Distance from SFO Intl. Airport: 2 Miles ($10 Uber Ride/$20 Taxi Ride)
Length of stay: 7 Nights
Average nightly rate: $250 Avg/Night
San Francisco is a must see city, this was my first trip to there and I couldn't get enough. The city is filled with unique characteristics that you cant find anywhere else in the United States. My trip turned into a Culinary treasure hunt unexpectedly and allowed me to enjoy some of the best meals I have ever eaten in my life.
The Flight
When I fly I always check the different connection options specifically to see what planes are flying what routes. Obviously I enjoy flying on bigger planes because the first class products are nicer (especially when flying 6 hours from MIA-SFO). The flight I chose was scheduled to fly direct on an American Airlines 777-200, this was exiting for me because you usually only see these planes on international long hauls. I've started to notice more and more that flights out of Miami International tend to have nicer planes compared to flying through Charlotte or Dallas. This 777-200 was one of American's older planes and hasn't had a renovation yet. I love seeing stuff like this because I can see the transformation in First/Business class products and how they evolve. I flew in Business class in row 13A, the seats where still fully lay flat but they looked like big dinosaurs. Luckily the seats still had onboard entertainment so I could watch movies, this is something that the new 767-300's lack (have to watch overhead screens).
It was a very spacious Business class cabin, the configuration was 2-3-2. Even though there wasn't much privacy it was nice for a long flight.
The Hotel
Before arriving I did a lot of research about the hotel and the area it's situated in just because it was my first trip to San Fran. The hotel is conveniently close to the airport and faces the San Francisco Bay with an awesome view of the airport runway and all the planes landing. Unfortunately it's a bit far from the city (especially during rush hour). Luckily the Bart Station (Metro) was only about a 10 minute walk from the hotel and it takes you directly to downtown. This Marriott had a recent renovation in 2015 and had some of the nicest rooms I have ever seen.
(Room)
The event I was working catered lunch from the hotel every day and it was THE best hotel food I have ever eaten. Living in hotels I have grown to hate hotel food but this was a big exception. I wont spend much more time on the hotel but below is a picture of the view from the hotel terrace. It was crazy how foggy it was every morning, you could constantly hear people in the lobby nagging about their cancelled/delayed flights. I guess San Francisco has one of the most problematic airports due to the weather.
The City/Culinary Experience
When I arrived the first day I decided to take an Uber into the city with my friend. The ride was about $25 one way and took about 30 minutes. We had no idea where we where going so we asked the driver to drop us off in China Town. Since visiting Manhattan when I was a kid I fell in love with China Town's, its a cool experience to see them in different cities and compare the similarities/differences. This specific one is a lot larger than the other ones I have seen. It was about 7 blocks of constant walking, there where a lot of bakeries and restaurants. The one in New York seems to be filled more with tourist traps and t-shirt stores.
(Always cool to see different Snap Chat filters)
We walked into a bakery and our mouths where watering with all the pastries they had. I had no idea what anything was because no one spoke english and nothing was labeled. We got a custard pastry that had a different unique taste, it's hard to say if it was good or not.
After walking through China Town we landed in Little Italy. The street is over crowded with Italian Restaurants and Coffee Shops. After walking a block I stumbled into a place called Xox Truffles, they had a Trip Advisor 5 star certificate of excellence. If you know about Trip Advisor you know how difficult it is for a business to get that kind of rating.
As we walked inside the small store all we saw inside was a display fridge with different truffles and a few coffee options.
I personally am not a fan of chocolate but one of their truffles was named "Sebastien's Champagne" so I HAD to try it. Each truffle was small and only costs $1.00 so I got one along with an expresso.
I honestly don't even have words to describe how delicious this little of ball of chocolate was. It had the craziest texture and taste unlike anything I have ever eaten. The cashier spoke broken english but she was able to explain to us that since 1996 Chef Jean-Marc Gorce has came in every morning and made the truffles fresh. I asked her if they have any machines in the back and she simply pointed at a cutting board behind the counter and said "this is his work station". It was a great experience to taste something so authentic in such a nice place.
(The Menu)
My whole life I have had this image of San Francisco just from everything I have seen in the movies. After walking a couple of more blocks this image started becoming a reality. The steep streets, the cable cars, the architecture of the houses and buildings and the beautiful view of the bay.
(The island in the background is Alcatraz)
We walked downhill and ran into the park that leads into the Golden Gate Bridge. In the picture below you can see it in the background, we weren't able to get to close because it started pouring rain. I still felt extremely blessed to at least see it from a distance.
That night I got to experience a genius restaurant concept that I haven't seen anywhere else in the country. The restaurant is called "Mokutanya" and it is an Asian Tapas/Ramen restaurant, and all the food is cooked on a charcoal grill. Reservations are highly recommended at this restaurant, once you walk inside your attention is caught by all of the glass capsules. Each individual table is boxed in by glass and has one entrance, you are required to take your shoes off when going inside and have the option of sitting chris cross or putting your feet in a hole under the table to sit normally. The ambient inside is dark and modern, they where playing alternative music and the whole thing just had a unique vibe. We ordered a 2 liter bottle of Sake and 6 different Tapas, one of those Tapas included chicken hearts (they were actually really good). As you guys know I love Ramen so I got that as my main course and it was amazing. It was hard to take good pictures inside because it was so dark but I tried my best. It was hard to believe that this is a one and only restaurant, the owner of this place needs to franchise this asap... This restaurant costs about $50 per person.
(Blurry Menu)
I had a lot to eat over my 7 day trip so I will only talk about one more restaurant that got my attention. I went on Trip Advisor and looked up the top restaurants in the whole city. I chose to go eat Italian at "E' Tutto Qua", this is the #21 out of 4,500 restaurants in the whole city and has a 5 star rating. That night we decided to take the Metro into the city because traffic was crazy. It was only $4.50 one way into the city on the Bart red line and took about 20 minutes.
The train was nice compared to a NYC subway, it took us straight to Montgomery street and left us about 7 blocks from the restaurant. Once we walked in we where welcomed by an energetic hostess and immediately we felt the energy inside the restaurant. All of the servers where young and all born in Italy, besides the great service they would constantly sing Italian songs to keep everyone entertained. We decided to start out with some Bruschetta and fried seafood as an appetizer, the seafood had a thin delicious dipping sauce. When I asked what the sauce was they simply said they couldn't tell me... A meal here will also cost around $50 per person.
I glanced at the menu and it was all in Italian, the translation to english didn't help much because I still had no idea what the ingredients where. I asked the server to recommend me something and he suggested I get the "Paccheri Golosi" (large tube pasta with prosciutto, porcini mushrooms and white truffle oil in a cream sauce).
(Pasta Menu)
Once again I have no words to describe this dish. It was completely different than the "Italian" food I am used too. It was simply delicious but unlike any regular taste I am used to. After dinner we walked to a Gelato place next door, I ordered a small Dulce De Leche and it was about $5. It's funny because once he handed it to me it looked like a sample, my friend got a cone and it was 3 times bigger than mine.
Outside of the restaurant and the Gelato place there was a interesting block. It was 2 continuos blocks of Gentlemen's clubs and they all had funny names like "Hungry Club", "Raging 20's and "Garden of Eden". They all seemed to look like historic buildings so Im sure they have some history behind them but I didn't stick around to find out.
After this long trip I was able to catch a red eye back home to Orlando. It was nice to unwind and relax with a glass of red wine before the long flight home.
It is crazy to me that after seeing so many cities in this country I continue to be amazed by the authentic culture that is preserved in cities like this. I am extremely blessed to experience places like these that don't exist anywhere else in the world. On your next vacation I challenge you to go out of your traditional path and find something different. Seeing the joy of other people in places like this warms my heart and brings me great happiness. Sometimes I sit there and think to my self "FUCK am I really here right now?" (please excuse my language). These trips I take allow me to grow true friendships with people that live far away from me and it allows me to carry them in my heart wherever I go. These experiences are things that I will take with me for the rest of my life and I strive to continue making new memories. If you are traveling to San Francisco or have questions about travel in general feel free to message me through Google Circles.
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