Dinner in North Beach

Most people who know me know how much I love love love food and eating out. And what better place to eat out than San Francisco. There are so many amazing restaurants and people who are passionate about good food and dining, which i love! One of my favorite little spots to eat great Italian cuisine is in North Beach, right next to my house. We stopped at a little cafe-like restaurant for some pasta (pesto gnocchi) and red wine. It was such a nice  night so we opted to sit under the heaters by the street--just like a French/Italian cafe! The night wouldn't have been complete without grabbing cappuccino's and a canolli a the small coffee cafe too.

Cinco de Derby

When you live somewhere like San Francisco you have to celebrate every little holiday that exists, especially when its a nice day. Sooo of course, last weekend my friends and I met up for brunch and celebrated Cinco de Mayo while at a Kentucky Derby watching party. 

One day I would like to go to the actual Kentucky Derby just for the experience, but this SF version was my cup of tea. My horse, Sabercat,  totally lost, but I wasn't sad because.....

let's just say my day consisted of a grilled cheese bar, mimosa bar, tequila, mint juleps, summer dresses, large hats and 75 degree weather. Not a bad Saturday if you ask me.

The best part? 

Of course the grilled cheese bar and tequila... :)

Can't wait for next year!

American Cupcake

Ever since the fad of designer cupcakes I never really jumped on the excited cupcake train. I can honestly say I haven't ever been to a cupcake shop before until I stepped foot in American Cupcake. I'm so glad I did though. Not only do they serve cupcakes, but they serve food and drinks as well. I settled for the cupcake, champagne and wine pairing option where they give you 3 mini cupcakes to taste with a pairing of bubbly. YUM!

Super Bowl...

..would have been so much better had the Niners made it!  BUT we still had a ton of fun eating jello shots out of orange rinds and drinking IPA. Not a bad Sunday Funday if you ask me :)

Brunch & Golden Glass Wine Tasting

The other day my girlfriends and I got together for brunch at one of my friends houses. It turned out to be an amazing day in the city so of course we decided to take our mimosas to the roof top and enjoy the view of SF. After our brunch we decided to head over to Fort Mason for the Golden Glass wine tasting. Wineries from all over Italy and California joined up to give us tastings all afternoon. Not only that, but there were food vendors there as well. I wouldn't say it was as neat as the Harvest Festival tasting, but it was still fun!

Crown & Crumpet

Nothing is better than an afternoon of tea and treats! My girlfriends and I met up on Sunday afternoon at Crown & Crumpet in Ghiraradelli Square and it was adorable! I've been wanting to go for a really long time and I felt like I was in London all over again... Definitely expensive, but an experience I won't forget!

Pier 23

After our hike up to Coit Tower we stopped at a little dive bar called Pier 23 right on the Embarcadero. Its somewhat similar to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 minus all of the tourists. So, if you want to feel like a local and do some day drinking and eating, this is the place. 

Mas Sake

A few weekends ago for my roomies birthday we all decided to get a little wild and go to Mas Sake for dinner. According to what we had heard from friends, this place gets pretty interesting and turns into a club after dinner. The restaurant was dark with low lighting, but the music was bumping and it had a cool asian fusion vibe. We called ahead for reservations because they only seat people at 2 time slots during the night.

Apparently, they are known for their sake bombs....

I had never personally taken a sake bomb before so it was new to me. But, I enjoyed it! They served the sake bombs with the choice of cold or hot. We opted for the cold option with pear cider...YUM. The food was great too...and it better be cause this place was not cheap! But, definitely fun for a Friday/Saturday night out with the girls!

Festivities!

It's been a while...so let me give an update on last month's festivities!

Friendsgiving

 Friendsgiving aka Thanksgiving with friends (new term I learned in SF). Here my roomies and I had an impromptu Friendsgiving before we all headed out for the holiday.

Thanksgiving in Boise

I love Thanksgiving. period.

Mama's Restaurant in North Beach

Okay not even kidding this place is to-die-for and I mean it. But, what food doesn't taste awesome when you have to wait in a 2 hour line for it?! See the people waiting in line behind my head? It was listed as one of the best brunch spots in SF so we had to try it and it was a treat. I totally recommend it for brunch--try and go on a weekday morning if you can so you can avoid the weekend lines!

Art Uncorked 

My girlfriends and I gathered together for a little wine and painting night at a hotel downtown. It was super fun and we ended up with such masterpieces to take home:)

{please avoid my demon eyes above :)}

Christmas in the City!

Although there isn't any snow in SF for the holidays--the city still manages to make it very festive! We got lucky and had a Christmas tree lot right across the street which made for easy transporting!

Christmas Parties!

Christmas parties are my favorite! Top left is an investment bank Christmas party on the top floor of the swanky Clift Hotel. Bottom right is us girls getting ready for the Guardsmen Christmas Tree Lot Party! And what is Christmas time without the Nutcracker? They even puffed out fake snow out of the building. :)

SantaCon

This is my first time at SantaCon and it was like NOTHING i have ever seen or participated in! I had quite the adventure bar hopping with thousands of Santa's and I seriously cannot wait for next year!

Note: All my friends from UI/TF need to come visit me for SantaCon next year!

More Christmas and NYE updates to come!

xoxo

Foodie

As I stated in my previous post I have been super busy with a new job and apartment, but while I've been gone from the blog world I have been seriously and I mean seriously experiencing the city!

I've been mainly experiencing the food... Ahhh the food!

And for those of you who know me...this probably isn't a surprise to you. 

i love eating out and eating in general.

Here are 5 restaurants I went to this past month in San Fran that I enjoyed.

1. Tacolicious: Now this was amazing! First of all, this place is right in the heart of the Marina on Chestnut Street. I went with my girlfriends on Halloween night and we got a table right away. We got a seat outside and got to watch all the fun costumes walk down the street.

The Tuna Tostada that I ordered was on the SF 7x7 Big Eat so of course I had to try it. I love avocados and tuna..so put them together and its heaven. I am also really into spicy/hot foods so the spicy sauce on the tostadas was the perfect amount. The only drawback of this dish is that you only get two small tacos for 10 bucks. However, they do have bottomless chips and homemade salsa, which filled me right up. I definitely recommend this place on a weekend for dinner and margs!

2. Txoko: Now this place was rather interesting--nestled in between a few run down buildings and covered in scaffolding in the North Beach area--lets just say it was hard to find. I abosolutely love the NB area so it was fine by me. My friend Emily and I met up and went in to find a practically empty restaurant. We thought it was kind of odd--but then again it was a weekday. Emily and I decided to share a few dishes so we could try more items.
After perusing the menu for a long time we finally decided on a few of the small plates the Txiki cheese plate, Wood Oven Roasted Piquillo Peppers, Local Squid A La Plancha, and the Mushroom Empanada. My favorite was the Mushroom Empanada--very good! These were very small plates so the waitress recommended that we get two main dishes.

We tried the Radicchio A La Plancha which was a persimmon and pomegranate salad. (to die for). I want to imitate the salad for myself.
We finally ended with the Cauliflower Arroz which was similar to a risotto dish and equally amazing. Overall this place was good, but I would recommend going on a weekend when the vibe isn't so dull/quiet.

3. Pancho Villa Taqueria: So this was the first real authentic Mexican Taqueria I have been to in SF. I fell IN LOVE. Wow. Talk about the best salsa I have ever had. EVER.  My girlfriends and I all ordered the Baby Burrito's. I was skeptical that it would be super small, but NO it was huge for only $5.50. I had heard about their tofu burritos and decided to order one. Now this was pretty out of character for me because I love meat, but I tried it and devoured it I loved it so much. I think the best part was the taco bar with a bajillion awesome salsas for me to load up my burrito with. I highly, highly recommend this place next time you are in the Mission!

4. Pluto's: This is another restaurant close to Chestnut in the Marina. They have a few restaurants, but I had never been to one before. I thought it had such a cool concept! You walk in and get to pick 7 different toppings to put in a salad. All the fixings are fresh and the person behind the counter tosses your salad in whatever dressing you choose.

 I got to put all of my favorite things into a salad together. I chose the side salad which was huge and really filling. I added avocados (of course), strawberries, cucumbers, bleu cheese, herb roasted sonoma turkey, cucumbers and a balsamic dressing. It turned out amazing and I definitely recommend this place when you feel like a healthy salad option.

5. Pesce Seafood Bar: My friend Logan came to town a few weeks back just in time for dinner and happy hour on a Tuesday night. I really wanted to take her to Nick's Crispy Taco's on Polk St. because they have Taco Tuesday and its right by my house. But we got there and it was packed with people drinking. We were too hungry to wait in a huge line so we walked back down Polk St. a few blocks and stumbled upon Pesce Seafood Bar. 

It was pretty fancy inside but we sat at the bar and started off with a cocktail. We decided to get a few dishes to share and chose the salmon affumicato which was a light appetizer of smoked salmon on bruschetta. We then tried the Risotto Al Funghi and the Calamari. The Calamari wasn't the best I've had, but the Risotto was great! Pesce is definitely a great place for a date or catching up with a friend.