San Francisco Vacation - Hog Island Oyster & Bi-Rite Creamery

“I've long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we're talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime 'associates,' food, for me, has always been an adventure.” 

- Anthony Bourdain

When it comes to food, there is one thing I love more than trying new things and that is introducing people to a new food experience. Especially a food experience that leaves them wanting more. 

A couple of months ago I took a trip to the Bay Area. My little sister cam back with me on her way back to school in San Diego and decided to stay a few days in the Bay Area. This gave me an opportunity to take her to a few of my favorite places in San Francisco. 

One thing I always want when I visit the Bay Area is raw oysters, and one of my favorite places to go is Hog Island Oyster Co. in the Ferry Building. With a farm less than 50 miles from San Francisco, you are pretty much guaranteed fresh oysters. My sister's experience with raw oysters had not been so great, but I convinced her to try it out one more time. I ordered some of the Hog Island Sweetwater Oysters. I told her to add a little bit of their vinegar sauce and a dash of Tabasco. She took a slurp of her first truly fresh raw oyster and loved it!  I couldn't have been a more proud older sister. 

Another great dish the at Hog Island is their chowder. I will even go as far as to say it is my favorite clam chowder. The ingredients are fresh and the soup flavorful. The best part about it is the fact that they top it with fresh clams. The fresh clams give it that final touch to make it a great chowder.

After a great lunch, I decided to take my sister to my favorite ice cream place in San Franciso, Bi-Rite Creamery in the Mission. No matter what the temperature is outside there is always a line, but it is well worth it just to try their salted caramel ice cream. Every flavor I've tried there tastes like a cold, creamy version of the real thing. For this trip, I opted for the Salted Caramel (obviously) and the Roasted Banana. 

Stay tuned. More posts to come soon from my Bay Area trip!

Benu - San Francisco, California

hello everyone! after a very long hiatus, i am back to blogging thanks to some new inspiration and ideas. stay tuned for new things on here!

i feel there is no better way to come back then to talk about my experience at benu. barely a year old, benu has been talked about, written about and recommended by people reaching as far as the east coast. the famous david chang even said "benu in sf best restaurant in america? if not now then damn soon. corey lee working w flavors that are on point. run don't walk." corey lee, the brains and talent behind benu, has an impressive resume that includes a nine year stint at french laundry. it is no question that his training and talent has cultivated something that is uniquely his, and this is what makes him truly talented.

why the name benu? On the way to the city my friends and i had a discussion about how to pronounce the name. this made us curious as to what benu actually meant. we asked our waitress, and she told us the quest for chef lee to find a name that would start his career anew, a name that would have people judge his work based on his food and not his resume. the benu is actually a mythical egyptian bird that is much like the the phoenix of the greeks. it constantly rebirths itself much like chef lee wanted to do. 

the atmosphere and staff there are two seating areas in the restaurant. we sat in the quieter area that had less tables. the design of the restaurant led us to feel like we were somewhere else other than a noisy san francisco. it felt like they wanted to create a setting without any distractions, which they accomplished. the staff was fantastic. we had a main waitress, but each of the wait staff seemed to help out and present us with our food. they were all well versed in the menu. one of my friends decided to do the wine pairing with the tasting menu and the sommeliers seemed to know their stuff. see her review here.

the food i am a true believer that good food doesn't always mean lots of money. i will admit that there are a few exceptions to this rule and benu is one of them. my friends and i decided to do the tasting menu which is definitely worth the money. the tasting menu had 19 small bites. even the ones i liked the least were still amazing. chef lee's dishes consisted of items i had either nver seen before or were new takes on familiar dishes. i definitely want to come back and try out the regular menu. see the pictures below of all our food. 

just a few other tips: make reservations- we made ours two months in advance. don't make any other plans for the night if you do the tasting menu- it takes about three hours.

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bocadillos- san francisco, california

bocadillos in san francisco is an amazing amazing restaurant. i absolutely love spanish tapas and this is the perfect place to go. thank you foodicles and family for the recommendations!

pickled vegetables

lamb burgers

house-made chorizo

braised tripe

gambas- my favorite of the night!