Our Foodie Friday in San Francisco started bright and early!
Reservations were set for 10am at the Anchor Steam Brewery but first K-litas ushered us all field trip style to Dynamos Donuts. On 24th in the Mission, Dynamos does donuts gourmet... and organic. With donuts like spiced chocolate, rosemary almond, and toasted coconut-it was hard to choose! I finally had to go with the BACON donut-or Maple Bacon Apple to be exact. The flavors went together harmoniously as did the glaze on the other donuts like Candied Orange Blosson! The indulgence of a donut was well worth it at Dynamos! http://www.dynamodonut.com/.I just realized I forgot to open with roll call (day dreams of the bacon donut). Participating in the 1st Annual (hopefully Bi- Annual) Foodies Fantasy in Frisco were my fellow foodies-Will He Is, Karlita, Tron, OG Juinor, marathon Amy, and Naan-tucket. We were all delighted with the tour of the Anchor Steam Brewery- my favorite parts being the Hops Room and the bottling area since we were all reminded of the opening credits of Lavern and Shireley
('we're gonna make it!'). The grand finale was of course the samples. Samples are one of my most favorite things. We tried several 6 oz. glasses before moving on. The best part of the Anchor Steam tour?! Free. and no.... 10am isn't too early to sample some brews!Lunch: CHA CHA CHA and Hobson's Choice in the Height
We headed over to the upper Height for lunch and grabbed a booth at Cha Cha Cha right before the lunch rush. With shrine-a-riffic decor and a hearty tapas menu- it was a great choice for lunch after a few beer samples! We ordered a pitcher of sangria and all ordered tapas to share family style. Some great highlights were the chicken wings with guava chipotle glaze, the fried plantains with back bean puree, and the chicken paillard with dijon cream sauce. I really enjoy eating little plates with many different bites- it's much more pleasureable than one huge plate with a couple dishes. Some comments from the crew were 'the sagria was tangy and crisp' and the food 'succulent' and 'chevere'. It was a great gastronomic foundation that prepared us all for the cocktail haven we were headed to... Hobson's Choice.
We made our way down Height ducking into vintage and t-shirt shops and were the first group to grab a table at Hobson's Choice- best known for the Victorian punch bowls and rum selection. Hobson's has been a main staple of many lazy afternoons in San Francisco. Karla first brought me here with a fun group back in... 2005? Almost all of my visits to the city consist of an afternoon with friends putting away a punch bowl! Good times!Dinner: Takura in Japantown
After our early day of indulgence- we all needed a break so we headed to our hotel in Japantown called Hotel Kabuki. I was really impressed with this Joie de Vivre hotel- the decor was great, the room was huge, and there was an awesome Japanese style bathtub- which is the same length as a standard tube but much deeper. They provided eucapyptus salts and a mini wood hand bucket for the bath (to pour water over your head). There was also hot tea kettles and our room had a great view of the city from our corner balcony. Our original plan of chinese at Hanking was tossed aside for the much closer and covinient Takura in the Japan Center. I ordered my usual: Nebeyaki Udon. I just can't get enough of this soup! I made it for the first time at home last weekend after watching a 'cooking with dog' episode on UTube (Japanese show where a lady cooks with her minature poodle on the table- not with it as an ingredient!). Takura's was very authentic and I also enjoyed ending the night with a light bite of hamachi and tuna nigiri. I actually read in the Northern City paper the next morning that Takura makes one of the best California hand rolls...it would've been nice to try it if I would've known!
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