Food and Fun in San Francisco

Maybe Thomas Wolfe was right when he wrote that you can’t go home again, but I’m here to tell you that you can have a helluva time trying. While San Francisco was never my home, my Pennsylvania high school buddies and I (whom I found again only three weeks ago after decades of no communication)  met there to rekindle our friendship and relive old memories. I’ll share a few of the sights, sounds and flavors of my time there with you in this blog post, followed later by another post of the second half of my trip in sunny Santa Barbara, where I spent a few days with another old friend who calls that city home. The photo of the colorful carrots was taken in San Francisco’s Ferry Building,

where the best farmer’s market (outside of Italy) I’ve ever seen takes place each Saturday. We went there for a breakfast of freshly made yogurt and locally grown fruit, but could easily have stayed for lunch and dinner too.  Although it was early for oysters, we couldn’t help slurping a few.

The heirloom tomatoes were tempting.

Especially served sliced over sourdough bread with smoked salmon, goat cheese and capers.

The selection of mushrooms was diverse:

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yummy cheeses at Cowgirl Creamery:

And abundant flowers too:

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And you have to eat sour dough bread from Boudin Bakery, whether in the shape of a crab or not:

And don’t even think of leaving out dim sum in Chinatown:

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How about a side trip to Sausalito on a private yacht with a helicopter on board?

(We took the public ferry.)

And don’t be surprised if you encounter a deer or two while walking through the redwoods at Muir Woods:

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Make sure to leave some time for wine-tastings in Napa and Sonoma counties.

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We finished off our reunion with a great meal in San Francisco at McCormick and Kuleto’s where we were treated to a dessert of dark chocolate cups filled with white chocolate mousse in a berry sauce.

So long for now to high school buddies.

 

– And to San Francisco. It was a blast to get together with them after all these years in the city by the bay.

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