Visiting San Francisco

I had to visit SF for a professional event at the Moscone center. I stayed in the Mission district. There wasn’t a ton of time to explore the city, but here’s what I did find time for!

Tropisueño

A choster recommended Tropisueño, and it was right next to the hotel. So this is where we went for dinner on the first night. Sat on the patio (sorry about the lighting) and had some chips and dips.

I had a passionfruit margarita and the tampiqueño. It was Very Good.

Cocktail served in a regular glass with ice and a salt rim — Passionfruit Margarita

Sauce, beans, rice, and probably an enchilada under all of it — Passionfruit Margarita

DragonEats

This is a little Vietnamese place. The lunches served at the conference left Something To Be Desired, so we dipped out for a short walk into chinatown. The promise was duck bahm mi, but they were out of roast duck 😭

It was messy, but we ate a park so it’s fine. It was fantastic.

Pork sandwich — Half-eaten roast pork bahn mi (sans cilantro)

Amber

Another suggestion from the same choster: Amber Indian Restaurant. We’re all exhausted from Conference Day 1 and didn’t want to go to the Fall Out Boy concert, so we went here instead. Another great meal. It was served family-style.

Cocktail in a rocks glass with ice and a pink flower garnishing it — COVID Cure Cocktail: turmeric infused Gin, Grapefruit tonic

Lots of different Indian curries, sauces, grilled meats, and drinks. — COVID Cure Cocktail: turmeric infused Gin, Grapefruit tonic

Mazarine Coffee

On the second day of the conference, we stopped by Mazarine Coffee for breakfast. They’re what comes up if you google “best avocado toast san francisco“, so I figured it had to be good. Plus, they use Dandelion Chocolate for their mocha.

I didn’t get a photo of the waffle someone else got, but it came with a little pot of chocolate syrup.

Fancy avocado toast, with watermelon-slice-looking radishes — Avocado Toast: Avocado, Chèvre, Watermelon Radish, Chives, Sea Salt, and Pepper on Pain de Mie

Egg held firm to bacon with a lot of cheese, on toast — Avocado Toast: Avocado, Chèvre, Watermelon Radish, Chives, Sea Salt, and Pepper on Pain de Mie

Interlude

I’ve been in the new Salesforce tower, eating a lot of their food. I guess it’s done in-house? But we don’t have a lot of time to go out and explore for lunch, sadly.

San Francisco skyline from above — View from the 61st floor of the Salesforce tower.

Rolled ice cream, with skillfully-made multi-colour rolls — View from the 61st floor of the Salesforce tower.

Osito

I booked Osito for a team dinner. The menu was a fish & forage theme, and everything incorporated that theme — including the desserts. Which was a little bit Much, but it was certainly unique!

We started over at their cocktail lounge and their drinks were fantastic. With dinner, we had an almost-all-rose pairing. The non-alcoholic pairings were all knock-outs too — if you compared the wine to the drink they made, they were pretty close on tasting notes. Their mixologist certainly knows what they’re doing!

Frothy espresso martini served in a coupe — Espresso Martini: vodka, espresso, ‘cacao vermouth,’ cassis, blueberry

Clear fluid in a small cup — Espresso Martini: vodka, espresso, ‘cacao vermouth,’ cassis, blueberry

The big fires in the kitchen were nice, but I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more Stuff Clearly Cooked On An Open Flame served. I guess it’s hard with some of these more delicate seafoods, but I was expecting a big presentation of a whole-roasted fish or something.

They had a community table, but we didn’t really chat with anyone. The meatball dish was assembled table-side, and I thought that was kind of a weird choice given the limited area they can do table-side activities. We were at the end of the table, so the cart wasn’t in anyone’s way when they served us — but I got stuck in my seat for a bit when they served the folks next to us.