Fish & Chips

We had been visiting up around the Strawberry area (101 and Seminary Dr.) yesterday. Coming back over the Golden Gate we kept commenting on how beautiful the city, the bay, and the ocean were. We decided to keep moving down the coast. By the time we found ourselves in Pacifica we were ready for lunch. We chose Nick’s at Rockaway Beach.

Ken had the Mixed Green Dinner Salad with Crab, and I had Fish & Chips. Our order came with a basket of tasty Garlic Bread. We were very pleased with our lunch and the service. Our waitress, Wanda, told us that in a few weeks the grey whales will be passing by, and we too will return.

Nick’s Seashore Restaurant
Open 7 days a week for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
Only 15 minutes from downtown San Francisco.
Located just off of Coast Highway 1 @ Rockaway Beach, Pacifica.
(605) 359-3900

Sea View at Nick's

A few days ago Mission Mission broke the news that Mission Street Food, the weekly happening where a chef takes over a crummy little Chinese takeout kitchen and produces a strange and wonderful gourmet meal, is getting its own place, to be called Commonwealth.

But it’s not all in place. They are looking for backers so they can buy kitchen equipment. Using the Kickstarter micro-granting site, you can donate a small amount which, combined with donations from hundreds of others, will fully equip their hearth. Plus, they promise to donate half of what they get through Kickstarter to charity after they’ve been open a year. Plus, the whole restuarant project is a non-profit charity-benefitting thing. You can’t go wrong.

We were on 280 north approaching Ocean Ave. when I remembered a show that I had seen on The Food Network. Guy Fieri (Diners Drive-ins and Dives) stopped in at “Joe’s Cable Car Restaurant“. Ten minutes later we were ordering burgers from our waitress, Savannah.

Our freshly ground steak beef burgers were just as good as Guy had described them on TV,  but my husband thought that they were overpriced for the quantity.

Joe’s Cable Car Restaurant
4320 Mission Street @ Silver
San Francisco

Open: 11am – 11pm
7 Days a Week
(except announced holidays)
Joe’s Cable Car Restaurant flickr set

SAVANNAH

New shop opened 3 different locations downtown. Between 3rd and 4th on Market is “Seller’s Market” a kind of quick, organic eating place with SCORE outside seating. I’m somewhat pimping, as a friend’s coworker left her ad agency job to be marketing manager here, and plied me with fresh drinks and yummy guacamole…

Besides the great people-watching, as this is the common corridor from Bart to all MUNI points beyond, I ran into an old friend here, walking to the gym, and I got to ply her with beer and conversation. Isn’t that a fantasy we all have- that on the way to the gym our friends will pull us into a cafe and make us drink beer and eat nachos?

New 2-star to Coi (kwa) in North Beach. *Why* is North Beach Restaurant in there? Kind of mysterious about some other restaurants that were left out. Chez TJ’s went down 1 star, but understandably as a chef moved on. The media event was nice, the tablehopper didn’t table-hop, which was kind of funny. I loved meeting Paolo of Eater SF, who’ve I’ve enjoyed reading for quite a while.

There was a waiter who was a dead ringer for John Edwards. For such a foodie town it was a lot sparser than Tokyo or New York parties of the same purpose. We have less media? We don’t care as much? I have no idea. Note: I’m guest blogging for their contest, which has some neat prizes and I’ll post all the info here. Posted more thoughts on the guide on my blog: banane.com.

Michelin folks were very nice and appeased my concerns about French reviewers- they’re all American in our cities- and ethnic cuisines, etc. They’re going digital with a mobile app called ubiubi.mobi. One question from the audience: “how are you responding or reacting to Yelp, will you add comments in your guide, or guest reactions?” Led to a rambly answer by Jean-Luc about the history of the guide, and how he predicts people will still be using paper to read from in 10 years time. I think a better answer (I know it’s weird to answer for him) would be that there are *so many problems with Yelp* that they don’t compete, but complement each other. For a well-chosen, selective guide with good iconography and a respected reputation, it’s a relief for the 400 reviews for 1 restaurant on Yelp that are actually dialogues of teenieboppers flirting with each other. Disagree? Comment!

“Michelin 2009 Released” on Eater SF

Stars Shine In Third Edition Of Michelin Guide San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country (press release)

I must admit that Zuni Café is an old stand-by for me. It is my go-to restaurant for late-ish dining, for entertaining out-of-town guests, for enjoying a meal with hard-to-impress friends, and it seems, for constructing sentences with lots of hyphenated phrases.

I’m hardly breaking new ground by reviewing Zuni, but more and more, I’ve run into people who’ve lived in San Francisco for at least a couple of years and have never eaten there. My advice: invite some out-of-town guests to visit and take them to Zuni.

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This is a series, see: Coit Tower, St.Francis Elevators, Chinatown
Note: make sure to have a hangover and/or huge appetite before heading out.

Breakfast/brunch at Cafe Divine (Union & Stockton)- get seated at the sidewalk tables, and, with mimosa in hand, watch people in the park. I’d recommend the fruit bowl w/ granola or the poached eggs. Divine doesn’t have a huge menu but the ingredients are top notch. OR hit La Boulange (Columbus, Green) for a pastry and a bowl of cafe au lait. Describe how the park used to be the common for the neighborhood- the patch of ground where you could garden or keep livestock. Mention the falsehood that DiMaggio married Marilyn Monroe at the church- actually just photographed in front of it.
continue reading & map!

Went to dinner at (the new, remodeled) Magnolia at 7:30PM and narrowly missed the traffic jam following Critical Mass- this is the corner of Masonic & Haight. Personal vow here to bike in the Mass next month!

The second installment of Rapid Restaurant Reviews takes us to the North Country, all the way up in Healdsburg in the Russian River Valley.

Cyrus sits mere steps from Healdsburg Square which itself is mere minutes from dozens of wineries and tasting rooms. And what better way to end a long afternoon of tasting (and spitting, of course) wine than to sit down with an eight-course tasting menu with accompanying wine flight?

To the questions, then…

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Walked by Zeitgeist last night and it was a nightmare to get in- there was quite a long line. Friend mentioned that she wanted a blog post that listed all of the nice outside eating areas, so here you go:

* Medjool on Mission. Huge roof deck with capacity for crowds. Tiny little elevator, but that’s the only real drawback.

* El Rio, of course, huge deck

* The Ramp- huge back deck with open area

* Personal favorite: Fish! in Sausalito, lots of deck and locally fished seafood.

* Almost all of the Ferry Building restaurants have outdoor eating

* Epic Roasthouse & Waterbar on Embarcadero

* Palomino & Gordon Biersch have outside areas

* The Waterfront on Embarcadero has a wind-protected open area

* Pier 23 has a tarp enclosed back area (they may open it once in a while)

* Most North Beach places have outside sidewalk seating.

* Metro Hotel on Divisadero near Haight has a beautiful back garden.

Please comment with your favorites!

Also see: Eater SF’s El Fresco Options, CitySearch Round-up