Eating out with Instagram: Where to Eat in San Francisco Edition (Lunch, Brunch, and Dinner)

Last week I flew to California for a week of vacation. I spent half of the time in San Francisco with my friend Melissa, aka @Kale1stMenLater, and the rest of the time visiting my friends Laura & Carlos and their boys in Alameda.

{Photo on the left is of Melissa and I}

Other than seeing my friends, and not being at work, the best part of this vacation was how low key it was. I pretty much did zero research and let my hosts be in charge!

Today I'll share with you my San Francisco vacation highlights, and on Friday I'll share my Alameda highlights.

Since I've been to San Francisco twice before, I did not feel like I HAD to do anything touristy or eat at any of the must restaurants. Instead, I wanted to go to places Melissa has liked or had on her list of restaurants to check out.

The restaurants below are not in chronological order.

My last day in San Francisco Melissa and I had lunch at Delarosa. I loved the interior of the restaurant with its big windows, funky orange lights, exposed ceiling and open feel.

We shared Eggplant caponatina with burrata for an appetizer, and although it did not look how we expected, we really liked the creamy burrata, the eggplant, the olives and pine nuts. We both hated the raw celery in the dish.

For the meal I ordered  a bowl of Cauliflower soup with white truffle oil. Let's just say I was tempted to lick my plate: the soup was smooth, creamy and the flavor of the cauliflower wasn't lost despite the drizzle of the truffle oil. The soup also paired really well with an order of Herb bread with arbequino extra virgin olive oil.

For my main course I had an order of Beer steamed mussels which were plump and delicious, but the winning part of the dish was the broth. {Melissa had Kale Cesar and a Margherita pizza.} There was no question whether we'll be ordering dessert: it was a must! Apparently this Tiramisu is the owner's grandmother's recipe. My sincerest apologies for not taking the photo fast enough before Melissa dug in. It was light, sweet and oh so very good!

For Sunday brunch we checked out Absinthe. First impressions: a super cool place, a super hot and friendly bar manager (with super cool tattos), and fun atmosphere.

Melissa's friend Jessica joined us and we shared an appetizer of fried devil eggs with red caviar. Once again, we were tempted to lick the plates.

For my entree I had an open faced roast beef sandwich with mushroom gravy, sour cream and leek whipped potatoes and brioche. I ate it all.

We had no room for dessert.

Just so that you know, we did not eat the entire time. We also had a cookout my first night in San Francisco, went on a hike and took Melissa's dog Lola on walks. And there was culture! We went to MOMA for a great black & white photography exhibit by Garry Winogrand, and I got my photograph taken in front of a painting by one of my favorite artists: Mark Rothko.

But after several hours walking around the museum of course we needed food! We went to one of my favorite places for dim sum: Yank Sing!

Although I took no pictures of my meal in Sons & Daughters, it was one of the best meals I've ever had. Melissa has been to this dark and intimate restaurant several times and took me there for my belated birthday.

The meal started with a birthday champagne toast and then evolved into 8 small courses, each paired with wine. I was shocked that I did not feel heavy or uncomfortable after all that food and an addition of 3 small bread samples. I just felt happy and slightly tipsy ;)

My favorite courses were roasted baby beets with Vadouvan spices and fresh fenugreek, Fogline farm chicken with morel mushrooms and ramps, and Meyer lemon curd with sweet woodruff meringue.

Hope you've enjoyed this recap! Come back Friday for Alameda part of my California vacation.