San Francisco Treats

Lots of treats!! I met John out in San Francisco this past weekend, he had been there all week on business. Here's the scoop (literally, check out the last photo!)
Although my flight was four hours late leaving Houston, we still managed to grab dinner at one of John's favorites from back in the day when he lived out here, Cafe Sport. Not very vegan friendly, but I was too tired to notice while I gobbled up my penne pasta with tomato sauce (it was after midnight Houston time when we ate). We stayed in North Beach at the Washington Square Inn, cute place but pretty pricey. But it was nice to be within walking distance of so many places. Both mornings we had breakfast at Cafe Sapore, which had clearly marked vegan choices. I had peanut butter on a bagel one morning and oatmeal with soymilk, bananas, strawberries, and raisins the next. I loved all of the cafes everywhere, reminds me of Europe. The other two food pics below are from our last meal in the city, at Calzones (veggie pizza and arugula salad with oven roasted tomatoes, artichokes, and chickpeas). The VegSF restaurant guide was helpful for finding places in the North Beach area...

Another find from the vegsf guide, vegan truffles from XOX Truffles!! These little babies were so rich and chocolatey, I still have some in my fridge (but not for much longer!). I tried the dark chocolate, orange, and hazelnut truffles, which were all vegan. Thankfully, you can order them online....
After breakfast, buying truffles, and wandering around North Beach, we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf. Cliche, I know, but I'd never been and you have to at least go once, right? Isn't our little sourdough turtle the cutest?


After the wharf we walked to Chinatown. John was on the prowl for canned fake meats. We found several options (though not as many as we were hoping for), but didn't end up buying any, there's always Chinatown in Houston. There were a lot of things in Chinatown that screamed NOT VEGAN, but for lunch we went to Lucky Creation Vegetarian, which is actually all vegan. We ordered the mixed vegetables and the Curry "Chicken". Although I liked the curry, the mixed vegetables I wasn't a fan of. It should have been called mixed weird mushrooms instead. Now I like mushrooms, but the textures of these was just too much for me. Luckily John was a fan so we weren't wasteful :-) Aren't the little star-shaped carrots cute?

We spent the afternoon walking along Baker beach (didn't know there was a nude section...), trying to burn off enough calories to justify our big dinner at Millennium! Now, I have their cookbook and all, but have never attempted a recipe, I guess they just seem too complicated. Plus, it's best to let the experts handle this. For appetizers, I had a delicious salad with roasted pear, pecans (or was it walnuts?), and dried cherries. John had a raw butternut squash ravioli, different, but still good (just not what we thought it would be). Sorry, no photos, I hadn't had enough wine at that point to overcome my shyness for using a flash in a fancy restaurant. For dinner, John had a seitan roulade served over black beluga lentils with some amazing garlicky greens. I had grilled portobellos served over rice with butternut squash, cumin-glazed tofu, and pickled cabbage on the side. Both dishes were excellent, too difficult to pick a favorite. Why can't we have a place like this in Houston (whines)?

Update: Forgot to give you this piece of trivia. We asked our waitress about what percentage of Millennium's customers are vegan. Her guess was only 30%. This gives me hope that a place like this could open up in Houston. All they would have to do is drench everything in barbeque sauce and brand it with the outline of the Lone Star state.

But of course, the best part had to be dessert. I decidedly chose the chocolatiest dessert on the menu, Chocolate Almond Midnight (I think that was the name, maybe I'm just making it up...guess it was the wine). An almond-based crust with a chocolate mousse, topped with white chocolate mousse. These are the kinds of desserts I thought I had left far behind since going vegan. Too amazing. They even sent us home with a box of their cookies and truffles to celebrate our three week anniversary!

Here are some of our scenic photos.... the Golden Gate bridge in the fog, the Transamerica building (thanks Bazu!), Coit Tower, and of course, the crookedest street (Lombard).

On our way out of town, heading towards the airport, we made one final stop. Maggie Mudd's for vegan ice cream!! We tried the pumpkin (coconut milk based) and the tarmack (soymilk based, chocolate with peanut butter). This was the best ice cream I've had in my life (sorry mom, I know you love Blue Bell). We scarfed it down. Thanks to both Melisser and Jess for the great recommendation, and also thanks to Jess for the coupon!! Too bad these guys don't take online orders.

A little sad to be back in Houston now. We both love San Francisco, John especially. We even spent a few moments looking at real estate... need to start buying lottery tickets :-)