Mecca for Foodies

San Francisco has always been a mecca for food aficionados. With a predominately male population during the Gold Rush, restaurants began cropping up to serve the many men who were clueless in the kitchen. Today San Francisco has over 3,000 restaurants. That's a lot for a city with just 750,000 residents.

In addition to the many restaurants, there are numerous stores to buy great produce, meats, and other foods. However, no place compares to the Marketplace at San Francisco's Ferry Building. Here you will find more purveyors of fine food than any place in the city.

People who love sweets will want to visit Scharfen Berger Chocolate Maker, Recchiuti Confections for divine truffles, and Miete Patisserie.

If you want to pick up bread, cheese, and wine for a picnic lunch, stop by Acme Bread Company, Cowgirl Creamery, and Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant. Acme is a local bakery that makes a variety of excellent breads. Cowgirl makes its own cheese and sells artisan cheeses from around the world. Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant has a large selection of wines from California and all over the world. They also have a nice tasting bar where you can sit down to have wine and cheese with friends.

Taylor's Automatic Refresher has great burgers, fries, and shakes, as well as a wine list.

I'm a big oyster fan. So I love sitting outside at Hog Island Oyster and lunching on raw oysters paired with a Sauvignon Blanc.

The list goes on and on.

On Tuesdays and Saturdays the permanent stores and restaurants are augmented by a large farmer's market. The Saturday market is the bigger of the two and runs from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The Tuesday market's hours are 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. If you visit on Saturday, have breakfast at the market. During the summer, there is a market on Thursday evenings.

The Ferry Building is one of the few spots in San Francisco where locals and tourists mix in large numbers. Don't miss it on your next visit. If you want to take a private San Francisco tour that includes a visit to the Ferry Building, please call me at (866) 326-4237 (toll free) or e-mail me by clicking here.

Wine and Food in SOMA

I wanted to go to Bacar, a well-reviewed restaurant South of Market, ever since it opened a couple of years ago. I put off visiting because I feared the restaurant would be overly loud with its nightly (except Sundays) live music. The perfect opportunity presented itself when we decided to see a show at the Golden Gate Theater and wanted to dine beforehand.

When we arrived at Bacar, we found a bright, open space with light coming in through the windows and skylights. As we were dining early, the restaurant was not crowded and music would not begin for a few hours. The food is described as Northern California cuisine. However, the menu takes its inspiration from France with foie gras flan and duck confit; Italy with risotto and woodburning-oven baked pizzas, as well as California with mesquite grilled mahi mahi and jumbo artichokes. We ordered a nice, lightly dressed salad of lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and bacon; excellent duck confit and pan roasted prawns; and a yummy chocolate mousse.

Bacar features an extensive list of wines by the bottle and the glass. For the latter, pours are offered in 2 oz., glass, 250 ml, and 500 ml sizes. Flights of three to four two-ounce pours are included in each of the wine categories.

We enjoyed our time at Bacar and highly recommend it. As for the noise, it was no problem while we were there. The waiter advised us that, once the jazz starts, the bar and front of the restaurant are noisy, with the tables in the back being the quietest.

Bacar is located at 448 Brannan Street (between Third and Fourth Streets). Reservations may be made by calling (415) 904-4100.

Terrific East Bay Winery

Not many people know that one of the great Northern California wineries is located just across the bay from San Francisco on the island of Alameda. Rosenblum Cellars is most noted for its 30 plus varieties of Zinfandel. I recently took a Zinfandel seminar at Rosenblum's winery and tasted four recent releases. My favorite was the 2004 Richard Sauret Vineyard, but my friend most enjoyed the 2004 Monte Rosso Vineyard. Rosenblum Zins consistently receive scores of over 90 points from "Wine Spectator" magazine.

The winery and tasting room are located at 2900 Main Street in Alameda. The tasting room is open daily from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Rosenblum also has a tasting room, just off the plaza in Healdsburg, at 250 Center Street. This facility is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.

Join me on a Hidden Vineyards tour and you can visit Rosenblum's tasting room in Healdsburg. To book a tour, call me at (866) 326-4237 or e-mail me by clicking here.

Winetasting in San Francisco

Yesterday, I joined some friends at Cav Wine Bar. This is a great after work spot. Cav has an interesting wine list as well as tasty small plates to accompany your wine.

I enjoyed a 10 year old Riesling from Germany, a full-bodied Oregon Pinot Noir, and a varietal from Australia that I had never heard of until yesterday. Wines are available by the glass and bottle. In addition, a special wine flight is offered each week. If you go with a friend who prefers fermented grain, beers are also offered.

To accompany your wine, Cav offers both small and large plates. We sampled an array of small plates and enjoyed each of them. We particularly enjoyed dipping bread, walnuts, and apricots into the Gratinee Fondue for two.

Cav is located at 1666 Market Street and opens at 5:30. The kitchen is open until 11:00 pm Monday to Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday.