Amy and Sophie ... "Celebrating in San Francisco”

Celebrating in San Francisco

In early January 2016, Sophie and I took advantage of our recently won right to legally marry in North Carolina. We were headed to San Francisco for the Society for Classical Studies Conference where she was to be honored with a national teaching award. We decided to consider this trip a honeymoon of sorts for our sweet and low fanfare legal union. While in SF we ate and drank well. Here are some reflections on these culinary explorations.

San Francisco is home to a number of remarkable all vegan eateries. This visit I was able to visit just one of these, but I ate well and plant-based (though not always low-fat) throughout the 4-day trip. We stayed at a huge conference hotel just off Union Square.

Dinner day 1—Sophie and I were quite hungry by the time we arrived at our hotel in the early evening, so we explored our choices in a two-block area and decided to try an Indian restaurant called New Delhi (newdelhirestaurant.com). The interior was grand with high ceilings and elaborate decorations and as it was quite early California time (6ish) it was not too crowded yet. We started with a vegetarian platter of appetizers that included mint and tamarind chutney, a papadum, a samosa, two onion bhaji, and 4 pakora. The menu had a wide array of main dish vegetarian choices so we branched out a bit and tried two dishes which were unfamiliar. In my experience it is rare to find vegetables in the Tandoori section of an Indian restaurant menu. The dish was called Vegetable Shaslik. It was essentially grilled mushrooms, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, onions tossed in a hot aromatic mix of spices. Sophie chose an eggplant curry with tamarind. I learned for the first time that she is a fan of tamarind. It was sweet and tangy, with a lovely soft eggplant texture and delicious over pullao rice. We added yellow dahl to the order and together the 3 dishes complemented each other spectacularly well.

Breakfast day 2—We met my Dad and Barbar who came in from Washington State to celebrate with us around 9 AM and went in search of tea and a quick breakfast. We ended up at the hotel grab and go location and I had a very nice bowl of steel cut oats with raisins and walnuts that came in separate little dishes and the requisite cup of English Breakfast tea. Definitely SF hotel prices, but all 4 of us with different dietary priorities were able to find something suitable.

Lunch day 2—A requisite San Francisco experience! Sophie had never been on a cable car so the 4 of us walked to the end of the Hyde and Powell line to take the cable car to Ghirardelli Square and to visit the Buena Vista café—home of renowned Irish Coffees (thebuenavista.com). When we arrived at the start of the line we learned (courtesy of a person selling papers to raise money for people living without homes in the city) that line was not running due to some works problem. However, and here is the good part, if we just stood on a particular corner we would see a free shuttle bus that would take us to our destination at the other end of the cable car line. And, lo an’ behold about 20 minutes later after an interesting city tour we were dropped off in front of the Buena Vista.

I now know that a whipped cream-free Irish is called a “royale”. And when I asked the waitperson for help with finding a vegan lunch (after having difficulty finding something both meat and dairy free on the menu), she smartly suggested an avocado, lettuce and tomato sandwich on whole-wheat toast (even their veggie burger had cheese in it), which came with a vegetable side. A perfectly nice lunch in great company at a table with a view of the San Francisco bay.

Dinner day 2—After watching the sun go down and the city light up at the bar on the 46^th floor of our hotel, we went in search of more delicious food. It had been thunder storming on and off all day so we were in again in search of something nearby. We landed at an Italian Restaurant called Puccini and Pinetti (pucciniandpinetti.com). With a few questions and a bit of negotiation, I found myself with an awesome warm spinach salad topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms and red peppers, decorated with candied walnuts (subbed for the gorgonzola cheese). The whole thing was well tossed with an appropriate amount of balsamic dressing. In addition, ordered a side of their special vegetable of the day: roasted Brussels sprouts and a side of truffle fries. The sprouts were cooked perfectly, but the fries were a bit disappointing—not particularly hot and topped with parmesan cheese. Maybe the universe was trying to remind me not to overconsume fat!

Fresh rolls at Old Siam

Breakfast day 3 (and 4)—We tried the Taylor Street Coffee Shop (taylorstreetcoffeeshop.com/) which we had passed up the day before because it was crowded and tiny (about 8 feet wide!) Barbar had read reviews of it on the Web and said it was highly rated. Walking across the street to it’s entrance we had to circumnavigate an huge wall of garbage cans and recycling piles, but once on the list we were seated in about 5 minutes and were treated to a fresh made delicious breakfast. Again, I had to work with the waitperson to find a vegan offering (other than cereal or toast), but they kindly worked with me to put together a delicious pile of hashbrowns topped with peppers, onions, and mushrooms, with sourdough toast and a side of avocado. The plate was garnished with sliced strawberry and orange. We liked our food so much we went back the next day. I had the same thing except I added side of greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.

Spicy eggplant with tofu and basil at Old Siam

Mango Fantasy

Lunch day 3—Sophie and I both love Thai food and enjoy trying it in new locations. In between her conference sessions we dined at The Old Siam Restaurant (201 Ellis Street, Union Squatre). I had tasty versions of my favorite dishes…fresh rolls (filled with salad and a bit of tofu) with a hoisin like dipping sauce and spicy eggplant with tofu and basil. Sophie tried a new to her dish on the lunch special which was tofu and vegetables over rice topped with peanut sauce and a beautiful drink called a “mango fantasy.” I had unsweetened Thai ice tea without the milk and it was quite good.

Dinner day 3—On this evening we had the great pleasure of dining with a dear friend, Claudia who is a very long time resident of the area. She met us at the hotel at about 7PM and took us on a walking tour of the city that landed us at one of her favorite vegan restaurants called Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant (www.enjoyveggie.com). We started with steamed hand made dumplings that were delicate and tasty and dipped them in a dark soy and vinegar sauce. The next course was an outstanding (egg free!) hot and sour soup with handmade wontons and big colorful slivers of vegetables. We then chose 3 entrees—a spinach-like greens dish not on the menu with a ginger and fermented sauce, braised spareribs with daikon and eggplant with spicy garlic sauce. The vegan spareribs dish was amazing-aromatic, tangy and a lovely blend of flavors. The textures of the dish were even more remarkable. I had never cooked daikon before and it was soft but still maintained a bit of the radish crunch, the napa cabbage in the dish was soft and luxurious, the shitake mushrooms slippery and the veggie sparerib was chewy and complexly flavored. It was all served up with delicious tea. The meal here was decidedly the culinary highlight of the trip.

Lunch day 4—Lunch the next day was at a Mediterranean takeout place called Oasis Grill. We had a falafel wrap in lavosh and sides of baba ganoush and tabouli. At this point, I dubbed this my eggplant tour of San Francisco. Good, fast, and reasonably priced.

Spicy eggplant at Lers Ros

Mango curry at Lers Ros

Dinner day 4—After celebrating Sophie’s award in the evening at the conference. We trekked a half mile into the tenderloin area of SF to find a highly rated Thai Restaurant called Lers Ros. Unfortunately, we got there quite late and there was a line out the door and a 30-plus-minute wait so we headed back towards the hotel and stopped at a different Thai restaurant that advertised a vegan and halal menu. Not surprisingly, I had spicy eggplant with basil again. This time with brown rice and Sophie had Mango Red Curry. It was filling and tasty…though not memorable enough to remember the restaurant name.

Even on our long trek home the next day we found healthy vegan food at SF airport and Houston airport. Kind of amazing. One has to look carefully sometimes, ask questions nicely sometimes, and do a bit of negotiating sometimes, but there is whole food plant-based meals in all sorts of unlikely places!