Save me San Francisco ♥

"Ive been high, I've been low, I've been yes and I've been oh hell no, I've been rock n roll and disco, won't you save me San Francisco" - Train

So as some of you know my amazing parents flew me out to San Francisco as my Christmas present to see my boyfriend, who is externing out there. I had a fabulous time! I met some great new people, went to some delicious restaurants, and just enjoyed spending time with my man. I met the famous Jan Birnbaum, who is the Chef that D is working for, who provided me with 2 wonderful meals, went to a real speak easy, and got a kiss at Cupid's Bow.

I had a great Christmas and I hope that you all did too! So let me take you on a little walk of my trip!

I got in about midnight on Monday, Dec. 19th, so I was exhausted. It was 3 o'clock back home and I had gotten REALLY sick with the flu Saturday night before I was supposed to leave. My right ear hadn't cleared on the flight so I couldn't hear anything and it was throbbing. Despite everything, I was so excited when I finally got off the BART and saw D. All the bad things melted away. Not only is he my boyfriend of (almost c: ) 3 years, he is my best friend and favorite person in the world. So I was stoked to see him.

He had the next day, Tues., off so we got to spend the whole day together. We slept in and then decided we were too hungry to sleep anymore so we headed over to a place called John's Burgers, that D had discovered the day before. He had said the Asian man who owned it was so sure you'd like his burgers that he made you take a bite in front of him before you left. If you didn't like it he would make you anything else on the menu until you were happy. But after that first bite, you didn't want anything else. D said they were the best burgers that he had in a long time, so that had be convinced. We walked across the street and into the shop.



 I ordered the Ranch burger and fries. D got the Philly Cheese steak.

They both were amazing. Mine had ranch, bacon, cheese, pickles, red onion, tomatoes, and lettuce. It was the most delicious burger I had ever put in my mouth. I was in love. D's was excellent too. Creamy, melted cheese, with the steak and onions. Its making my mouth water right now!

First bite of pure joy!

It was a tiny little place. It maybe could have fit about 15 people comfortably. It was in what looked like the back room of the Donut World in front. But it's worth hunting it out. He had a collection of all the spices you could want, so you could customize your burger eating experience.

Available for customer's use!

There was an article that had been written about them on a website, that was hung up near our table and I agreed with every word. If you are ever in SOMA in San Francisco, look up John's Burgers. You won't be disappointed. I promise!

If you are ever in SOMA in San Francisco, look up John's Burgers. You won't be disappointed. I promise!

Next we went for a walk down to the Ferry Building and to take a tour of D's restaurant. It was a nice walk, even though the streets in the city are very dirty and there were plenty of bums to chase you around. I have been to New York, Chicago, even downtown Detroit, and I have never held onto my purse or worried more than on the streets of San Fran. But we stayed safe.

We passed by where the Occupy S.F. camps had been set up. I was kind of disappointed that they had broken them up right before I came in. I wanted to see what one was like. D had been telling me all about it for weeks now. He didn't like them there at all but I thought it would have been neat to see their huge camp.

So we continued on to the Ferry Building.

Inside was filled with some of the coolest shops I had ever seen. They had a butcher, a cheese maker, a honey maker, fresh herbs, vegetables, so many beautiful food items. I was in heaven. It was like a high end farmer's market in doors. I could have spent hours in there. We got a hot drink and headed back outside. It was only in the 40s (not as cold as the mitten, but not warm by any means)

There is a phenomenal view of the Bay Bridge on the walk from the Ferry Building to Epic. I have to say there were beautiful, clear, blue skies everyday I was in S.F. If it were a little warmer, I might not have left.

The Bay Bridge. Not to be confused with the Golden Gate Bridge.

We also passed the Cupid's Bow. A huge piece of art that was donated by some very wealthy people to the city of S.F.

People will bring their dogs here to play because there is not a lot of grass in the city. We watched them play, snapped some pictures, and then I stole a kiss. I figured it had to be good luck by Cupid's Bow.

D and I ♥

The artist

We finally made it to Epic! Dustin gave me a tour. It was stunning inside. It has a gorgeous view of the bay and the bridge. I loved it.

His chef was busy so I didn't get a chance to meet him then, but I would be back the next night for dinner so I was excited.

We started walking back towards D's apartment and decided to stop by the GIGANTIC Westfield mall. It's like 5 levels up and 3 levels down. It was very impressive. We ate some sorbet in the food court and then walked around until we reached the massive dome at the top.

I had Lemon and D had Melon. They were yummy!



The dome that is completely animated. It changes color every few minutes. My favorite was when it turned blue and looked like it was snowing. It was beautiful and I got my "white" Christmas in S.F.



We left the mall, after D bought me a pair of beautiful teal suede heels as a surprise! He is seriously the best. I mean shoes, come on! So we decided to walk down to see the big Christmas tree. It was lovely and they had an ice skating rink there too. But it was so crowded we just decided to watch all the skaters instead.

We made it back to the apartment and we were hungry for dinner. We called up D's friend Sunny to see if she wanted to go get some sushi with us. I was excited to meet her. She had been friends with D since he started school and they had been in class together. So we decided to go to Domo in Hayes Valley, which is not too far from where we were.

Domo's sign.

There is only about seating for 12 inside so you have to put your name on the list and wait for people to leave. We didn't have to wait too long which was nice.

waiting for our table.

Once inside we got three seats at the bar and ordered a lot of food. We split everything!



We started with Edamame and 3 Sapporos. We got a crudo of salmon and spicy tuna. We got the Domo Roll -baked California roll topped with salmon & scallops with spicy mayo, bbq unagi glaze, tobiko & scallions. The Crunchy California -tempura battered California roll with spicy mayo, scallions & tobiko. And a shrimp one that I  can't remember or find on the menu. But they were all amazing.




Kobe Beef Roll -asparagus, ginger, avocado, ponzu & seared american kobe beef outside

The spicy hulk - spicy tuna & avocado, tobiko wrapped in a cucumber sheet with lemon ponzu .. this one none of us really cared for because it wound up being too much tuna. The texture was just mush and it was kind of hard to eat. But it tasted good.

We all had a lot of fun and good conversation. I really enjoyed meeting Sunny. She is very sweet and I am glad we got a long so well.



D and Sunny



D and I



Sunny and I. Cheers to new friends!

  After we left Domo we walked down the street to get some ice cream at Smitten. They make their ice cream with fresh ingredients and liquid nitrogen, so every order is made completely fresh for you. It was amazing.

Our TCHO Chocolate Ice Cream. Tasted like frozen hot chocolate. It was so creamy and rich. Delish!

So that was just my first day! Whew! It was busy but it was so much fun.

The next day we woke up just in time for lunch. Across the street we saw there was a farmer's market going on in the plaza, complete with food trucks. So we promptly got dressed and went in search of the Bacon, Bacon Truck. A food truck in S.F. that does all bacon. D had it the week before I got there and it looked amazing. Plus who doesn't love Bacon!

There was no Bacon Truck to be found, so hungry we headed down the street to Sam's diner.

I got a club sandwich and D got a salad and grilled ham and cheese. It was good, but nothing extremely exciting.

Then we headed home. I napped and D got ready and went to work. I lounged around, showered and got ready, and then went down and walked around the mall for a bit to kill time until my 8:30 reservation at Epic.

I had a phenomenal meal at Epic. I sat Chef's table, or the counter, right in front of their open kitchen. So I got to watch D work the Cold App station. I drank wine and bites order by Chef Birnbaum himself. I didn't order a thing. It was one of the coolest nights of my life.

I was first given a bite that was a chickpea cake. It looked so good I ate it before I remembered to take a picture. They also brought me out some delicious homemade bread.

Then the chef ordered me their Wood Oven Flash Roasted Monterrey Squid Salad. It was incredible. The gnocchi were like little bites of melty heaven that filled your whole mouth with joy. I would eat them all night!

Caramelized Gnocchi, Garlic Lemon Escarole and Pumpkin-Apple Cider Coulis

My server came over and asked what kind of steak I would be interested in. After all it is a steakhouse. I wasn't really in the mood for steak. I really wanted duck, but they didn't have any, so instead I order the Cornish Hen that was on special. It was very good.



Cornish hen. They also gave me everyone of their sides to try. They had truffle mashed potatoes. I could have eaten a whole vat. They were the most delicious potatoes I've ever encountered.

 Then D sent me out a Tuna Crudo that was the crudo of the day. It was lightly panko crusted and amazing. D really did some amazing work at the cold app station.
 



 I was so full by this point I was going to skip dessert. I was in no way prepared for what was going to happen next!


D sent me out a plate that had a sample of every kind of dessert they had. So I had to try everything and of course everything was so wonderful I kept eating!

 I enjoyed another glass of wine while D was finishing up and then we went out to a local bar with some of his friends from work. Katie, Chef Brad, John, and Scott. It was a really fun time getting to know his friends at work. We walked home and called it a night.

D was off again on Thursday so we lounged around in the morning and I finally googled some breakfast places in S.F. that were supposed to be the best. Which is how I found Dottie's True Blue Cafe .. It's not far from D's place so we walked only to find a line! Yep folks, a line outside. Again only seating about 30 people you will wait. But it's worth it. It was a little expensive, (we spent 50$ on breakfast for two) it was spectacular!



I had one of their specials. It had feta, bacon, avocado and lots of other goodies, with their potatoes and homemade buttermilk/dill toast.




I think D got the southwestern. It was loaded with meat and came with tortillas. It was yum too, but not as good as mine!




Then we split an order of pancakes. The one on the bottom is Cinnamon and Ginger and the one on the top is blueberry cornbread. They were a meal in them self and extremely good.

 We went back to D's, played some COD and then decided we wanted to go somewhere nice for dinner. So we chose Coi. Two of D's friends from school are externing there so we decided to check it out. It was the most amazing dining experience of my life. It was elegant and perfect. I was so happy to have my first experience like that be with D.

I didn't think it would be appropriate to take pictures there of this things we had, but I do have the menu! We split one 11 course tasting menu, between the two of us, and skipped on the pairings. We did have a couple amazing glasses of wine (like the rare sparkling saki that came out with the first course. Amazing!

mandarin sour (mandarin ice, frozen meringues, angostura bitters)

oysters (wild greens, asian pear, finger lime)

inverted fromage blanc tart (wheatgrass, fennel, chervil)

dungeness crab raviolo (sheep sorrel, butter crab broth)

brassicas and new olive oil (dandelion, charred onion broth)

salsify (black trumpet mushrooms, lichen vinaigrette)

monterey bay abalone (heirloom chicories, shellfish sauce)

aged duck breast (stuffed cabbage, roasted beets, horseradish, dill)

‘mussette’ (lees, bellini)

citron (frozen lime marshmallow, gin candies)

chocolate (chicory, olive oil)

I don't know if I will ever have another opportunity like that again, but I will never forget it. Truly remarkable. 

D had to work again on Friday. We woke up and were going to go to another famous Breakfast place, but it was going to be too far away. So we walked down to The Little Griddle, which is about two blocks away. They were done serving breakfast so we got burgers instead. They weren't as good as John's but they were pretty good. I got the Californication and D got the Lucifer. 



The Lucifer-square donut bun, apple smoked bacon, american cheese .. yes that's a real glazed donut. Yes it was awesome.




The Californication- apple smoked bacon, avocado swiss mayo .. I got my with Jack cheese tho. The Avocado was in huge hunks, so mine kind of fell apart but it was still delicious.



We relaxed until he left for work (he was on desserts that night) and then after he left I blogged because I missed you guys!! Then showered and again went up to Epic for dinner. I wasn't super hungry, but I knew that I had to try their mac n cheese! So I had their Little Gem Salad. It has blue cheese and bacon brittle. It was tasty and then I had their mac n cheese.

It was delicious and super comforting. I told Chef Birnbaum that it was second only to my own! He thought that was a huge compliment and gave me a hug. We chatted for a while and then I was sent over my favorite epic dessert, their Beignets with Bannana pudding!

It was another fantastic night at Epic!

Saurday night was Christmas Eve. We set had set up a little tree in the corner so we had some Christmas in the apartment.

We laid around all morning, ordered pizza, discovered a new show (Grimm, which is awesome) and relaxed together. We had made reservations weeks before at a Bourbon and Branch, a real speakeasy that never got shut down during the 1920's. We got dressed up in our 20's wear and got ready for a great night.



my 20's makeup



I curled my hair and pinned it into a bob. I then added a glittery head band and a feather.

I was proud of my hair and it stayed all night



Looking so good.



We had a great time. Met some awesome people. Drank waaaay too many good drinks and made it home just in time for Christmas!

For Chirstmas day we didn't do a whole lot of anything. D was hungover so we just laid around. We walked down to Subway (which was miraculously open) got lunch and then came back and watched the rest of Grimm. D fell asleep and I caught up on my other shows. Then we order in Chinese and watched t.v. the rest of the night.

It was a very quite Christmas but I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was just nice to be with my man ♥

I know this post was super long but I hope that you all enjoyed! I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Look forward to blogging more for you in 2012!

Xo

jay <3