don’t forget to wear flowers in your hair…

… isn’t that what they say in that “if you’re going to San Francisco” song?  Anyway, I’ve got two great finds in S.F. that even though I just ate lunch, thinking about it is making me drool…

Zuni Cafe was a suggestion from a chef friend, so I did go in with slightly higher expectations than normal.  The restaurant itself was cute, open kitchen, rustic and simple with big windows.  We were celebrating a birthday for a very important & special person – Elizabeth!  It was a nice dinner of 5 and among us all we ordered: the infamous roasted chicken (that later the leftovers were left in the coat check of a comedy club, we mourned the loss of the chicken,) the pork chop, the salmon, spaghetti with porcini mushrooms and for apps, the burratta crostini, clams and the fried squab app.  (which YES I tried it, but just a tiny little piece so I can’t really say that I’ve had it, but kudos to me for being “adventurous!”)  I personally had a taste of everything except the pork chop & clams and it all was so good.  The infamous roasted chicken was good – but it didn’t blow me away.  I thought that it would have since it takes an hour and it’s the one thing that everyone talks about.  The spaghetti with mushrooms was simple, but honestly I think it was my favorite.  The burratta crostini was delicious and I wish I had ordered my own.  They don’t have a limit of BYOB and the corkage fee is $20.  We thought that because we shared our wine and cake w/ our waiter AND ordered a bottle of dessert wine that he’d knock off one of the fees (we brought 3 bottles) – but he didn’t.  He did give me a tour of the kitchen, but still restaurant/server etiquette would have been to only charge 2 corkage fees.  The menu is simple and changes often because they use seasonal ingredients which is always a plus because if you know that they create great dishes, you can always go back and try something new.  I’d definitely try it again, but considering how many restaurants there are in S.F. there are others I’ll need to try before I go back.  If I lived there it would be different. 4 Stars.

Here we are enjoying friends & food.

Zuni Cafe | 1658 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94102 | 415.552.2522

Elizabeth and I decided to hit up BIX for an early dinner after work because my flight wasn’t until 8:25p.  If I had known how amazing it was, I would’ve opted to go when we had more time… but the food was so good and we were in such deep conversation that we lost track of time and I just made it onto my flight! (yes, so unlike me) Anyway, when we first walked in – the entrance is in a little alleyway-like street – it was a little dark and reminded me of an old steakhouse or something.  But classy old where the older gentleman at the bar sipping on a glass of $50 whiskey used to own the largest cotton mill in the country or something like that.  We were sat a cozy corner table and started to have mini issues with having too many delicious sounding options.  We ended up getting a bunch of hor d’oeuvres and split a salad and a meal.  First we started with the Tuna Tartare (with fresh hummus, mint & preserved lemon on cumin lavosh crackers) which came out in 4 beautifully crafted bites.  WOW.  I could’ve eaten 4 to myself.  You always hear you shouldn’t order sushi/raw seafood on Mondays, but it tasted fresh and yummy!  We then ordered the Truffle Cheese & Sweet Onion Croques which were basically like mini grilled cheese triangles w/ the crusts cut.  They came with 4 again & yes I have an affinity for truffles and mushrooms, but these little buttery, warm, cheesy triangles of heaven!!!  (note: all hor d’oeuvres come in 4 except the deviled eggs and potato pillows)  Before the croques came out though, our waiter gave us a little taste of the deviled eggs (with chives, summer beans & truffles) and by far they were the best deviled eggs ever!!  Who would think that you could make them that amazing, but BIX does!  (Thank you to our waiter for that nice special treat!) We then split the Star Route Farm Baby Lettuce Salad (with strawberries, almonds, feta & honey-sherry vinaigrette) and the Fresh Maine Lobster Spaghetti with Lobster Cream.  The waiter did say it was rich, but it wasn’t as creamy as I thought it would be.  Sharing it was perfect (especially because we had so much other food!)  We only had wine, but they have some great looking drinks on the menu.  I would definitely recommend it!

BIX | 56 Gold Street, San Francisco, CA 94133 | 415.433.6300

We also hit up the North Beach Fest this wknd and how could I not post this pic? :)

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