate fondue is a giant vat of chocolate over hot coals that comes with huge array of fruit and such for dipping. It was enough for two but we had the pannacotta as well. Too much food but just the right amount of good times. The price you ask? With tax and tip $114. We can eat peanut butter and jelly all next week. It was worth it for this lucky fun experience.

Mori Roku

Gyu Filet

Ozumo Restaurant

161 Steuart St.

San Francisco,Ca. 94105

Hotel Vitale Americano

Last Saturday on our latest rampage to San Francisco my daughter decided to come by and visit and we talked her into brunch. The Ferry Plaza was absolutely insane so we checked nearby for alternatives. Within organic fruit throwing distance, we found Americano Restaurant inside the Hotel Vitale. We peeked inside the setting was beautiful and blissfully quiet compared to the Market Place. Prices, while not cheap, were more reasonable than most of the commercial hotels we've stayed in. The bill was $82 for three including tax and tip.In addition to the to pictured items below we had two glasses of wine and two sodas.The food was five star. A special mention to the spicy parmesan french fries; good heavens, they were good!

Hearst Ranch Angus cheeseburger

Cobb Salad

Artichoke soup

I did it again

It has only been three weeks since our last jaunt to San Francisco but the urge was back. I know that this blog banner says "on a shoestring budget" so some may not buy into all this weekend travel. To accommodate our weekend expenditures we watch our budget and try to be financially conservative. One of the easiest ways to cut expenses in a budget is on food. We brown bag lunch, brew our own coffee and cut back on convenience foods. That leaves a little for play now and again.

luxury ferry ride $4.45 per person

Harbor Court as seen from the Ferry Plaza

Hotwire.com had a number of hotels at budget prices and we ended up at the Harbor Court Hotel on the Embarcadero ($75 per night). It is a Kimpton Property and they tend to be upscale. The rooms are a tad bit on the petite side but the luxury amenities and friendly staff more than compensate for their size. As good luck had it, we arrived during the complimentary evening wine reception and enjoyed each drop.

The wine made us realize how hungry we were and we went in search of dinner. There are beautiful restaurants doors away. We checked out several and each was packed with stylish people enjoying Friday night libations and good company. It was pretty much standing room only. April spotted a sandwich board sign that pointed toward Rincon Center's Theo's Cheese Steaks. I was afraid that they were lunch only and was pleasantly surprised to find them open. I had the Mushroom cheese steak on an Amoroso roll shipped in from Philadelphia. April had sesame chicken with grilled onions and cheese on a bed of salad and rice. Both items were outstanding and came in under $20 including beer. We sat in the outside courtyard bordered by flowers and only a few people. The evening was exceptional.

Philly mushroom cheesesteak

Sesame chicken salad

Recipe recreation

I did it and I would do it again, I stole a recipe. Stealing is such an ugly word. Let's just say I used the recipe as inspiration. Yes that sounds better. My recipe is not an exact copy but an interpretation of the original. A couple of posts ago I mentioned a orange and fennel salad we had enjoyed at Cafe Macaroni. I was in the supermarket and saw a fennel bulb and oranges nearby and felt compelled to try to put them together.

I sliced the fennel super thin on my nifty cheap mandolin. I peeled the oranges and sliced little wedges out leaving the membrane. I think the fancy term is supreme the oranges. I squeezed the juice from the remaining pulp and added it to olive oil, rice wine vinegar and salt and pepper for a simple vinaigrette. I marinated the fennel in the vinaigrette for about an hour so it softened and took on the flavor. Just before serving I tossed the orange segments in.

More Dim Sum

It was the last day of our San Francisco visit. We both get up early for work and find it a difficult habit to break on the weekend. Chinatown was quiet and we had every intention of going elsewhere for breakfast. Then as we walked up Washington Street we spotted a wonderful sight, a window full of deep fried food. It looked like breakfast to me.

We entered and at first, we were the only patrons. I asked the sole waitress if we were too early and she said with a smile, "come in." A moment later a rag tag group of men appeared armed with brown paper bag full of Hennessey brandy which they surreptitiously used to fortify their tea cups. The waitress lugged platters of dim sum and we had problems saying no.

The cost $16.50

Grant Place Restaurant

737 Washington St.

San Francisco

Pied-a-Terre contiues

It was time for breakfast and decisions needed to be made. Our hotel offered buffets starting at $14 per person and Starbucks were everywhere nearby. We didn’t even give those a thought. We were near two neighborhoods that offer some of San Francisco finest morning treats. Would it be coffee and more in North Beach or dim sum in Chinatown? It was a difficult choice.

We opted for dim sum. We walked a block up Washington Street searching for an old haunt, but it was no more. There at eight thirty in the morning was The Great Oriental Restaurant serving dim sum and jammed with locals. I took that to be sign of good things to come. Sure enough, we gorged ourselves on tasty fried eggplant with shrimp, lotus leaf sticky rice, pork dumplings, shrimp dumplings, and baked pork buns. The price was $16 but would have been cheaper if our eyes hadn’t been bigger than our stomachs.

The Great Oriental Restaurant

848 Washington

San Francisco,Ca.

Saturday Ferry Plaza farmers’ market was calling and we needed the exercise to burn some calories indulged in at breakfast. As we neared the market about every hundred feet there were young ladies wearing pink handing out free samples of Special K Bliss bars. We smiled and accepted; free is always good.

We needed to replenish our supply of Rancho Gordo beans so we dodged the crowd to purchase our supply. I never thought one dried bean would be better than another but once you’ve had RG you’re not going back to the supermarket stuff.

Lunchtime was at hand but appetites lagged, so we enjoyed a picnic in the park like setting of the Embarcadero Center. A perfect orange and a free breakfast bar. The orange was good and bar overly sweet.

Emabarcadero Center

After watching a depressing but well reviewed foreign film at the Embarcadero Cinema, we had our fill of lies, deception and man’s inhumanity to man. It was back to the hotel for a nap.

Early evening and North Beach was busy. So many restaurants to choose from and we decided to return to Macaroni Sciue Sciue. If you’re living in the neighborhood you have to have a spot to call your own. I love this place!

Pied-a-Terre San Francisco - Day One

Every time we talk about what we would do if we won the big bucks state lottery I say I would love to have a place in San Francisco to enjoy on the weekend. We live in the suburbs of the city and don’t go there often enough. I did some research and realized that even a small studio in a downtown neighborhood would run towards two G. It’s not going to happen unless the lotto comes in. We accomplish our desire of city life by taking day trips into town as often as possible. My header talks about a shoestring budget as a premise for travel. In that regard we look for ways to save money so we can indulge in our passion more often. We purchase commuter books of tickets for the ferry and take a picnic along. If we do buy meals we try less expensive options and eat like the locals.

This weekend we did more than a day trip. We wanted to stay a couple of nights so we could rest in between adventures. I got over my fear of the unknown and tried Hotwire.com. I crossed my fingers, put in my credit information and hoped for the best. We scored a room at the Hilton Financial District on Kearny for $89. This is less than half the going rate for a hotel room in this area. After a quick ferry ride and an appetite-producing hike to the hotel, we checked into a lovely king room. There was wine and food available at the hotel but we took another route by bringing along our own bottle of wine and requisite corkscrew. My little plastic flask of brandy for nightcaps and fifty cent bottled water from home (instead of the $4.50 bottles in room) completed my makeshift bar. By having cocktails in room you can save a little on meal costs.

Holding hunger in check, we scoped out dinner options within a few blocks of the hotel. Chinatown and North beach are adjacent and choices are many. The first place we looked at was Alfred’s Steakhouse in an alley next door. Remarkably they had some reasonable prices on smaller cuts of steaks. Still in search of a more casual choice we looked at Pickles on Columbus. It used to be Clown Alley and some of that logo still appears. They had some good looking third pound burgers for $5.75 but we still wanted to look more. Finally we checked out Macaroni Sciue Sciue on Columbus. As we looked at the menu out front an affable Italian waiter beckoned us in. We were hooked. A cute exciting café, filled with smiling beautiful people, fun waiters and great food. I had the finocchio e arancia (fennel and orange salad with endive and lemon vinaigrette). April had the insalata cesare ( an excellent version of the classic Caesar). We split the daily special pizza which had julienne Mortadella and arugula scattered on top an excellent cheese topped crust. If I had followed my own advice on wine the check would have been about $25. The sangiovese went down easy and added a bit to the bottom line but certainly a great value still. It was back to the hotel for some TV and nightcap. What’s for breakfast? Goodnight!

Macaroni Sciue Sciue