Our Micro San Francisco Vacation

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007

Filed Under San Francisco, Travel 

This was my first ever trip to San Francisco, but it definitely won’t be the last. You know how after a vacation you feel like taking another vacation to get over the exhaustion? Well, this one was not like that at all, if I can call a barely three day trip a vacation! This trip was totally relaxing for the mind! I felt so refreshed after the trip, totally rejuvenating - retail therapy really works.

We literally spent almost all the time at Union Square, a shopper’s paradise!  Zara is my favorite shop, and found some great deals at H&M too. Unfortunately we have neither in Seattle, so obviously I had to pile up. But my best find were these amazing Juicy sunglasses from the huge Juicy Couture store. We didn’t do any sort of sightseeing, may be next time. I have no pictures of the city, but here is some of the loot I acquired on the trip. :)

 

Our hotel was in the Ffisherman’s wharf neighborhood. We went for a stroll along the waterfront and had cocktails and appetizers from some waterfront eateries. We had some amazing fresh oysters, and superb crab cakes. The waterfront is such a great place to hang out and people-watch, and there are so many restaurants and stands that serve fresh seafood and crab. Unfortunately I didn’t take the camera on that night out; wish I had captured the beauty of the waterfront.

Food scene in San Francisco is of course a major attraction of the city. We had dinner reservations at Michael Mina – a Michelin 2 star rated restaurant. But due to too much shopping exhaustion we never made it there. Instead we went to Gary Danko, a Michelin 1 star restaurant, just a block away from our hotel. That dinner deserves its own post, coming up pretty soon!  A list of all the Michelin star restaurants in the Bay area can be found here. This is us at the Gary Danko.

Another memorable restaurant from this trip was located in Union Square where we took a break from shopping to grab some lunch. Kuleto’s is a contemporary Italian restaurant on Powell St. I had Agnolotti di Salmone Affumicato   - Smoked salmon filled pasta pillows with asparagus and lemon cream. It was a really tiny dish, but the sauce was just amazing! Some might find the lemon flavor a little too overwhelming, but I loved it! 

Siv’s dish was just outstanding - Stinco di Agnello - Chianti braised lamb shank, asparagus risotto, almond mint pesto. The lamb shank was huge, but perfectly cooked; the meat was falling off the bones, and had all the soft fat pieces on it! It was so yum, I kept picking at his plate when I was done with my tiny pasta dish!  

We had one not so great lunch also in Union Square at the E&O Trading Co - Southeast Asian Grill. It is a beautifully decorated spacious Asian restaurant and is Zagat rated.  I had a lychee martini with my lunch (Isn’t it fun to have martinis for Monday lunch?) which tasted just fine, but the lychees they used as garnish were really sad looking! I don’t expect fresh lychees, but at least a freshly opened can is not too much to ask for right? We started with Curried Lamb Naan with mango chutney and Zucchini mint raita. The naan was good, but a bit on the dry side. The mint raita was very tasty, but the mango chutney was passable. We also had the Mandalay Spare Ribs – braised ribs glazed with mango mustard sauce. These were really delicious. Then we had the shrimp and bbq pork fried rice and the firecracker chicken, both were okay but frankly I’ve had better versions of both. 


What a fantastic time we had! Seattle is still my first love, but if I were the cheating kind, San Francisco will be the major contender.


Comments

38 Responses to “Our Micro San Francisco Vacation”

  1. Kaykat on November 7th, 2007 12:47 am

    I totally agree with you - Seattle rocks, but a San Francisco break is so delightful! I’m not a big shopper, but you’ve tempted me with your Zara’s spread - am thinking I’ll hit that store the next time I’m in SFO :)

    Definitely go to Zara.. and if you don’t go to SF often, try Vancouver.. that is my fav shopping destination close by :)

  2. Raaga on November 7th, 2007 1:25 am

    Someone sure had a lot of fun. Happy Diwali Sig!

    Thanks Raaga, happy diwali to you too!

  3. Rachna on November 7th, 2007 1:57 am

    YEY…. im so excited now…. loved this post sig, thaaaaaaaanks

    I had you in mind when I was there, wanted to click some city sights, but this is more useful, right? ;)

  4. Reena on November 7th, 2007 2:01 am

    sig, SFO is my favorite. I go there atleast twice a year and union square is my favorite place too. money well spent :)):)) i also go to the disney store there for my kiddo.

    oh wow, I won’t be able to go twice a year, but we do have zara in vancouver and that is just two hrs drive away :)

  5. padmaja on November 7th, 2007 2:16 am

    retail therapy ha!!! lucky girl!! hey love that pink coat!! and the food looks amazing!!
    Nice to hear that u had a great time!!

    :) I really needed some retail therapy … glad you liked the pink coat, I love that too!

  6. sia on November 7th, 2007 2:57 am

    sig darling, it looks like i have found a soulmate when it comes to shopping ;)

    lol, you a fellow shopaholic too sups, thats good to know :)

  7. Srivalli on November 7th, 2007 3:14 am

    Sig..looks like you had real fun..great..all the loot looks fabulous!

    thanks Srivalli, it indeed was a lot of fun… :)

  8. lathanarasimhan on November 7th, 2007 3:55 am

    Great to go on a vacation, short or long!:)
    Happy Diwali sig!!:)

    You said it Latha! :) Anything away from work is good ;) .. Happy Diwali to you too…

  9. Nirmala on November 7th, 2007 4:25 am

    Wishing you happy Diwali Sig and Siv!

    Thanks Nirmala, and wish you the same!

  10. Happy Cook on November 7th, 2007 5:22 am

    OH i also want to have a holiday.
    Seems you both had such fun.
    I also love Zara i buy clothes from there too. Now my daughter is 15 she too like stuff from Zara. So sometimes it is like whow is going to buy it.
    Anyway i like bright colours and my daughter likes darker colours so we can’t fight.
    But i do like Black

    Hey, that is awesome, if you can share clothes with your daughter that will be even more fun… sometimes I wish I lived with a girl, so we have double the wardrobe ;)

  11. Rajitha on November 7th, 2007 5:28 am

    u are one smart chick….love the loot..that yellow black polka looks fun…and please sight-seeing is a bore…we have stopped doing bakwaas except for nature trails…..(not a great fan of walking tho :cry:

    I know what you mean… :) Sightseeing is indeed a bore, but sometimes we do it anyway, to get it out of the way… it is good outside US, but here most everything looks the same anyway :)

  12. Asha on November 7th, 2007 6:07 am

    Oh, that’s where you were!:)
    Loads of shopping done too, looks like fun. You guys look great in there. Enjoy Deepavali, seems like it came early for you!;D

    Thanks Asha, every month is deepavali :) I didn’t even think about deepavali when we left, we don’t celeberate it, but Siv’s family does and they buy new clothes too, so this really worked out :)

  13. sra on November 7th, 2007 7:06 am

    Short or long, I always want to be on vacation! You look nice!

    :) I know, my feelings exactly…

  14. richa on November 7th, 2007 7:13 am

    wow! u sure had a fun time!
    the pink coat looks swell! i and my friends like to ahh-ooh over each other’s India shopping spree, u did it right here :razz:

    that is so true, we do that too after a big shopping trip, now with the extended virtual friends this is a good medium ;)

  15. Swapna on November 7th, 2007 8:53 am

    What a loot that was..You guys look so cute together..Good to know that you had a fantastic time. Happy Diwali!

    Thanks Swapna… :)

  16. Ramya on November 7th, 2007 9:09 am

    hey, Glad to know u had a good time!!! :smile: Happy Deepavali to you n ur hubby!!

    Thanks Ramya! :)

  17. musy on November 7th, 2007 9:13 am

    Love SF! Hey and seems like you enjoyed a lot :). i go to Union Square too, whenever i am there ;). i am going to SF today, but only for a conference, so not time for enjoying the city! and that indeed is quite a loot :-D.

    Have fun,
    musical.

    :) Don’t come back from SF without some shopping done, it is a crime :) Have fun there dear!

  18. Manasi on November 7th, 2007 9:15 am

    :shock: Lookit that loot!!!! :(Yes): Looks like u had a FAB time!!!

    thanks manasi, we really had a fab time :)

  19. RP on November 7th, 2007 11:21 am

    That sounds like a lot of fun!

    :) good to see you here RP, it really was :)

  20. swaroopa on November 7th, 2007 11:30 am

    hey sig! u look gr8. also glad u had fun slopping.

    :) thanks swaroopa!

  21. Suganya on November 7th, 2007 12:18 pm

    You call this vacation, I wud call this an extended shopping trip ;). After all, a gals gotta have dress and shoes and sun glasses and bags and …

    :) It was supposed to be a vacation, but just turned into more fun… and yeah, gal is gotta have good stuff right, esp since party season’s coming up!

  22. sandeepa on November 7th, 2007 12:55 pm

    You are one focussed girl :wink: You had a blast and it shows

    LOl, I am way too focused in the stores, much more than at work ;)

  23. Archana, mama of twins on November 7th, 2007 1:25 pm

    love the dress (yellow/choc brown). Shopping and eating in san fran is so much fun!!! I used to go down for business trips! I really liked chinatown too.. the best dimsum on the west coast I have had well vancouver is good too.
    A

    I love Vancouver Chinatown too, best dimsum I’ve ever had… didn’t go to the SF chinatown though…

  24. sunita on November 7th, 2007 2:32 pm

    It’s always nice to break away from things for a while…glad you had a great ‘vacation’.

    Yeah, any activity where I don’t need to use my brain, (other than converting european sizes to us sizes), it is a good vacation for me

  25. Linda on November 7th, 2007 10:25 pm

    My daughter would appreciate this post, Sig — she used to be huge Juicy fan ;)

    :) I am not into juicy clothes, can’t imagine walking around with Juicy plastered along my butt :oops: but my glasses are really cute :)

  26. Jyothsna on November 7th, 2007 10:29 pm

    You guys are one good looking couple!:) The highlights look good on you Sig. And shopping?? That makes me want to shop now!! I like Zara and H&M too,and yeah, we have both those and more in Dubai! :)

    Ooh, lucky gal, Dubai is so great for shopping, I did that a few years back… it was sooo great!

  27. indosungod on November 8th, 2007 4:07 am

    Sig, everybody’s got to do this once in a while. You had a blast. :cool:

    I’m telling you, everyone needs some retail therapy :)

  28. Rajitha on November 8th, 2007 5:12 am

    Happy Diwali to you and Siv sweetie…

    Thanks darling!

  29. Susan from Food Blogga on November 8th, 2007 3:05 pm

    SF is a city that I could never tire of. I’m so happy to hear you had a lovely time.

    I really fell in love with the city Susan! I am definitely going back

  30. Cynthia on November 8th, 2007 4:54 pm

    Love the retail therapy. :smile:

  31. divya and chaya on November 9th, 2007 1:00 am

    Love it, Sig!! U R one lucky girl- so many amazing dresses! You must have had a ball.

    Thanks girls! :)

  32. sreelu on November 9th, 2007 7:54 am

    Sig, hey next time on your visit make sure to ping SFO bloggers like me, will take you around to show the treasures. I used to work in SFO boy it was great,be it food,shopping or just plain hanging out.

    This was a real short trip Sreelu… :) Next time for sure!

  33. Happy Cook on November 10th, 2007 6:04 am

    Sig i don’t take my daughters clothes. She would kill me :smile:
    Our size are different.
    But i do nick her shoes and maskara.
    Her shoe size is 40 and mine is 38 and a half 39 depending. But still if it is a open shoe i can manage a bigger size :smile:

    :) Well, at least shoes and make up… something to share right? :)

  34. sona, the kitchen scientist on November 11th, 2007 12:03 am

    had a great ime, so lets see u in each post with those new otfits of urs….start with the pink overall,its reall lovly

    :) thanks Sona… I think I will need another blog for that ;)

  35. nandita on November 11th, 2007 10:15 pm

    Loved the clothes pic more, send me more of those :) Did you manage all the shopping yourself or did Siv come along??
    what fun - hoping to go shopping with you someday soon :)
    Hugs!

    He did some of his shopping, then alternated the time b/w sports bars and carrying my bags to the car ;)

  36. Shantanu on November 13th, 2007 2:10 am

    Awesome! Shopping plus Fine Dining; that must have made your mini (or was it micro?) vacation memorable. And, hey, thanks for linking to my Michelin list. but I think you got the url wrong… :smile:

    link is fixed now! Thanks for letting me know, it was a small technical issue :)

  37. sheela on November 13th, 2007 3:49 pm

    love the hair, Sig - can’t tell much from the picture, but, looks well done - i sported similar highlights before i was expecting Ana - had to grow it out as coloring hair was not allowed :(

    am glad you had a nice time - pick and choose what you best love to do - sometimes doing the usual tourist-y thing is over-rated… besides, this’ll give you a chance to go back and hang out in Sausalito, or climb up Coit tower, or zigzag down the short Lombard Street… (I was living just a hop away in Foster City for a while - your post brought back a ton of memories :))

    Thanks Sheela… :) I am tired of the highlights already… It is growing out too! Wish I had known you knew the area so well, I could’ve asked you for some recommendations… next time… this time we had a ton of fun anyway…. even without doing any research ;)

  38. Divya on December 14th, 2007 9:28 am

    Hi there, I am from SF and the only place apart from Madras that I call home. The food scene here teases my taste buds all the time. Great blog, keep writing!

    Welcome to my blog Divya… You are lucky to be living in SF…

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