Brew Pubs and Beer Bars

( Skagway Brewing, Skagway Alaska. My brother drank here & at Alaskan Brewing Company in 2008.  )

I’ve always loved brewpubs and beer bars. Something about the random sampling you might be able to do as the beers rotate from one batch/season to another. If the menu moves along with the beer, all the better! The people we have met on every occasion have been fun and added to the experience. It’s choose-your-own-adventure for adults.

When I travel somewhere (I should say we because is almost always applies), we plan to hit at least one brewpub or beer bar. Beer samplers, fried appetizers and other pub food is an excellent way to settle into a new location, even for a vacation.

Over the last couple of years I have captured many of the stops in my blog, most often with pictures of the beers, the bars or the smiles from the adventurers. A picture is worth a thousand words, and you can spare yourself the thousand words if you don’t care to click on any of the links in the photo journey below. There’s a lot of beer reviews in there though, and you’ll be surprised at some of the flights from the November 2011 San Francisco trip in particular. I valiantly took it for the team and tasted through more than 30 beers in the few days I was there. That’s killing it!

Montreal

Montreal is the king of the brewpub adventures for us. We hope to do a crawl there once a year for a fourth year straight real soon.

Les Trois Brasseurs is a chain pub, but the beers are good and the flatbread pizzas and burgers are offered with lots of different toppings and styles.

Le Cheval Blanc had a mean cask IPA made with Warrior hops.

Benelux was a fun joint to hang at. After work crowd, vault room in the back. Great chips and pannini. Tasty beers, Moon Boot was a a very flavorful Belgian beer.

Brutopia appears to be a dive, and on Crescent Street some places struggle to keep ahead of the foot traffic that causes it. Great dark, high ABV beers.

Our most recent crawl included Dieu du Ciel who make many of my top Montreal beers.

West Coast

Margot and I have enjoyed drinking in Seattle twice, both times at The Pike right in the Public Market. So many beers, great pub food and the staff is always hopping.

In Santa Barbara, CA at Santa Barbara Brewing Company we had parmesan flavored French fries and an orange Wit style beer that inspired a homebrew of our own.

The San Francisco trip I took in November was a commando mission and a blast.  I started at 21st Amendment that serves a Brew Free or Die IPA. How New Hampshire of them…

I hit my first Gordon Biersch on the same trip. The European style beers were well made and full of character.

I set out on a one night binge to hit 3 different bars before switching to wine by visiting Sonoma. First up was Rogue.I know Rogue is from Oregon, but the joint has a killer beer list, including their own. I killed two-4 beer flights at this first stop and then walked to Fisherman's Wharf.

I hit Magnolia next and had the best random person experiences of the whole trip at the open concept bar. I was there for several hours and ended up hanging with the some beer geeks and two different groups of folks either going to or performing in live shows later than night. 

I finished up the night at Toronado drinking IPAs from the West Coast.

New England / East Coast

Milly’s Tavern in Manchester, NH is one of the closest to home. We have also visited Martha’s Exchange, Portsmouth Brewery, and Strange Brew.

Portsmouth Brewery is the best brewpub in the state of NH, but I am betting there will continue to be competition as local interest in craft beer continues to grow.The food is tasty, it is always busy and the beers are rotated often.

Seven Barrel Brewery is right on the NH/VT border and convenient from the highway on trips to say, Montreal. The food and beers are well made and varied.

Sebago Brewing in Maine had just moved to a new location when we stopped in on a one day trip in the summer of 2011.

Margot and scheduled a stop to the Bandwagon Brewpub in Ithaca during a February 2012 trip to the Finger Lakes. We will be back in the region in June of 2012 and heading back at Bandwagon is on the list!

All this writing about vacations and beer is making me I was one vacation drinking beer right now. How about you?

Cheers!

Jason

One Day in Sonoma

I can’t complain about the busy life I choose to lead. It is my choice, and when weekends fly by and I can barely remember the fun I had, it is my own fault. But, sometimes I use a time crunch to my advantage. 

If there is one sacrifice to be made on a trip to Sonoma, my first trip no less, having only one day would scarcely make most people’s lists. Most destinations are like that, one day isn’t enough to do them justice, and a lifetime might never be if you leave your heart there. How did I rock one day in Sonoma?

I set out early, picking up the one day rental car at 7AM. I was staring back at the Golden Gate Bridge from Marin before 8.

Back to that trip I took with my family in 1987. The Golden Gate Bridge was one of the city sites I was especially taken with. So many people are. Definitely a point of distinction for SF, part of the charm if you will.

I leisurely made my way toward my first stop at ClineCellars. I peeled off at the first Starbucks I could find and used the WIFI to jam out my Foodbuzz Festival Day 1 post.

I arrived at Cline shortly after 10AM. I planned a trip to Cline after Maribeth Doran, their Goddess of Wine & Social Media, participated in #winechat for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Bottles of Cline’s Cashmere currently carry a pink ribbon and are linked to a donation made to Living Beyond Breast Cancer for each bottle sold. Nobody has to tell me or my family how important raising money to fight cancer is, we’ve been at it almost ten years now. It’s hard work! As a cancer survivor, fund raiser and volunteer I am dubious on some methods of raising funds, and retail promotion is one of the easily questionable methods; but I do thank organizations that support the fight and try to make their involvement worth the most with an extended relationship with a good charity. My thanks are due to the whole team at Cline for their continued involvement which has raised more than $200,000 in the fight against cancer. I heard personal stories in the tasting room, survivor to survivor even, and that means so much more on top of money raised and realities somewhere else.

Thank you Maribeth for arranging the good care I experienced during my visit. Lots of smiles and energy in the tasting room. 

One of the experiences I have had several times this year is the tasting of a blend and the varietal bottlings of the constituent wines. At Cline the Heritage Zinfandel is made of wines from the Bridgehead, Big Break and Live Oak vineyards, each expressing attributes that when blended presented much differently than expected. I am particularly taken with this type of experience because of how much creative expression can be attributed to the series of tastings and trials that winemakers go through each time they haul in grapes and try to balance how to use everything they ferment.

Cashmere is a blend of Mourvedre, Grenache and Syrah. The 2010 is still young with abundant fruit and spice. There was also a minerality component that was metallic in nature. It wasn’t a detractor from the wine per se, but it was noticeable. The wine drinks well and should see improvement over time. That’s only if the bottle I have in my cellar lasts long enough…

Something you must do if you only have one day somewhere, is move on. My trip would take me next to Rodney Strong Vineyards and my second stop of the day.

I met Robert Larsen from the Public Relations team of RodneyStrong Vineyards at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Virginia in July. The first meeting was at a tasting table and then I met him again in the evening as conference attendees met up, shared wines and networked. I had enjoyed the wines at the table earlier in the day and I was told then that there was a surprise in store for after hours. The surprise was that the Rodney Strong team had shipped along a blend deconstruction tasting (like the one at Cline) for their Symmetry blend. Based on what I said above, you figure I was pretty excited, right? Correct. Blending with friends at the counter was so much fun. The high quality of the constituent wines was abundantly clear. A range of richness, fruits and already finessed structures seemed so much for a pedestrian hangout amongst the industry set, but what the hell, we can experiment like anyone else! And, a little wine goes a long way, and we might have had a little more than a little wine….

During that trip I brought some of my homemade strawberry wine along and shared it the same night. The comment Robert made, and several others echoed that evening, is that the wine was straightforward, made well, and tasted exactly as it was described; strawberries. A thank you to all who wish to acknowledge my craft with so much as a word. It is/was an honor. During our Wine Bloggers Conference goodbyes I told Robert that I would stop by real soon and when the trip to San Francisco came to be, Rodney Strong was the first location I checked on!

I met up with Robert again during my Sonoma visit. We shared some laughs about the WBC trip and my thoughts on the wines I selected for my tasting. I had picked the 2009 Pinot Reserve, 2008 Symmetry, 2008 Alexander’s Crown Cab and the 2007 Brothers Ridge Cab. Symmetry is where my biggest interest was and this being a newer vintage from my last tasting, there were differences. The 2008 is a little hotter than I recall, but it still expressed the earthy nose and vegetal character I was expecting. One bottle for home, check! If the 2007 was any indication this wine with additional age should taste even better. Both of the Cabernet's were big wines and already drinking pleasantly. The Alexander’s Crown is unfiltered and is a touch sweet, which complements the red fruits and oak spiciness well.

Great to see you again Robert! Thank you!

I like Cabernet. I have really loved it so many times. But these days, I am finding that I dig it only when part of a mutli-grape blend. I can’t really explain why.

The rest of the day was random. I say this because my destination for lunch was picked at random as I was in pursuit of it, and my final destination of the day had been picked randomly from a list of recommendations provided through a trusted friend. Of course I had to call ahead for an appointment, but it was random nonetheless.

I found lunch at Bovolo in Healdsburg located inside of Copperfields Bookstore. As soon as I saw the description for the Zucca flatbread pizza I knew what I was having. Roasted squash, Black Pig bacon, sage leaves and ricotta salata. I’ve already recreated something like this at home just because the flavors were that well paired in this dish. Sweet squash with salty bacon and sage. Adding the crust to the action, it almost tasted like a light stuffing. The bacon pieces on the Bovolo version were huge and full of flavor.

I had to rush through lunch, although the adjacent power outlet and a phone charge was welcome, because I really didn’t have but a couple of hours and I would need to be back on the road for SF. Afterall, I was dealing with an area known for lots of highway traffic, construction and all the minutia of the modern era that goes with it.

Michel-Schlumberger was recommended to me by Jolene Bonina (Thanks Jolene and Red White Boston for linking us!) after her recent trip to help with harvest in Sonoma. I didn’t know it from any other destination on the list. That’s what being a newbie does for ya!

Michel-Schlumberger Wines is an absolutely beautiful place. The late day walk through the vineyards was a true pleasure. I snapped quite a few photos and several were the best of the trip. I didn’t take any pics of the building or the interior plaza where I enjoyed a glass of Pinot Blanc whilst waiting for the tour group to assemble. That’s a shame because it was great place to take it easy for a while. The dogs were very friendly, they know a dog person when they meet on, so I was having fun of a different sort.

The tasting menu included Pinot Blanc, Pinot, Merlot, a 1991 Cabernet, Rhone/Cab Blend and the more recent 2008 Cabernet.

The 1991 Cabernet was drinking well for the age. The tannins were a bit more aggressive than what I would have expected, but were small and clearly softening, albeit slowly. A thick salmon colored rim speaks to the age this wine already has in. The aroma is best described as dried chilies. Quite tart in the mouth. The story with it being on the tasting menu was that a newer vintage of a different wine sold out through the wine club and the 91 Cab was selected from the cellar to replace it.

The 2007 Le Sage Merlot was a wood influenced nose, is medium bodied with abundant tannins and tart red fruits. The Pinot is also notable for the length of its dry soil finish with hints of spice. I love experiencing new wines!

I had to cut my time tasting short and head back to the city and to return my rental car. I did hit traffic, of course, and was cutting it close arriving when I did; but all was well. I and my memories were home safe.

Sonoma looked exactly like I expected it to. The area north of Santa Barbara likewise looked like the agricultural and commercial area that I recall the California grape growing areas to have looked like 25 years earlier. I saw them then, I just didn’t care. I was 15 and didn’t drink, yet. That doesn’t mean there was no charm to be had. These agricultural areas also saw lots of almonds, olives and citrus orchards. All good stuff for exciting living.

Margot asked me if she would have enjoyed the places I visited on my trip. She most certainly would, and some more than others. The sub-urban and rural areas that can be found in Sonoma are much more our style and the place I could see us staying the longest. Mixing both wine travel, gourmet food and some outdoor adventure trips nearby, I think we could make a great go of the area more than once. Something to fit into the future travel plans.

I can also see how people can lose their heart in a place like Sonoma. It felt a bit like the times we have at our house in Vermont, where I leave a piece of my heart when I visit. The hours in VT are similarly casual and good food and drink isn't that far away. There definitely isn't as much wine in Vermont, but dragging along some of the cellar can make up for that!

And don't forget to check out Ancient Fire Wines on Facebook. 

Cheers!

Jason

Toronado – San Francisco, CA

Toronado is a beer bar. They have over 100 labels in stock between casked, kegged and bottles. You go there for the beer. Located on Haight Street.

Toronado is a dive in the most sincere sense. Is isn’t pretty, is just clean enough and is organized in the most utility of ways. One long bar with tables opposite and a small side room containing booths and small tables. It is what it is and because they have the kind of beer selection they do you are able to go there and have fun. I did! Margot will know what I mean when I say there “was shit all over the walls”. Shenanigans!

There was loud music playing, sports on the TV and patrons can bring the food from the shop around the way at will. It even kind of had keg party vibe, and again, in a good way.

I took a post at the end of the bar and doubled up, one pint of Pliny the Elder and one of the Sierra Nevada Torpedo. Ending with a hop explosion sounded like the best way to go out. My next adventures in the area were taking me to wine country so I needed to live it up!

The two beers are big on the hops with the Pliny taking the winner for nose. The fruity and sweet nose had a large hop presence that wasn’t as aggressive as I would have expected. The Torpedo had this biggest hop flavors but in the end the Pliny had the best balance. For a bit I just chilled out over my beers and checked out the scene.

The seats next to me filled up and I briefly met a couple of neighborhood partiers. Used to live near here, favorite place, live somewhere else now, etc. You can get pretty well in the bag around here without much effort it seems. No wonder some people love it so much.

I killed my beers and stole off into the night. Or more simply, to catch the bus. The ride back to Union Square was uneventful and the walk back to the hotel would have been if someone hadn’t tried to lift my wallet. I got to my wallet and his wrist before the damage was done. He was promptly told he didn’t want to do what he was doing and should scram. Several people in the crowd at the crosswalk echoed my feelings and he bolted. No harm came to anyone or my wallet!

I hope you enjoyed my trip around a few of the beer spots in San Francisco. There are many, I picked just a few and likely didn’t get anywhere near a list of “best of’s” if a poll was taken. But I ate and drank well, had good fun and met some pretty cool people. Not bad for a few days “work”!

Cheers!

Jason

Magnolia Brewery & Restaurant – San Francsico

As I was doing my research to find a list of brewpubs and beer bars to check out in San Fran the name Magnolia came up several times. A bit of free word association got me wondering if it was anywhere near Haight-Ashbury and the famed San Fran neighborhood that spawned the Grateful Dead. If you don’t know the connection, read on, there is nothing I can do here. To my surprise it is located on Haight street a couple blocks away from the Ashbury junction and the cute little village you will find there today. Before I popped in I had to walk up to the see the Grateful Dead house. It may seem cheesy, but as I have said in recent posts, connecting the dots in our lives for our readers create far better stories than ”look at this recipe, it’s amazing!”, or “this bottle of wine is fantastic”, and them not backing it up with any tasting notes. But I digress.

Magnolia has enough reviews for it that suggest it is one of the top tier stops for beer lovers when in town. I also found that the beer bar Toronado, heralded for its 100+ choices, was only a few blocks away from Magnolia making the trip out that way from Union Square where I was staying well worth it. I’ll share my Toronado experience in my next post.

After walking up Haight to Ashbury and back, through a few wafts of marijuana and the glut of head shops, I couldn’t help but think back to the good old days. For some there was a time when a joint and the Dead on the stereo was like milk and cookies for other people. Don’t judge.

Magnolia has a busy street corner location making the window and sidewalk seating front row center for whatever action comes along. On the bus ride out I saw a naked guy wandering around and a fight. I figured based on that shit could go down at anytime.  It was busy when I arrived but I scooted under the high bar and grabbed the one empty stool along the window. I found myself next to a lovely couple from Berkeley, who were clearly knowledgeable about beer. I picked up several recommendations for my next visit from them! The one piece of information I did seize on to is their impression of the West Coast adoration for IPAs over Belgian style beers which get more love in the East. This was a new consideration for me, I’m equal opportunity, and one I will delve into a bit more later in this post.

As is tradition I went for the sampler which included six brews of my choosing in a nifty triangular carrier, all served in tall cylindrical glasses for a touch of distinction.

Kolsch

4.7% ABV

Light gold color and clear. Lightly toasted grains in the nose. Mildly bitter early in finish, finishes dry.

Rosebud

7.0% ABV

Orange/gold color. Sweet, floral aroma. Brewed with rose buds. Finishes sweet with fruit from beginning to end. This was the first beer I recommended to the new folks to the table.

Proving Ground IPA

7.0% ABV, 100 IBU

Gold/orange color, minimal head. Abundant floral aromatics. Very bitter and light in body. More hop flavor than malt flavor as expected. This is a big hoppy beer, but drinks light with fruits and flowers as the predominant aromas/flavors.

Barking Pumpkin

Medium brown color with amber notes. Tan head, sits up good. Moderately spiced nose, squash flesh also obvious. Medium bodied and savory flavors in the mouth. Sweet malts, lightly roasted. Toasted bread is predominant. A bit of alcohol in the finish. Solid rendition of a pumpkin, spiced beer.

Blue Bell Bitter

4.5% ABV

Toasted malts in the nose and mouth. Straightforward bitter. Hops are subtle, not much influence on flavor.

Dark & Mild

Medium brown colored ale. Moderately toasted malts with a clean and lightly bittered finish. I am starting to get this style more and more.

The Rosebud was my favorite and mentions are due for the IPA and the Dark & Mild. 

The crowd turned over a bit as I moved through my sampler and two new arrivals grabbed seats being vacated right across the bar from me. They were also from out of town, Portland, Oregon specifically, and were in town to see a show. Looking back at my notes who the artist was is the one thing I didn’t get, and they mentioned it several times. It was either the beer or the nostalgia at work here.

I did get their names and not long after making their acquaintance I pegged them for the fun loving types. When Arin (right in pic below) ordered the Crackerjack Bacon for her and Rachael I took the opportunity to ask for them to pose with it for a picture. Cheers! And yes, it is literally Crackerjacks reheated with bacon. And it is surprisingly rich! The salty bacon with the caramel popcorn is as freaking sinful as you might imagine. I’m gonna be making this for my next party, Sandra Lee be damned! Sandra Lee didn’t really come up with this as far as I know, that is just a little inside joke for Shannon who had shared good laughs with over the weekend. I hope she’s reading.

After I got home I did a bit of cursory research and the West Coast is hoppy beer heaven idea is commonly held and demonstrated. Not new of course, I just hadn’t ever given the stylistic differences between the coasts into consideration. I found lots of styles of beer in the local haunts, but there was a considerable representation from IPAs and hopped up beers. I drink them all so this only makes it more interesting to try the local styles when on the road.

I ordered the Cubano with Fries for dinner. Can’t beat a Cuban sandwich and beer! On my bus ride back to the hotel I was chatting up a couple of partiers and one of them mentioned that the food at Magnolia was particularly good for a brewpub and that the Cubano was his favorite thing. I guess I picked a winner. The pork on the sandwich was tender as it should be and the ham was salty and full of flavor. Served on fresh bread with crunchy pickles it was just the thing to balance out the beers. I hadn’t eaten since 10:30 (and it was 6:30 or so now) on the count of the gluttony from the Foodbuzz Festival farewell brunch. I ordered the Chocolate George Stout to go with my meal having killed off the beer sampler right before my sandwich arrived. The beers were doing their thing to be sure, including my forgetting to take a picture of the sandwich. The fries were pretty straightforward, pleasantly salted and hot. I’d come back to Magnolia for the food, and then stay for a beer or three.

The George’s Chocolate Stout pours as black as night with a light brown head. The aromatics were of roasted malts and just a little bit of chocolate and coffee. The chocolate flavor was quite subtle and yet another example for us to consider when we attempt to make a beer in this style again. The finish is clean and it transitions to slightly sweet to dry by the end.

The crowd thinned out a bit and a gentlemen in from Arkansas joined us. I didn’t catch his name (you sort of see what kind of night this was turning into), and Danny from the band Scars on 45 saddled up a short time later. As Danny got to know the group around him he realized I was taking notes and asked “what are you a fucking journalist or something” with his killer British accent. Yes, in fact I am a fucking journalist, and damn glad to meet someone who can make the work fuck sound so fucking good! He and the band were in town for a show. If only I had more time. I’m betting I could have maximized that meeting. 

We had some great laughs, all of the out-of-towners appeared to be making a better go of it than the locals, and after finishing my beer I took my leave and headed out into the night. I forwent the bus in favor of a 15 minute walk to work some of my buzz off. Up next, Toronado!

Cheers!

Jason

Rouge Pub – San Francisco

I know Rogue is from Oregon and not San Francisco or even California, but I am rarely able to get their beers on tap so I had to make a stop. You can find the Rogue Pub on Union Street in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco.

My nose was pretty stuffed up when I arrived as the cool weather in SF was wreaking havoc on my sinuses, so my tasting notes are somewhat incomplete. I do what I can, and somebody HAS to taste all the beers in the world so I persist!

I took to the sampler again, actually two this time! Any four Rogue ales from the tap for $8. A good deal by me.

Flight 1

Chamomellow

Golden ale brewed with Chamomile.

Golden color and hazy. Short white head. Chamomile influence is subtle, but having made a wine with it recently I was able to pick it out. Nice and smooth, with a moderately bitter finish. Minimal hop in both the nose and mouth. This didn’t kill it for me, but there was nothing wrong with it.

Dead Guy

Maibock

Gold/orange color, slight haze. Light, sweet malts, gentle dried fruit essence in the mouth. Moderate bitterness with malty, bready finish. This is a full bodied beer with pleasant flavors and serious drinkability.

Buckman Village Brewery Black Saison
Black Saison

Molasses in the nose and mouth. Also a bit of coffee and brown spices. Medium brown color and clear. Very light in body.

Brutal “Bitter” IPA

Imperial Bitter

Huge nose full of hops. Citrus, resin and floral aromas are wrapped together. Medium bodied and moderately bitter with long hop laden finish. I didn’t feel that the word “brutal” in the name fit my impression of the beer, but then again I like hoppy beers!

Flight 2

John-John Whiskey Barrel Aged Dead Guy

Barrel Aged Maibock

Considerable differences from the traditional version. Lots of fruit, a bit sour and more orange in the color. Even more enjoyable in my opinion than the classic.

Hazelnut Brown Nectar

Brown Ale

Lots of hazelnut in the mouth. Starts out a bit sweet, but finishes dry. Low carbonation. The nut flavors swim along the finish which is quite nice.

Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

Stout

Dark, dark brown and opaque. Smooth and slightly sweet. Nicely balanced with a long clean finish.

Double Chocolate Stout
Stout

Tons of chocolate in the nose. Dark, dark brown and opaque. Sweet malts with balanced bitterness. Long chocolate and coffee finish. Very smooth and clean.

Going Rogue

The barrel aged Dead Guy was my favorite of the lighter beers and the Double Chocolate Stout was inspiring to me for what it helped me understand about what we can do with this style at home. We know we need to work on our chocolate stout and this is pretty good example to work from.

The Rogue Brewery is on my list of places to visit when I am in OR for #WBC12 next August. It is a bit of a ride but that’s what the extra days are for!

Cheers!

Jason

Foodbuzz Festival Farewell Brunch & San Francisco Sights

All good things always come to an end and thus the Third Annual Foodbuzz Festival came to a close with one final spread at Perry’s onthe Embarcadaro. Godiva was the sponsor and they were pouring their own coffee and had gifts bags (or two!) for everyone.

My mission of meeting new people had been accomplished and I cemented that at brunch by meeting a few others. We even talked about the fact that making a small number of connections that would convert in a few new faithful blog readers or Twitter friends was a worthy return.

Miriam Wlicox from Sometimes I Veg, and another NH representative of the Foodbuzz Community, found me and we got to chatting about the sessions the day before. She had run a half marathon with a friend that morning and missed the sessions so I was filling her in on what she missed.

We also talked about the fumble with the vegetarian/vegan food options for the formal meals over the prior two days. During that conversation Miriam floated the idea, which I elaborated upon in my second Foodbuzz Festival Day 2 post today, that it might have made more sense for Foodbuzz to have tried to have the meal for everyone be vegan, the lowest common denominator if you will. If you read my post you will note that I thought that would be a great idea despite being an unabashed omnivore.

I also met Aubrey King (I Talk to Food) & Ilana Freddye Pulda (Whisked. Eat Your Heart Out) at the breakfast table. They were both strategizing on which restaurants to try before leaving town Millennium and Tartine were both in play. Part way into chatting Morgan and Tiffany of Strudel & Streusel took the empty seats the the table. Lots of sharing. Travel spots, cooking school (Aubrey & Ilana met there), the cheese fest underway, the coffee, which was brewed strong the way I like it, and laughs from the weekend. It's what I came for.

Breakfast was a cheese-a-palooza, and that was fine by me! Some handmade sausage patties, crispy thick cut bacon, French toast, a berries & granola bite, a deviled egg and coffee I was done and I didn’t eat again for 8 hours!

Miriam and I departed Perry’s and headed towards public transit. She was heading back to meet her friends where she was staying and I wasn't sure yet what my next move was gonna be. I can’t wait to invite Miriam to come check out what we do for wine tastings. Since we cook many dishes that vegetarians and more so flexitarians can eat, I think she would have fun both bringing something and sampling what everyone else was doing. I realized afterwards that Miriam and I never got a picture together. The little things I guess! She lives a couple towns over so seeing her somewhere out this way is pretty likely.

I decided on the Ferry Building next. I was pretty sure I was going to have to go before I left and I figured that if I was full I wouldn’t buy any food that I didn’t have time to eat or couldn’t take home. There are so many reasons to come back to this city in that build both those you can enjoy on site and those to go. A wine bar, coffee bar, shops with every type of produce, meat, cheese, bread and dessert, you could really go nuts in there for a couple of meals!

Take a stroll with these photos.

A South Park reference for Margot!

I had some of all of those sips and eats over the weekend, and more. And I loved it!

The Ferry Building is a must do when I come back, especially with a hotel suite where some snack prep is possible. I next headed back to the hotel, dropped my swag off at UPS and out towards The Rogue Brewpub and Fisherman’s Wharf.

Yeah, I walked. Needed to...

The Rogue review will come out tomorrow, but for now I am going to retrace some steps from nearly 25 years ago.

Back in 1987 when I travelled to the West Coast with my family we stayed in San Fran for a few days. I remember coming out to Pier 39 and the wharf to see the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the sea lions and the shops. I found them all right where I left them. It was a lot of fun. I called my parents on the bus ride as I was leaving to remind them of the trip. Here were my 2011 sights.

San Francisco is a beautiful city with everything that is said about cities all blended into one. While it has its own charms it is like so many other cities, including Boston where I work. Margot asked me if she would like San Francisco and of course I think she would. A couple of days to do the tourist thing for us would be the right fit for a long trip with wine country and the National Parks also included. Something to dream of!

Cheers!

Jason