SF and all things green

When I travel food plays a major role, not just a last minute afterthought. This is especially true for when I visit my sister Emily in San Francisco. We spent the better part of an hour mapping out the next 5 days around what we were going to eat. This was after driving straight from the airport to my favorite chocolate spot for a drink called a spicy (dark rich hot chocolate with a strong helping of chilies and cinnamon). Before taking in a show at The Marsh we stopped in for an Americano at Ritual Coffee Roster. It was a reminder all over again why it is that I love coffee so much.

On the second day we went to Greens. A little history: we grew up with the Greens Cookbook as a staple in our mother's kitchen, about 17 years ago I had a bowl of their black been chilies from the take out café... I still dream about the stuff. We decided to go there for lunch, without a reservation. It is particularly hard to get a table there, but the universe must have been smiling on us and we were shown to a small table by the window where we could see the water and the whole dinning room. It was better then I remembered. For dinner we went to a little fish spot.

Bright, but not so early, Saturday morning we headed down to the Ferry Building’s farmers market. After too many people and lots of amazing samples we decided to try another market where we could maybe afford to buy enough to make dinner. The Bernal Heights market is as low key as the first market is trendy. With a bag full of mushrooms, bread, fruit, greens, eggs, apple cider and California wine we were ready for anything. We made a stop at the Palace of Fine Arts and the Exploratorium before heading home.

Sunday was Emily’s birthday. We spent the day at Mission Dolores Park playing croquet and developing a rather impressive sunburn.

Tartine is a little like heaven. It is an unmarked bakery with a line around the corner on weekends. Mondays the line is not so bad. Emily ordered a cup of bread pudding and I an almond croissant. We both had coffee. There should be more mornings like this is in the world. For lunch we had sushi and discovered that if you get lost in Mill Valley, you end up in a small sort of wilderness.

The drive up the coast is peaceful and beautiful. There are so many shades of green your brain stops labeling them and soaks it in like it is can never get enough. Have you ever eaten greens that made you taste the cool costal nights and the rich earth? There is a little spot called the Sand Dollar that has greens that are worth the drive for. Five years later our dad is still talking about the greens. We tried to go to the beach but it was cold and we only lasted about five minutes.

Tuesday morning we were up in time for huevos rancheros at Boogaloos before I had to be on a plane home. So as you can see this trip did truly revolve around all that is wonderful to eat in my sister’s city.