San Francisco and what to do in it

O'Farrell St that is

btw, I laughed out loud at the Crumb stuff at Yerba Buena Ctr.

Dottie's was awesome, well worth the hour-ish wait. Chloe's was good for brunch too. We also hit Bi-Rite, the salted caramel was incredible. Had dinner at Millenium and Greens (hi dere vegetarians), both were fine but not really worth the $$$$$. Had lunch at Ferry Market Building one day, which was tasty but messed up my stomach. Unfortunately, never got around to eating any Mexican food.

We also did some stuff that didn't involve eating.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/x77tigersxus/sets/72157600337857235/

In case you care.

hey bros, i am going to be in sf mon/tues/wed.morning thurs next week on a business trip, anyone want to hang out?

Same phone, Ally?

yes. i have a blackberry now too and i can send you that # just in case but my regular cell should work.

Mr Shasta,

Would you mind disclosing a place or two in the Western continental United States (but not in Greater Los Angeles, Orange County or Seattle) in which to eat at least mildly creative sushi (or other haute Japanese food, but not a kaiseki meal) that is arguably comparable to or better than that found at certain locations above 14th St, on or East of 1st Ave, Manhattan, NYC, USA? This is for non-extreme-chowhounds, but stripmall-type places are a-ok.

Thank you,
gabbneb

I know you didn't ask me, but Ame is supposed to super-good (and very expensive). I also REALLY like Koo in the inner Sunset (San Francisco).

To be honest, I need to disclose that I'm not interested in creative sushi as that usually is a short road down a dead end street (not to mention I'm admittedly pretty discreet/aka asshole snob about where I eat sushi) but here's a couple lists of Bay Area Japanese food:

SF
1) Kappa - koryori (little plates, like a high-end izakaya)
2) Koo - fusion japanese
3) Ino - tokyo style sushi bar
4) The Dining Room @ Ritz Carlton - Ron Siegel was the first non-Japanese to not only win Ryori No Tetsujin (Iron Chef) but sweep all judges. The restaurant has a surprising amount of a Japanese influence as Siegel lived/worked in Japan for many years.
5) Tekka Izakaya (pub food, don't order the sushi, stick to the kitchen dishes)
6) Eiji - housemade Oborodofu - fresh tofu (again don't order the sushi)
7) Kyo-Ya - hotel-style (and priced) sushi

Bay Area
1) Kaygetsu (Menlo Park) - modern kaiseki but you can order ala carte. the kitchen chef is from Okinawa (I have a soft spot for Okinawan food).
2) Santa Ramen (San Mateo) - kind of weird pan-ramen place but they have great broth/noodles.
3) Shabuway (San Mateo) - they have imported japanese beef (mishima/matsusaka/kobe) shabu shabu, none of this US "Kobe-style" hybrid stuff you see all over NYC.
4) Sumika (Los Altos Hills) - best Yakitori in the Bay Area
4) Hoshi (San Jose) - excellent upscale Japanese restaurant
5) Sam's (San Mateo) - sushi bar

perhaps what i mean is not-exclusively-traditional ('contemporary'?) sushi? anyway, thanks lots.

and thanks, schwantz - Ame was already on my recommend list, but I was envisioning a more unassuming-seeming place

oh god there are like a zillion in any given neighborhood. not too hard to find. look for places like "crazy sushi", "happy sushi", "sushi time", "sushi zone", "sushi a go go" etc.

then there are places like Ame, Bushi Tei, Sutra which have j-chefs but are making straight fusion cuisine (not sushi).

but to be a pedant to 2 of your criteria:

"arguably comparable to or better than that found at certain locations above 14th St"

AND

" a more unassuming-seeming place"

= good luck to you!

hey, Sushi S--- and Sushi of G--- are not very flashy-looking! I don't think the former is, at least; I've only taken the bus past it.

Sushi of G*** is not but G*** (same name) is. S*** is only good after 11pm because they are the only ones open late but I just heard that the ex-G*** chef's at S*** have left! :-(

I'm playing at the Makeout Room tonight at 9pm. Slint is sold out so you have no reason not to come. Obligatory self-aggrandizing spam now:

This is our first show since November and we've written an entirely new album since, songs from which we'll be road testing tonight. The band will be myself, Sacha Galvagna, Raj Ojha, and Ray Welter.

We'll also have official copies of the forthcoming album "The Glass Bottom Boat" for sale. The album will be released by UK Label Resonant on August 20th (and distributed by Darla in the US) and available at fine online establishments and the two physical record stores left in existence. But you can have them a month early and give your money
directly to us if you come to the show. Some of you may already have CD-Rs of the album but trust me when I say that the final product looks beautiful (for those who care about packaging).

Details:

Carta @ the Makeout Room
w/ Jake Mann and Snowdrift
3225 22nd St, San Francisco
showtime: 9pm
door fee: $7 (I think)

We're playing first.

Hope to see some of you there,

Kyle

http://www.theglassbottomboat.com / http://myspace.com/cartamusic

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&pl=bimbos&eventId=188487

;-P

we are $15 cheaper

and we will give you a handjob

O_____________o

Is it me or does the city feel extra crazy today? Way more people than usual, Market St feels like Manhattan, power cuts everywhere, sirens all day long and there's been two huge film shoots on my street - one for "Journeyman" and another for Fruit Of The Loom - dudes dressed like this:

http://www.glbtminneapolis.org/glbtminneapolis/images/fruit.jpg

we're on emergency power right now as a matter of fact, wtf

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/24/BAG9NR67253.DTL&tsp=1

there were 3 separate gunfight incidents yesterday on market street between 10am-6pm.

all I heard about was a shooting on Mason Street...?

Steve, how many were you in?

haha "gunfight"

Too many Turner Classic westerns and Louis L'Amour paperbacks for mr shasta!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Showdown_at_Yellow_Butte.png

the Mason Street shooting involved someone being shot in the foot

there was Mason, then a driveby near the chess tables and finally an execution style to a car passenger on Cyril Magnin.

so...does this town have a new sheriff?

finally an execution style to a car passenger on Cyril Magnin

Holy Fcuk!

it was a hit/retaliation. haven't read any news on it but talked to two friends who saw the whole thing transpire.

wtf Steve

Jesus Christ. You guys just totally made me nervous about my trip there. Anyway, I will be in SF from the 15th thru the 19th. What's up with y'all?

I will be in SF from the 15th thru the 19th. What's up with y'all?

-- The Reverend, Sunday, 29 July 2007 21:26 (1 week ago) Link

I'll be around - not sure what's goin on that weekend tho

Cool. If you have anything going on, be sure to bring it up here.

Yo. Anyone here?

no

I'm here but my dad's in town and I have to go furniture shopping so uh, I am no fun sorry

-_-

I'm here and will probably be a the Rickshaw Stop tomorrow night but that's only because I'm underage. Also no fun, sorry.

I killed a thread. Gourmet macaroni cook-off and BBQ at my downstairs neighbors house this afternoon.

i used this thread a few weeks ago on a little weekend trip, went to dotties(we stayed around the corner, as it happened) and while in line we chatted with a dude who owns a cabbie school. After breakfast he graciously offered to drive us around the city and we graciously accepted; we hit the civic center, opera house, that big dome by the lake(forgot what it's called sry), across/above the golden gate, the presidio, robin williams' house, north beach and then he had to go and dropped us off in front of our hotel. he was fucking awesome, he said doing the tours are actually fun for him even after all these years. I owe it all to you guys and him and san francisco and myself.

Goodbye, SF. It was fun knowing you.

(I soooo want to go back. Hopefully when I have a traveling companion who is of legal drinking age/isn't a teetotaler. That city is fucking brilliant. Oh, and that cool Temple/Dome-ish thing is the Exploratorium.)

I want to go back too :(