Flying With Faber: My Annual Visit to San Francisco
This hotel represents an excellent example of graceful, modern architecture. The soaring tower of translucent cool blue has become one of the city’s most admired modern landmarks. Located directly adjacent to the Moscone West Convention Center, this gleaming structure occupies a strategic location for both business travelers and leisure visitors. The hotel is within easy walking distance of Union Square, premium shopping areas, including the Westfield complex, and some of the city’s best restaurants and saloons and the theater district. Reaching 32 stories above the trendy south of Market Street District, the hotel embodies 550 rooms, 14 suites, 43,000 square feet of flexible and diverse meeting space, a spa with 10 treatment rooms, a full-service fitness center, and an indoor heated lap pool. Club Intercontinental, offered for just a few extra bucks, is a classy club lounge where, throughout the day, you can grab a coffee, enjoy an extensive breakfast buffet in the morning or down a few cocktails and hot snacks during happy hour. On the top three floors, the Club Floor accommodations deliver spectacular views. Other Club Floor goodies include twice-daily maid service, premium robes and slippers, complimentary local calls, and a special pillow menu. In addition to customary hotel services, the Intercontinental offers complimentary luxury sedan service, babysitting, free Wi-Fi and foreign currency exchange. All rooms, elegantly appointed with luxurious wood and marble touches, have large working areas, LCD televisions, hi-speed and Wi-Fi Internet, and floor to ceiling windows affording spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline.Decorated to reflect modern sophistication, the 14 top-of-the-line hotel suites can operate as a perfect place to conduct business as well as a superior location for leisure time with family or friends. Four Seasons Hotel, 757 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94101, 415/633-3500, fourseasons.com/sanfrancisco.
Majestically soaring above Market Street, just two blocks from the financial district in one direction and three blocks from Union Square and luxury shopping in the other direction, this hotel offers unparalleled grace, luxury, and charm in a setting, which is undersated, pampering, and relaxing. Although I consider the Four Seasons to be the classiest hotel in town, no one gave me that supercilious look as I strolled through the lobby in my raggedy jeans. This hotel is ideal for both a high-powered business meeting or just to kick back. “The demographics are changing dramatically,” Doug Housley, the General Manager, told me. “High-tech young men and women are moving to, or visiting San Francisco for business. This group demands the best, but they eschew those pesky haughty attitudes.”“Culinary and libation tastes are changing as well,” said Erissa Kido, the Food and BeverageAssistant Director. Folks demand fine wines, fun drinks, and healthy, understandable food.”
This hotel is the epitome of luxury, while at the same time, an inviting casual retreat for guests of all ages. Enter the stately lobby and feel the warmth of the paneled walls, the soft, earth-tone colors, and the friendliness of the efficient, down-to-earth staff. The guestrooms exude subtle refinement and a residential ambiance with soft hues of rich mocha, teal, and pewter. Views from the floor-to-ceiling windows are breathtaking. Marble bathrooms are huge, all with a deep soaking tub and a glass-enclosed shower. The accommodations have large dressing areas, comfy lounge chairs, dedicated working areas with executive desks, and huge flat screen TVs. Available to guests is the next-door Equinox Sports Club with a 75-foot pool, 127,000 feet of workout and wellness space, and even a place to gather a pick-up game of basketball. Bring the kids – the hotel provides them with special coloring books and other toys, milk and cookies, and top-notch babysitters.
Restaurants
John’s Grill, 63 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, 415/986-0069, www.johnsgrill.com
If Dashiell Hammett ate here, it’s certainly a place one should try. This landmark, the partial inspiration and setting for The Maltese Falcon, has been one of my haunts for years. Many of the dishes hark back to the mid-twentieth century. Such classical items as a jumbo prawn cocktail, Maine lobster ravioli in a creamy tomato sauce or genuine New England clam chowder, on the endangered list at most places, are impeccably prepared and presented at John’s Grill. Steaks, from Harris Ranch are Certified Angus and are carefully aged. The choice ranges from bone-in New York, rib eye to T-Bone or porterhouse. Served with a huge baked potato and fresh vegetables, these steaks are juicy, succulent and extremely tasty. Other meat dishes include outstanding lamb chops or calves liver and onions. The interior is a masterpiece of mid-century design. Genuine wood-paneled walls, soft lighting, cozy booths, period furnishings and a virtual museum of some of San Francisco’s early golden years. The walls are adorned with black and white photos of famous patrons of the past. You will feel as if you were stepping back to another time; yet, service and cuisine present just the right subtle amount of modern touches. The restaurant is within walking distance of Moscone Convention Center, the downtown theater district, Union Square and many of the major hotels. Osso Steakhouse, 1177 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108, 415/771-6776, www.ossosteakhouse.com
Notwithstanding admonitions from my cardiologist, my journalistic endeavors often embed me in danger. My missions are not as perilous as those of a war correspondent, but I do expose my arteries to butter, steaks, sauces and too many carbohydrates. I love every moment of it––and at my advanced age, I can still fly an airplane and perform 100 pushups. I performed both on this trip. Plus I write a column entitled “In Search of the Ultimate Steak,” so what choice do I have?We visited two steakhouses. Although miles apart in terms of décor and culinary philosophy, each was outstanding. Atop Nob Hill, Osso has a spiffy, modern design with soft lighting, booths with white tablecloths and an impressive open stainless steel kitchen. Service is highly efficient and attentive but certainly not overbearing. You will be comfortable either in jeans or tailor- made attire. The folks at Osso are scrupulous, even fanatic, about the proper aging and preparation of their prime beef. Steaks are aged in a special facility for up to six weeks in a sanitized and closely monitored environment where the ambient temperature must be maintained within a degree. Humidity must be exactly 15 percent, and the flow of air must be at 15 feet per second around the exposed meat. Then, the beef is cut to Osso’s specifications.The steaks are cooked in extremely hot cast iron skillets – a method I have employed at home for many years. Pan cooking allows greater control, excellent searing, and the means by which the cook can gather the juices and baste the steak. The result will be one of the juiciest, flavor-packed steaks you will ever encounter.Ordinarily, I’m not much of a filet mignon fan. However, Osso’s two-inch thick bone-in version was absolutely out of this world! Osso offers a Porterhouse steak where they divide the filet portion from the New York co-tenant. Sides include a wonderful mac and cheese and a roasted potato-vegetable combination, which is outstanding. Franciscan Crab Restaurant, Pier 43 1/2 Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, CA 94133, 415/362-7733. www.franciscanrestaurant.com
My annual visits are not complete without a stopover at Franciscan. Perhaps it’s trifle touristy, but who cares? The seafood is among the freshest in town, the service is impeccable, and the prices are far from tourist-aggressive. What better endorsement than the many locals who frequent the place. High ceilings and 20-foot windows, offer unforgettable views of San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, San Francisco’s spectacular skyline, Alcatraz, and of course, historic Fisherman’s Wharf. Built in the late 1950s and recently remodeled, the Franciscan restaurant has been a long-standing component of San Francisco seafood dining and Fisherman’s Wharf’s landscape. Countless visitors, both native and from afar, have made the Franciscan restaurant a local tradition in seafood dining on the wharf – and throughout the city, for that matter. Now for the cuisine, I recommend starting off with a plate of fresh oysters or a crab cocktail. And by all means, don’t overlook the luscious clam chowder. The bowl is a half loaf of sourdough bread from which the center has been scooped out – I ate the bowl as well.Just-caught fish of almost every description is available – halibut, salmon, sea bass, all cooked either on the grill or fried. Also offered is a wide selection of pasta dishes. My favorite is clams fettuccini. You can enjoy a chicken sandwich, a crab slider, or a crab enchilada – or a filet mignon, but I came here for the seafood – and there is no better whole roasted Dungeness crab than the critter served at Franciscan. The waiter will place the plated whole crab on the table so that you are face to face with the critter. Indeed, it stares you down. I stared back and almost felt sorry for its imminent plight. Instantaneously, my hunger overcame my sympathy. This was the freshest, juiciest crab I have ever devoured.Save room for dessert. They make their own frozen custard, just like the Wisconsin variety. We took it on as a chocolate sundae. I also suggest the wild strawberry cheesecake or the chocolate truffle cakeRN74, 301 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, 415/543-7474, www.rn74.com
Michael Mina, one of America’s most impressive avant-garde chefs, has placed his imprint on a number of new restaurants, among them, RN74. Taking its name from the highway, Route Nationale 74, which runs directly through the Burgundy region of France, it’s no surprise that this is a wine-centric French inspired restaurant.RN74’s wine program, created by Mina Group wine director and James Beard Award-winning author, Rajat Parr, focuses heavily on the greatest producers and regions of Burgundy. However, the well-balanced list also showcases international and domestic selections. RN74 has been awarded Wine Spectator’s highest honor, the “Grand Award” every year since 2010.RN74’s menus are clearly inspired by the wine program; built on a foundation of regional French cuisine, yet market driven with refined, modern American influences. Adam Sobel is the Executive Chef and Partner at RN74 where his creations reflect his aptitude for melding international flavors with classic French techniques as well as his preference for working with local ingredients. At RN74, Sobel draws from France’s culinary impact on different parts of the world to deliver a menu packed with dishes rooted in the spirit of classic French cooking but presented in modern and occasionally whimsical iterations. Menu highlights include; Pate De Foie De Canard with Armagnac and spiced cherries, RN74 steak tartare with Vietnamese flavors, slow-cooked Alaskan halibut with crayfish and Champagne sabayon, served tableside and roasted veal sweetbreads with fiddlehead ferns, and English peas. For dessert, I suggest the warm French crullers with caramelized white chocolate and cinnamon or the graham cracker ice cream with praline cake. Twenty Five Lusk, 25 Lusk St., San Francisco, CA 94107, www.twentyfivelusk.com
(Courtesy Twenty Five Lusk, San Francisco)Sunday had arrived. We heard about a restaurant with an incredible interior design and fantastic cuisine. We decided to walk from our hotel, down through the Mission District. After weaving through a few alleys, we started to get into the mood. After all, you can get dressed up and take a limo or taxi to some fancy joint with a door man – or you can make finding the place an integral part of the culinary adventure. So here we were, in an area where, just a few years ago, a venture within would have been an exercise of bad judgment. Today, walking these streets is the quintessence of millennia cool. And the inside? Wow! What was probably a warehouse, factory or perhaps a speakeasy is now a room with huge old beams, brick floors, glass partitions, stainless steel and cozy booths. Now, two adventures, getting there and seeing the interior. But the third adventure was the best. I opted for the brunch burger – a monster of a hunk of meat enclosed in a bun of even greater proportion. The burger was obliged to share the bun with a fried egg, a few slabs of bacon, and some fontina cheese – just what the doctor didn’t order. But I threw caution to the winds. Each bite produced a squirt of juiciness that jettisoned in all directions. Perhaps the best burger of the century. Cheryl ordered pancakes the size of pillows. Stuffed with pineapple and white chocolate, the flavor and texture were outstanding. Also, you might consider the lobster Benedict with poached eggs, prosciutto, wild arugula and sauce hollandaise, a pork belly Monte Cristo with fontina, pickled ginger and pear compote, or a truffle cauliflower frittata with cheese, arugula, and Meyer lemon. I can’t wait to go back for dinner to take a look at the Muscovy duck, the fried chicken, the rack of lamb, or the Sturgeon schnitzel. Most of all, I can’t wait for next year to arrive for my annual trip to San Francisco.
