San Francisco Trip 9/11- 9/15
Sep 27th, 2008, 06:12 PM
#1
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San Francisco Trip 9/11- 9/15
Sorry this is so late, but while I was gone, the second coming of the end of the world occurred here in Chicago. When I got back, half the city was flooded & the roof to our condo building had sprung a leak. I guess that's to be expected when it rains for 2 solid days.
Let's start off with my likes and dislikes.
Likes:
Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.
Great wine
The #30 & 45 buses
The farmer's market at the Ferry Building
The handsome evening doorman at the Marriott on 4th Street
Dislikes:
Taxis, or lack of them
How quickly the temperature falls in the evening
The lack of enough cable cars late on a Saturday afternoon down by Ferry Building
I couldn't get a decent cocktail anywhere
Let's start off with my likes and dislikes.
Likes:
Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.
Great wine
The #30 & 45 buses
The farmer's market at the Ferry Building
The handsome evening doorman at the Marriott on 4th Street
Dislikes:
Taxis, or lack of them
How quickly the temperature falls in the evening
The lack of enough cable cars late on a Saturday afternoon down by Ferry Building
I couldn't get a decent cocktail anywhere
Sep 28th, 2008, 04:05 AM
#3
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There was flooding near me in Ravenswood too. Sorry to hear you got hit so bad.
Interesting about the cocktails. Where did you go for drinks, and what was wrong with them? I always have a good time drinking in SF.
Interesting about the cocktails. Where did you go for drinks, and what was wrong with them? I always have a good time drinking in SF.
Sep 28th, 2008, 03:15 PM
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Hey TwoFatFeet, I live near Foster and Ravenswood. How about you? We should meet up for a drink one day. There's a great wine bar on Clark, just north of Balmoral, In Fine Spirits.
The cocktails were way to strong. I have a sweet tooth, so I like mine with more juice and flavor. My favorite receipe for a cosmo includes raspberry vodka (Three Olives is my personal favorite), Contrieu, fresh squeezed lime juice and cran-raspberry juice. I guess I spoiled myself, making them at home. LOL
I only went to a couple of places, The Grandviews Lounge (in the Grand Hyatt, were I stayed 1 night), Top of The Mark, The View Lounge (in the Marriott, were I stayed 3 nights) and Yoshi's. I was so tired from walking at the end of the day that I didn't really hvae too much energy to go bar hopping.
Next trip, I'll have to include a pub crawl.
As for the chocolate, I read a previous post were sonmeone mentioned all the great chocolate shops. I found a listing on Ask.com and started plotting my sugar fix.
The first 2 places I hit in one day. They were on the same block!
Teuscher (307 Sutter St.) was my first stop. They are mostly truffles. I picked a few of their liquor flavored ones. The flavor of the truffle is a cream center surrounded by a chocolate ganache....mmmmmmm. They have several stores scattered around the country, including one in Chicago!
Next stop was Richart (393 Sutter St.). This place looked like a high end clothing boutique. The sales clerk reminded me of the snooty guy in the FourEyes commercials. But, he was very helpful.
Their chocolates flavors were grouped in classes - spiced, floral, herbal, citrus, balsamic, fruity and roasted. The flavors were so exotic I didn't know what to pick. Thank goodness they sell a box called "The Intense Ballotin". It includes every flavor they sell. Yeah! I didn't have to choose!
You can either get the box with large pieces or small ones. Each box contains all 49 flavors. I was in heaven. I didn't want to be a pig, so I got the box with the small pieces. The fun thing about this is that class is grouped together. The box comes with a map and suggests in what order you should savor these goodies in.
Next is Recchiuti (located in the Ferry Building). They have 31 different flavors, ranging from spring jasmine tea to seasame nougat to tarragon grapefruit. You can buy a box already packaged or build your own box with the the flavors that interest you. I bought 15 of the more unusual flavors.
Right down the hall is Scharffen Berger. Their specialty was chocolate bars. I'm not so crazy about chocolate bars, so I skipped them. I wanted the chocolate hazelnut ganache but they were out. Woe is me. I settled on their vanilla infused sugar. Haven't tried it yet, so I can't tell you how it is.
My last foray into chocolate bliss was CocoaBella (located inside the Westfield Centre, 845 Market Street). Their chocolates by far were the prettiest. Colorful mosaics, pink and white swirled hearts, vibrant colored shells.
The flavors here ranged from tangerine red chile pepper to rosemary infused caramel to saffron infused milk chocolate. Some of the pieces looked like butteryfly cocoons. They had more caramels than any of the other places, so I mostly chose them.
Out of all of the places, I have to say that Richart is my favorite, with Recchiuti coming in a close second. They all have online stores, so I'll be sending these out to people for Christmas. Shcarffen Berger doesn't have the ganche listed on thier sight, but if you google it, you can find it elsewhere.
Chocolate has come a long way and I'm so glad!
The cocktails were way to strong. I have a sweet tooth, so I like mine with more juice and flavor. My favorite receipe for a cosmo includes raspberry vodka (Three Olives is my personal favorite), Contrieu, fresh squeezed lime juice and cran-raspberry juice. I guess I spoiled myself, making them at home. LOL
I only went to a couple of places, The Grandviews Lounge (in the Grand Hyatt, were I stayed 1 night), Top of The Mark, The View Lounge (in the Marriott, were I stayed 3 nights) and Yoshi's. I was so tired from walking at the end of the day that I didn't really hvae too much energy to go bar hopping.
Next trip, I'll have to include a pub crawl.
As for the chocolate, I read a previous post were sonmeone mentioned all the great chocolate shops. I found a listing on Ask.com and started plotting my sugar fix.
The first 2 places I hit in one day. They were on the same block!
Teuscher (307 Sutter St.) was my first stop. They are mostly truffles. I picked a few of their liquor flavored ones. The flavor of the truffle is a cream center surrounded by a chocolate ganache....mmmmmmm. They have several stores scattered around the country, including one in Chicago!
Next stop was Richart (393 Sutter St.). This place looked like a high end clothing boutique. The sales clerk reminded me of the snooty guy in the FourEyes commercials. But, he was very helpful.
Their chocolates flavors were grouped in classes - spiced, floral, herbal, citrus, balsamic, fruity and roasted. The flavors were so exotic I didn't know what to pick. Thank goodness they sell a box called "The Intense Ballotin". It includes every flavor they sell. Yeah! I didn't have to choose!
You can either get the box with large pieces or small ones. Each box contains all 49 flavors. I was in heaven. I didn't want to be a pig, so I got the box with the small pieces. The fun thing about this is that class is grouped together. The box comes with a map and suggests in what order you should savor these goodies in.
Next is Recchiuti (located in the Ferry Building). They have 31 different flavors, ranging from spring jasmine tea to seasame nougat to tarragon grapefruit. You can buy a box already packaged or build your own box with the the flavors that interest you. I bought 15 of the more unusual flavors.
Right down the hall is Scharffen Berger. Their specialty was chocolate bars. I'm not so crazy about chocolate bars, so I skipped them. I wanted the chocolate hazelnut ganache but they were out. Woe is me. I settled on their vanilla infused sugar. Haven't tried it yet, so I can't tell you how it is.
My last foray into chocolate bliss was CocoaBella (located inside the Westfield Centre, 845 Market Street). Their chocolates by far were the prettiest. Colorful mosaics, pink and white swirled hearts, vibrant colored shells.
The flavors here ranged from tangerine red chile pepper to rosemary infused caramel to saffron infused milk chocolate. Some of the pieces looked like butteryfly cocoons. They had more caramels than any of the other places, so I mostly chose them.
Out of all of the places, I have to say that Richart is my favorite, with Recchiuti coming in a close second. They all have online stores, so I'll be sending these out to people for Christmas. Shcarffen Berger doesn't have the ganche listed on thier sight, but if you google it, you can find it elsewhere.
Chocolate has come a long way and I'm so glad!
Sep 29th, 2008, 08:02 AM
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Blacknight, I take that you live in Chicago?
I'm surprised there's no Teuscher in Chicago. It is a Swiss chocolate company but they have stores all over the US. Their champagne truffles are the most famous.
Regarding Richart (which is French), your description of the sales person makes me laugh. We were at the Paris Richart store several years ago, and I almost got my hand slapped by the sales lady! She was not friendly and didn't like the fact that I was trying to check out the boxed chocolates.
Richart has a store in Boston which I have passed by many times, but haven't been inside at all.
I'm surprised there's no Teuscher in Chicago. It is a Swiss chocolate company but they have stores all over the US. Their champagne truffles are the most famous.
Regarding Richart (which is French), your description of the sales person makes me laugh. We were at the Paris Richart store several years ago, and I almost got my hand slapped by the sales lady! She was not friendly and didn't like the fact that I was trying to check out the boxed chocolates.
Richart has a store in Boston which I have passed by many times, but haven't been inside at all.
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Sep 29th, 2008, 02:17 PM
#8
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yk, there is a Teuschers here in Chicago. I only discovered this fact after returning from my trip.
Was the French sales lady wearing a nuns outfit (remeber the nuns in the Madeline books?)?
Was the French sales lady wearing a nuns outfit (remeber the nuns in the Madeline books?)?
