San Francisco and what to do in it

"Alex, have you been to Front Porch?"

I haven't. It's in the middle of nowhere.

Down the street from El Rio.

Also middle of nowhere but worth the trip:

La Ciccia, a really excellent little Sardinian restaurant with a great wine list.

I am lazy. If it's out of my (or my folks) neighborhoods and I'm not seeing a movie/show/play I'm probably not going to eat there.

I've been meaning to go to 1300 on Fillmore though.

Blue Bottle coffee is awesome btw

Alex, I hear you. It's pretty easy on the 24 bus for me.

I'd like to eat Ron Siegel's food (a la carte - his tasting menu doesn't appeal to me)

which tasting menu? he offers several...

"Blue Bottle coffee is awesome btw"

It is. Although I bought a two pounds of Ritual coffee a couple of weeks ago (had a two-for-one coupon) and my morning french press has been awesome.

So, back to talking about food, then?

which tasting menu? he offers several...

the only one specified on his website, with mango (allergic), pork (don't eat much), and foie gras (generally object to). it does sound pretty great o/wise, i admit, if you mentally remove the salt and pepper shtick.

the online menu for the salt/pepper tasting menu is at least a year old...

he offers a "chef's tasting menu" as well... it is amazing.

yeah, and he doesn't tell you what's on it

That's fairly standard for tasting menus. If you have specific allergies/dislikes I am sure they can be accomodated.

it's fairly standard for sushi restaurants. i'll submit to a tasting menu without much indication what's on it if i know it's my kind of place.

"i'll submit to a tasting menu without much indication what's on it if i know it's my kind of place"

I'm sure Ron Siegel is crying over the lost business right now.

Speaking of sushi, have you guys tried Koo in the Inner Sunset? Yummy.

I have been (a certain famous wakeboarding ILXor took my wife and I there.) It was great.

I'm sure Ron Siegel is crying over the lost business right now

i dunno, lotsa lobbying on this thread

schwantzy, i gots the hookup.

gabbneb, have you ever had a chef's tasting menu before?

...

"i dunno, lotsa lobbying on this thread"

I think folks are trying to do you the favor, not him. I've never eaten at any of his restaurants myself.

SFAWTDII Board Challenge!

Help a brother out and tell me neighborhoods:

Aziza
Slanted Door
Uva
Swan's Oyster Depot
La Mar
Chez Sence
Delfina
Da Flora (oh OK North Beach got it)
House of Prime Rib
Canteen
Bar Tartine
Zuni
Burma Superstar
Bar Crudo
Dottie's
Yank Sing
Cebicheria (did I make this up? Can't read my notes)
DR@RC

Aziza (Outer Richmond)
Slanted Door (Ferry Building/Pier)
Uva (Lower Haight)
Swan's Oyster Depot (Polk St/Tendernob)
La Mar (no idea)
Chez Sence (SOMA)
Delfina (Mission)
Da Flora (oh OK North Beach got it)
House of Prime Rib (Van Ness corridor/Tendernob0
Canteen (Financial District/Nob Hill, I think)
Bar Tartine (Mission)
Zuni (Market/Civic Center)
Burma Superstar (Inner Richmond)
Dottie's (Tenderloin)
Yank Sing (near the Ferry Building/Embarcadero)

No idea:
Bar Crudo
Cebicheria (did I make this up? Can't read my notes)
DR@RC

Thx Alex! Much more efficient than a google.

My little bro keeps telling me about this place; anyone been? (ps I'm watching this space 'cause I'm coming to SF for MLA this xmas)

Modern Language Association?

yep. annual conference.

Hah I had no idea. Never been to that Mission Street Foods thing.

Bar Crudo - Bush & Stcokton
DR@RC - Stockton & Cal

Which is to say right at border between Nob Hill/Chinatown/Union Square

Wonderful, thanks. We're actually staying on Union Square (hotel block booked for wedding ppl).

La Mar Cebicheria Peruano = Pier 1 1/2 (next to Embarcadero Ferry Bldg)

Oh I see what I did there. Thanks.

Now if anyone wants to pick top seven or so from that list. . .

Swan Oyster Depot is on the Russian Hill side of Nob Hill, and House of Prime Rib (you don't have enough steakhouses in DC?) is between them and Pacific Heights down on Van Ness

Canteen is a few blocks West of Union Square

Quincie I doubt if anyone here can agree on seven. . . but I can give you a couple of tips.

I would say unless there is some reason for you to be in the Outer Richmond, Aziza is probably skippable. OTOH Burma Superstar (get the Samusa Soup and Tea Leaf Salad) is pretty close to both Golden Gate Park Museums (De Young and the new Academy Sciences) so if you are out that way I would recommend (although it can get crazy busy.) There is also a Burma Superstar Jr (called B Star Bar) down the street. I would skip House of Prime Rib (really it's just a steakhouse) and be prepared to wait forever for Dotties (or Mamas, the North Beach equivalent).

Chez Panisse/Cafe (or Aziza?)
Dining Room ($$$$) or Gary Danko ($$$$) or Ame ($$$-$$$$)
Zuni (lunch?)
Yank Sing or Ton Kiang (or Burma Superstar?)
Bar Tartine or Delfina (or Range?)
La Mar or Bar Crudo
SPQR or A16
Greens (lunch?)
Canteen

highly recommend lunch outside at Hog Island if it's warm enough

If you are going to Chez Panisse go to the Cafe
Zuni is a restaurant that has grown on me, but again I would give yourself a couple of hours for dinner and get the chicken/bread salad dish
Yank Sing is more convenient than Ton Kiang (esp. without a car) and nothing like Burma Superstar
I like Range a little better than Bar Tartine (and a lot better than Delfina)
I would pick Uva over SPQR or A16 myself
Greens is good for a brunch (esp. if you can get a table on the water on a nice day.

Yank Sing is more convenient than Ton Kiang (esp. without a car) and nothing like Burma Superstar

yeah, i didn't think so, but it's all Asian to me, lol

I would pick Uva over SPQR or A16 myself

i know nothing about it - maybe i blocked it out given the Bib G place of the same name in my nabe in NY - only that SPQR and A16 get a lot more press

A16 gets a lot of press, but it's in the Marina (ick) and the one time I was there the pizza was soggy (blech.) SPQR is quite good and a lot more varied than Uva (don't go to Uva if you don't like salami and cheese), but Uva has a happy hour and 2oz/8oz wine servings so I currently in love with it.

we are big salami/cheese people

o man uva looks good. thanks to all for yr suggestionss

It so happens I'm going to Uva tonight.

Re: Uva/SPQR/A-16

Alex's bad experience (I've never had food issues there) and neighborhood snobbery (I used tio have to live in the neighborhhod and my putative mol still does, so I'm a tad more tolerant) aside, A-16 is a Campagnese/Napolitano restaurant that has an interesting menu and a good Italian wine list. The same company owns SPQR which of course serves Roman cuisine. Both are good though slightly pricy. If you're downtown, there's not much reason to go to either, per se. I don't share the disdain for Delfina (the last time I was there I had a magnificently exquisite fiddlehead soup) and I certainly don't view Italian as monolithic enough to think these are interchangeable at all. SPQR has a far better menu for a hibernal meal, for example. Fwiw, down near Delfina is the excellent Farina, an excellent pasta place - really. As mentioned upthread, there's the Sardinian La Ciccia at the ass-end of Church. Not far from there is Incanto, an excellent restaurant but again, far off. Antica-Trattoria at Polk and Union (mostly Lombard food) has a few perfect dishes that make me keep going back.

Uva purports to be an enoteca, a wine bar, so it has a small but very tasty menu of mostly salumeria and cheeses, pizzette, salads, sides and one, maybe two mains. It's a snack menu (which I love) but not a proper 'dining' menu. The boar ragu over orecchiete (a main) was lovely last time I had it. I don't recall ever getting any of their panini (I always think of panini as take-away in Italy and they're harder to share) so I don't know about them but they always look good to me. Thankfully in a place with so much meat & cheese, the verdure sides are great; I especially like the carrots and apples.

Yeah the Marina is not my cup of tea and I never go down there if I can avoid it (and I'm not sure why most tourists would, except I guess there are a bunch of hotels on Lombard.) A16 has a good reputation (and I really liked SPQR last time I went there) so I am willing to allow that my experience was the exception rather than the rule. But it is expensive (SPQR is actually pretty reasonable IMO) and in a part of town I don't make it to so I am unlikely to have my opinion shaken any time soon.

And frankly (I end up HAVING to go to the Marina) there's really little reason why Alex should. At least SPQR is nominally walkable.

REX IN EFFEX

#1 Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton (splurge, tasting menus and maybe bring a decent bottle of pinot noir to save w/r/t corkage vs. wine list)?
#2 Swan's Oyster Depot (kumamotos and hamahamas, dungeness crab, lobster tail)
#3 Chez Spencer (flat iron steak w/ truffle butter)
#4 La Mar (cebiche crudo and anticuchos)
#5 La Taqueria (crispy tacos)
#6 Zuni (caesar salad and roast chicken for 2)
#7 Scoma's (cioppino and sand dabs)
#8 Yank Sing (xiu lung bao)
#9 Citizen Cake (dessert)

if you want Salumi:

Spruce in uh... Presidio Heights/Laurel Village? This is the best I've had in SF.
Cav on Market (right next to Zuni and Hotel Biron)

OH SHIT, If you want pasta! Try to get a reservation at Quince. The pasta chef used to work w/ my bro at The French Laundry and Mario Batalli said he makes the best pasta in the USA. The other dishes are hit/miss but stick to the pasta and you will be stoked for realsies.

I've had dinner at Quince thrice, once down at the private table in the kitchen and it's definitely one of the top five restaurants in the city imo.

Third the pasta at Quince (and second other stuff there being hit or miss).

I think the one thing we can all agree on is how awesome the roast chicken at Zuni is.

Spruce is right near Sociale, no? I've never been to the former, but the latter is quite nice (great set back location.)

The salumi at Incanto are made by their side operation Boccalone here in the Bay Area.