Hot Lunch: SF Edition

My first meal on my SF trip was on the plane: macaroni salad, breaded chicken patty with honey mustard dressing and pepper, 40% reduced fat Cape Cod potato chips, two Pepperidge Farms Brussels cookies, and two mini bottles of a Chilean cabernet. I was pretty hungry by the time I arrived at the hotel. I promptly ordered room service, as I wasn't about to go walking around San Francisco at 10pm, jetlagged and not knowing where the hell I was. So here we have a mixed greens salad and french fries. Both were actually really good, and I promptly shoved half the plate of french fries into the hallway before I could finish them.

For lunch the next day I had a totally forgettable pad thai, and yesterday I had a slimey mozzarella and pesto sandwich that made me sick. I was walking around Union Square later that day, trying to walk off the slight nausea, when I spotted Sears' Fine Food. Anyplace that is world famous for little pancakes - I' m there. I ordered a plate of 18 mini pancakes with butter, maple syrup and lingonberries. The lingonberries tasted like soap, so I didn't eat them. But everything else was delicious. I was the only one in the whole restaurant. Peace and quiet and pancakes: just the picke-me-up I needed. Around pancake #15 I'd had my fill. The slimy mozzarella sandwich was a distant memory and I was back on my feet. Thanks Sears!
For dinner on Thursday night, a friend took me out to an Italian restaurant on Belden Place (off Bush, near Kearny), a tiny alley packed with restaurants and lots of outdoor seating. I had ravioli with parmesean crust and truffle, garnished with fried sage leaves. Thumbs up! The ravioli were long and rectangular, and there were only two of them. We also had bread with a pesto dipping oil, a fantastic bottle of red wine (which I stupidly did not even look at the label so I have no idea what it was - she ordered) and the dessert tasting menu, which was a tiny version of each item on the dessert menu. And then, two glasses of limoncello to finish it all off, one being on the house. It was so nice of her to take me out, and we had lovely time lingering over all our wonderful food and drink.

For my last hurrah, I met up with one of my most awesomest friends in the world, Matt C., and we went to a little hipster bar in the Mission with some other friends of his, where I was introduced to the intoxicating pleasures of Fernet. Apparently this stuff is wildly popular in SF. You order it "with ginger," which means you get a small glass of ginger ale to act as a chaser. And I must say, the light and bubbly ginger ale was the perfect contrast to the dark, heavy, medicinal Fernet. I had two glasses, which wasn't much, but it was just enough. No disgusting beer bloat, no pounding red wine headache, this stuff cleaned me out and made me buzz from head to foot. I'll be ordering Fernet with ginger the next time I go out, that's for sure!

Now, no trip to SF would be complete without picking up some Ghiradelli. I got myself an Espresso Escape(TM) bar and two 60% Cacao Dark Chocolate bars. I was a little disappointed with the Espresso Escape - it's not some of the better dark chocolate I've tasted. But this didn't stop me from devouring four blocks of it. And it gave me a wicked caffeine buzz - this stuff is strong!

Dutch Almond Cookies

G made these on Saturday, and I have been eating about four a day ever since. They are so good! In the picture in the book they were thinner and smaller, so I think he didn't roll them out flat enough. But so what - they are soft and moist on the inside, sugary and crispy on the outside. I am going to lose five pounds when he goes away to school, I swear.

Whole Wheat Penne

Whole wheat penne with peas, olive oil, salt, pepper and shaved asiago. My new favorite meal. (Please ignore the coffee cup ring).

Bottoms Up

Budget Travel has a neat primer on ethnic liquors, including how to properly drink them. They left out jenever, a super-strong Dutch liquor. This stuff seared my eyelashes off. G and I ordered a shot in Amsterdam last year, and neither of us could finish it.

Huevos Rancheros

Made by G this morning. So good.

Pad Thai

Pad Thai from Em Thai Kitchen on Smith Street in Brooklyn.