Two Days in San Francisco

Petite Auberge

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Hotel | "A Sweet City Sanctuary"

The Petite Auberge on Bush Street Photo - Petite Auberge, San Francisco, California

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We arrived at the Petite Auberge in the evening after a long flight from London. We took the BART train from the airport to Powell Street station and made the short walk to the Petit Auberge, although be warned, the last part is up one of San Francisco’s famously steep hills and if you’re hauling large suitcases, a taxi might be the easier option. Tired and feeling not exactly at our best, we were grateful for a quick and easy check in. We had decided to treat ourselves to one of their Deluxe Queen rooms for our two nights in San Francisco and we were not disappointed. Our first floor room was accessible via a short, carpeted staircase as well as a quaint, metal-gated elevator. ...Read More

We arrived at the Petite Auberge in the evening after a long flight from London. We took the BART train from the airport to Powell Street station and made the short walk to the Petit Auberge, although be warned, the last part is up one of San Francisco’s famously steep hills and if you’re hauling large suitcases, a taxi might be the easier option.

Tired and feeling not exactly at our best, we were grateful for a quick and easy check in. We had decided to treat ourselves to one of their Deluxe Queen rooms for our two nights in San Francisco and we were not disappointed. Our first floor room was accessible via a short, carpeted staircase as well as a quaint, metal-gated elevator.

The room was spacious yet cosy. We were greeted by a wide, tiled fireplace, which ignited at the flick of a wall switch. It may have lacked the smoky crackle of real burning wood but after a long day stuck in economy class, an instant fire in the hearth as a welcome sight. We were also impressed by the fact that after while, it actually put out a lot of heat, warming up the room as far as the bed on the other side.

The olive green and gold-flecked carpet matched the upholstery of the small sofa (which folds out into a bed) by the fireplace. Beside the fire were an ornamental shrub and a white goose, craning its neck upwards inquisitively. Opposite the sofa and beside the window they had a dark wooden table with coffee maker, a tall backed armchair and a writing desk. The shallow bay window was padded with cushions, providing a seating nook.

The wide bed had a warm peach duvet and chequered pillow cases. A clock radio and a TV hidden in the bedside wardrobe completed the bedroom. It was set up for comfort and we certainly felt that. In fact our only criticism is that they had neglected to put the bottle of chilled Champagne in the room that had been requested prior to arrival. They eventually delivered it to us after we had settled into the room but it was lukewarm rather than cool.

I was surprised by the lack of street noise. The double-glazing in the room is somewhat antiquated but apart from a delivery truck or two, the sounds from Bush Street weren’t enough to disturb us greatly. The hotel is in a great location. While Bush Street is fairly quiet, it is only about a ten minute walk to Union Square and about the same again to the Chinatown Gate.

Breakfast at the Auberge is served in a basement dining room which opens out onto a narrow, sheltered courtyard. In December it was a little chilly for an al fresco breakfast but in the summer months I imagine it’s quite pleasant. A buffet smorgasbord was laid out, with a choice of Danish pastries, croissants, muesli, porridge, toast, fresh fruit and cooked options of quiche slices, eggs and mini turkey burgers. Tea, coffee and orange juice and toast are also available and it’s possible to go back as many times as you wish.

Next to the dining room is a fireside lounge, with two plump sofas. Between 5-6pm the hotel serves complementary wine and snacks. On our visit, ginger bundt cake and a selection of dips with raw vegetables and baguette slices as well as red and white wine were available to sample. Upstairs, near the entrance to the hotel were a flask of hot apple cider and a jar of cookies. Not only did we feel very comfortable at the Petite Auberge, but also very spoilt. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on February 4, 2012

Petite Auberge
863 BUSH STREET
San Francisco, California 94108
415-928-6000

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A Walk from Nob Hill to the Ferry Building Marketplace

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Chinatown Photo - San Francisco, California

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We left our hotel on Bush Street and headed east towards the financial district. It was a crisp clear December morning and to our surprise, few people were out on the streets. We felt lucky to have the place to ourselves. We continued as far as Grant Avenue, where the three banks of floating green tile roofs indicate the entrance to San Francisco’s Chinatown. It was a funny experience to walk through the area in such a quiet state. It is the largest Chinatown in North America and is usually teeming with tourists and local merchants. One of the few signs of normal life was a modestly sized walking tour group. They rounded a corner across the road from us and their leader announced matter of...Read More

We left our hotel on Bush Street and headed east towards the financial district. It was a crisp clear December morning and to our surprise, few people were out on the streets. We felt lucky to have the place to ourselves. We continued as far as Grant Avenue, where the three banks of floating green tile roofs indicate the entrance to San Francisco’s Chinatown.

It was a funny experience to walk through the area in such a quiet state. It is the largest Chinatown in North America and is usually teeming with tourists and local merchants. One of the few signs of normal life was a modestly sized walking tour group. They rounded a corner across the road from us and their leader announced matter of factly that they would now be going into a shop to sample tea.

This wasn’t our first visit to San Francisco, which is why we only passed through Chinatown but if it’s your first time, I can recommend spending some time in this area, visiting souvenir shops, tea houses and food shops. Chinatown comes alive at night so it is also a great place to come for dinner.

We turned right on Jackson Street, passing the Great Star Theater and catching our first glimpse of the Transamerica Pyramid skyscraper. It’s not possible to visit the building but it strikes a unique outline on the Chinatown horizon. Just in front of the skyscraper and equally as arresting is the Sentinel Building. Also triangular in shape, it has beautiful rounded window bays bound together by broad copper frames that now have a green patina. Film director Francis Ford Coppola rescued the building in the 1970s, renovating it and installing Cafe Zoetrope and his own business in other parts of the building so that its legacy could live on a little longer.

Another landmark establishment is close by at 255 Columbus Avenue. The bar that is now forever associated with Jack Kerouac opened in 1948 and became a home to a number of Beat Generation artists, writers and musicians. The artwork on the outside of Vesuvio’s Bar is difficult to ignore, as is the bare-bottomed sign hanging above its doors.

While the urge to stop at Zoetrope was strong, and would have been for Vesuvio too had it been a little later in the day, we continued on as we wished to try out the coffee at Caffe Trieste at 601 Vallejo Street. Just off Columbus Avenue and on the cross street of Grant Avenue, Trieste is off the main road on a quiet street but people obviously know that this is the place to come for good coffee. They also have giant cakes and pastries although a few items in the display case looked like they were past their prime.

All the tables at Trieste were taken, even the few outdoor benches, so we ordered lattes to go and continued on along Columbus, turning off onto Stockton Street which took us all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf.

The Embarcadero is a long curve that runs from a small park by Ghirardelli Square all the way to the Ferry Building at the end of Market Street. We made an early lunch stop at Boudin for a sourdough bread bowl full of white clam chowder and then headed east and south along The Embarcadero.

There is a lot to explore along the 19 or so piers that stretch out from the Bay Bridge. The piers around Fisherman’s Wharf target souvenir hungry tourists and there is an opportunity to see a colony of sea lions, usually found sunbathing on Pier 39. You can usually smell them before you see them.

We walked on passing signs advertising boat trips. Tours to Alcatraz leave from Pier 33 and unless you scare easily, it is a tour well worth doing. The pier numbers descend by odd numbers only (even numbered piers are located south of the Bay Bridge) and eventually we reached Pier 1 and the Ferry Building. The Marketplace inside the old building is a tall, grand, slate blue building that looks not unlike an iconic train station (www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com).

Inside are rows of well appointed stalls selling everything from Scharffen Berger chocolate to Cowgirl Creamery cheese to organic skincare products. Recommended stops are Blue Bottle for coffee and if you like mushrooms, there is a dizzying array at Far West Fungi. Just before Christmas, the Marketplace was incredibly busy and seemed like a great place to pick up party snacks and last minute gifts.

From here we said goodbye to the bay and took the Muni all the way to Golden Gate Park and the De Young Museum but if you want to take things at a more leisurely pace, the route we walked can easily take up a full day Read Less

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De Young Museum

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Attraction | "Art of the Arctic, Americas and Africa"

The De Young Museum Photo - De Young Museum, San Francisco, California

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The De Young Museum is a copper brown hulk rising from the mown grass of Golden Gate Park. Originally opened in 1895, the museum had to be rebuilt in 1929 and again in 2005, both times due to damage sustained in earthquakes. Its present incarnation includes a lookout tower and engineering that will help withstand future earthquakes. We bought a general admission ticket, normally $10 but if you show a valid public transport ticket on the day of your visit, it is reduced to $8. Special exhibitions command an additional ticket so we decided to forego the Masters of Venice exhibition from Vienna and headed to the other galleries. The first few rooms we walked through were dedicated...Read More

The De Young Museum is a copper brown hulk rising from the mown grass of Golden Gate Park. Originally opened in 1895, the museum had to be rebuilt in 1929 and again in 2005, both times due to damage sustained in earthquakes. Its present incarnation includes a lookout tower and engineering that will help withstand future earthquakes.

We bought a general admission ticket, normally $10 but if you show a valid public transport ticket on the day of your visit, it is reduced to $8. Special exhibitions command an additional ticket so we decided to forego the Masters of Venice exhibition from Vienna and headed to the other galleries.

The first few rooms we walked through were dedicated to Eskimo and Inuit art, taken from the collection of Thomas G. Fowler, a collector and businessman who made multiple trips to Alaska during his lifetime. Intricate pieces made from whalebone, wood, stone and ivory included renderings of northern animals such as seals and walrus. The smooth models were beautiful in their simplicity and the creators had used real animal whiskers as well as small blue glass beads inlaid for eyes. Other pieces include more practical items such as snow goggles, game boards, dolls and baskets.

Leaving the Arctic gallery, we entered a tall, dark room of glass sculptures, including some by the American sculptor Dale Chihuly. Off this room is a small but impressive display of ancient Mexican artifacts. The "Art of the Americas" collection includes the largest group of Teotihuacan murals outside of Mexico. Most of the pieces date between 200BC and 1550 AD and include an impression of a wall section from Chichen Itza’s ball court.

Upstairs, we rushed through the furniture collection and spent time instead admiring the collection from New Guinea. The ‘Jolika Collection’ took over four decades to amass. Marcia and John Friede collected or were gifted an impressive number of piece from New Guinea and the gallery displays over four hundred for public view. Wandering around the cavernous room, I did ask myself if in fact there was anything left in New Guinea. The collection is fantastic but is quite overwhelming in size. In the neighbouring room but smaller in size is an equally fascinating display of African art.

One of the most memorable pieces for me was Al Farrow’s ‘The Spine and Tooth of Santo Guerro’. His model is a gothic cathedral, built out of guns, bullets, glass, shot, steel, bone and fabric. It’s quite a chilling piece up close, but definitely preferable to seeing guns or bullets used for their more usual purpose.

Our final stopping point was the Hamon Observation Tower, a glass paneled lookout with bright views across the treetops to the ocean on one side and to hilltops on the other. It’s a small room but the floor to ceiling windows give a feeling of greater openness and space. There’s also a small kiosk where you can pick up poster and other souvenirs although there is a larger gift shop back on the ground floor. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on February 4, 2012

De Young Museum
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park.
San Francisco, California 94102
(415) 750-3600

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Boudin at Fisherman's Wharf

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Restaurant | "A Big Bread Bowl at Boudin"

Boudin at the Wharf Photo - Boudin at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California

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Yes the Boudin may be full of hungry tourists but for any seafood-loving soul, it’s a San Francisco right of passage. The place is something of a mini theme park. In the shop window, bakers mould ropes of squidgy dough into plump sourdough rolls and spectators can admire a ‘here’s one I made earlier’ bread rendering of a crocodile. In the foyer, kids were being thrust upon an anemic-looking Santa Claus. On one side there was a metal staircase winding up to what I guess is the main restaurant and on the other, a large, busy self-service cafe and gift shop. A conveyor of baskets ferried metal baskets of decorative sourdough overhead but down on ground level, we wasted little time ordering up...Read More

Yes the Boudin may be full of hungry tourists but for any seafood-loving soul, it’s a San Francisco right of passage. The place is something of a mini theme park. In the shop window, bakers mould ropes of squidgy dough into plump sourdough rolls and spectators can admire a ‘here’s one I made earlier’ bread rendering of a crocodile.

In the foyer, kids were being thrust upon an anemic-looking Santa Claus. On one side there was a metal staircase winding up to what I guess is the main restaurant and on the other, a large, busy self-service cafe and gift shop. A conveyor of baskets ferried metal baskets of decorative sourdough overhead but down on ground level, we wasted little time ordering up two bowls of clam chowder. The ‘bowls’ at Boudin are made from the very sourdough they bake on site, and are bigger than most non-edible vessels.

The clam chowder at Boudin is thick, creamy, with chewy clam morsels and of a perfect consistency to seep into the thick, yet fluffy bread bowl. Fortunately a substantial crust ensures that leakages are unlikely to occur. I had been to Boudin many years ago and for this visit, made sure that I arrived with an empty stomach as the chowder bowl is a substantial meal.

Seating at the bakery is in a somewhat unattractive marquee pitched to the side of the bakery. The garden furniture in a tent idea is practical if nothing else. It is a popular place for family groups and if you drop a few crumbs or make a bit of a mess, it somehow seems to matter less than if you were seated indoors or in nicer surroundings. We watched staff try in vain to shoo a couple of bird intruders out but with all the delicious bread being consumed in the room it must be a losing battle. I did think it was a shame though how the marquee was so enclosed and that any view of the bakery shop or the waterfront was completely obscured.

For those averse to seafood, they also sell sandwiches, salads and pizzas and it is also possible to get tomato and other soups in their sourdough bread bowl if clam chowder doesn’t appeal.
In spite of its location, Boudin offers good value for money. The chowder bowls are $7.29 (less than £5) each. We also got a couple of drinks, including a Red Tail Ale. For two people the bill came to $21.12 (about £13.40). Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on February 4, 2012

Boudin at Fisherman's Wharf
160 Jefferson Street
San Francisco, California 94133
(415) 928-1849

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Don Pisto's

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Restaurant | "A Chili Kick at Don Pisto"

Don Pisto Photo - Don Pisto's, San Francisco, California

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Behind a wealth of Italian eateries is a modern, brash Mexican cantina that seems like it’s doing brisk business. We arrived late on a Friday night and were told that we would have about a half hour wait for a table. The long room has a tiny bar on one side and a long open plan restaurant on the other. Exposed brick walls and steel beams amplify the already noisy and chilly atmosphere and while it has an air of being too cool, the food brings it back down to earth. The open kitchen is shrouded in a smoky veil of chipotle and chili. Animated chefs turn out fresh tortilla chips into a pan the size of a giant paella dish, waiting to be distributed among the hungry crowds. We ordered a bowl of...Read More

Behind a wealth of Italian eateries is a modern, brash Mexican cantina that seems like it’s doing brisk business. We arrived late on a Friday night and were told that we would have about a half hour wait for a table. The long room has a tiny bar on one side and a long open plan restaurant on the other. Exposed brick walls and steel beams amplify the already noisy and chilly atmosphere and while it has an air of being too cool, the food brings it back down to earth.

The open kitchen is shrouded in a smoky veil of chipotle and chili. Animated chefs turn out fresh tortilla chips into a pan the size of a giant paella dish, waiting to be distributed among the hungry crowds. We ordered a bowl of guacamole to try and found ourselves digging into a deep pot of chunky, creamy avocado that had been given a kick of green chili pepper. Their salsa was an unusually vibrant grass green colour and as feisty as the guacamole.

Mexican music beats thumped out across the room where tables of people enjoyed Mexican beers and margheritas. I went for something lighter, ordering a sweet mango soda that was made south of the border.

When our table was finally ready, we ordered the tortilla soup for two to share and some fish tacos. The soup was a spicy, dark broth with stewed chicken, avocado, celery and thin ribbons of fried tortilla. While it was hearty and warmed the insides, it was sadly too spicy for me so as much as I wanted to enjoy it, I couldn’t. The tacos were a little better, wrapped in thick floury tacos and served with shredded lettuce.

The menu is touted as being street food and it certainly is short but well thought out. They have some interesting dishes and many not normally found in Mexican restaurants which is what made it so interesting and ultimately, such a popular place to eat. I was just a disappointed that the heat of the challis they used was too high for me but I guess the peppers in Mexico are a far cry from the milder ones I’m used to across the Atlantic.

For two drinks including one cocktail and two large meals, our bill came to $36.35 (about £23), which is pretty reasonable for the North Beach area. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on February 4, 2012

Don Pisto's
510 Union Street
San Francisco, California 94133
(415) 395-0939

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Top of the Mark

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Restaurant | "Top of the Mark misses the Mark"

Top of the Mark Photo - Top of the Mark, San Francisco, California

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A steep uphill walk from our hotel is the Intercontinental Hotel. Perched on the corner of California and Mason Street, the Intercontinental towers above the city. The hotel’s grand lobby immediately impresses but it is the Top of the Mark bar and restaurant on the 19th floor that draws visitors year round. We arrived early in the evening on a Friday to find that the place was already busy. All window-side seats were occupied so we had to satisfy ourselves with a table in the inner circle of the floor. Asides from the panoramic views, the Top of the Mark touts itself as the place to come if you want to try a Martini, as they claim to serve 100 different varieties of the cocktail. They have...Read More

A steep uphill walk from our hotel is the Intercontinental Hotel. Perched on the corner of California and Mason Street, the Intercontinental towers above the city. The hotel’s grand lobby immediately impresses but it is the Top of the Mark bar and restaurant on the 19th floor that draws visitors year round.

We arrived early in the evening on a Friday to find that the place was already busy. All window-side seats were occupied so we had to satisfy ourselves with a table in the inner circle of the floor. Asides from the panoramic views, the Top of the Mark touts itself as the place to come if you want to try a Martini, as they claim to serve 100 different varieties of the cocktail. They have taken some artistic license with this assertion though as the "100 list" includes pina coladas and margheritas. I’m no cocktail waiter but I’m not convinced these fall into the Martini category.

We decided to keep things Californian and ordered a glass of Domaine Chandon and a MacMurray Pinot Noir. The Chandon is no Champagne but was sufficiently bubbly. The MacMurray was impressive though and very smooth, velvety and full of flavour. Our waiter was nice enough but not particularly knowledgeable, even when it came to recommending regional wines. Instead he rather predictably suggested the two most expensive red wines and seemed to take a guess that the MacMurray was from Sonoma. Once our drinks had been dispatched he seemed to forget about us and we struggled to get someone’s attention to request the bill, making us feel less welcome than we would have liked.

I would recommend stopping in for a drink or two. The views are lovely but the bar itself is in need of a makeover. The carpet is outdated and the arrangement of the tables isn’t very clever. The outer tables would benefit from being elevated so all guests could enjoy the views and the whole place could, and in fact should, be a much classier and professionally run affair. The ornate lobby has a far more impressive interior than the bar and it’s too bad that the elegance displayed downstairs isn’t continued up on the 19th floor. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on February 4, 2012

Top of the Mark
999 California St.
San Francisco, California 94108
(415) 616-6916

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