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WEEKEND ADVENTURES IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
NEWEST UPDATE OF 7TH EDITIONby Carole Terwilliger Meyers SAN FRANCISCO Where to Eat La Rondalla 901 Valencia St./20th
St., (415) 647-7474. L-D Tu-Sun. Highchairs, booster seats, booths. No cards. Diners at this traditional Mexican restaurant have a choice of three unpretentious rooms: a front room
lined with booths and a long counter; a middle room with a bar, and a back room perfect to hide away in with kids. Mariachi bands play late Tuesday through Sunday evenings from 9 p.m. Complete dinners come
with refried beans, rice, salad, and corn tortillas. The menu offers generic Americanized Mexican dishes as well as some more unusual items: asado (grilled beef topped with a tomato-onion-potato mixture),
abobada (a pork version of asado), and lomo saltado (beef sauteed with green peppers, onions, and potatoes and topped with a spicy tomato sauce). Goat meat items (birria), chicken mole, and chile verde are also
very good, and the enchiladas are gigantic. A cooling flan makes the perfect finale. Sandwiches are on the lunch menu, and breakfast items are served all day. San Francisco Soup Company 50 Post St., in Crocker Galleria, (415) 397-SOUP, same fax;
www.sfsoupco.com. M-F 7:30-4:30; $. Soups made from scratch are the star on the fast fare served up here. Favorites include Chicken Pot Pie and Mexican Chicken Tortilla. Daily specials might
be Louisiana Gumbo, Portabello Mushroom Barley, or West African Peanut. Salads, sandwiches, and cookies round out the lunch menu. Breakfast items include hot cereals, pastries, and fresh-squeezed orange
juice. Branches are found at many other downtown locations. Tartine Bakery 600 Guerrero St./18th
St., (415) 487-2600, fax (415)487-2605; www.tartinebakery.com. M 8-2, Tu-W 7:30-7, Thur-F 7:30-8, Sat 8-8, Sun 9-8; $. This small cafe is famous for its huge loaves of country-style bread made with
organic ingredients and wild yeasts. The bread is used for toast at breakfast and in sandwiches at lunch. A line generally snakes out the door--but it moves fast--and seating space is as limited as parking
spaces are difficult to find. Still, everything is so delicious—did I mention that pastries include an exquisite sugary morning bun, a jewel of an eclair, and the flakiest of croissants—that patrons seem not to
mind? Loaves of bread are available for purchase after 4 p.m.; other items are available until they run out. The best plan of attack is to have one person get in the order line while another holds a table,
preferably while sipping a drink purchased at the back counter. One of the oversize sandwiches (the croque monsieur is popular and ready immediately, while other hot pressed sandwiches require a 10-minute wait)
and a pastry dessert can easily fill two diners. Organic ingredients, local eggs, and Niman Ranch meats are used. Where to Stay Hotel Carlton 1075 Sutter
St./Hyde St. & Larkin St. (near Polk St.), 5 ½ blks. from Union Square, (800) 922-7586, (415) 673-0242, fax (415) 673-4904; www.carltonhotel.com. 9 stories; 163 rooms; $$-$$$+. Evening wine; restaurant;
limited room service. Inspired by the fact that 60 to 80% of its guests are from abroad, the hotel within this newly renovated 1927 building features an "international vintage" look. It is decorated
throughout with travel photographs and furnishings from around the world, and guest rooms feature a cream-saffron-persimmon-blue color scheme inspired by a vintage Indian sari. Original details include intricate
hand-carved moldings and banisters topped with wrought-iron pinecones. One-of-a-kind pieces decorate the lobby. Because the hotel isn't surrounded by buildings, most rooms have striking views. Many adjoining
rooms are available, and a complimentary shuttle downtown is provided. Saha ((415) 345-9547; www.sahasf.com. B M-F, D Tu-Sat, SunBr; $$.)
serves a traditional American breakfast with Arabic influences, changing to Arabic fusion cuisine for dinner. The dark, exotic dining room, tucked away behind fabric curtains, features ebony wood-plank floors and a red-and-pink decor. Tasty dinner items include knaffe (ahi with kalamata olive-walnut relish and fig sauce), fattoush (chopped salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, Feta, olives, mint, cilantro, sumac and more), and classic Moroccan couscous. One dessert option is a moulton sweet chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream. "Saha" is an Arabic toast meaning "to good health."
101 SOUTH WOODSIDE Where to Eat Buck's 3062 Woodside Rd./Cañada Rd., (650) 851-8010, fax (650) 851-8959; www.buckswoodside.com. B-L-D
daily; $$. Highchairs, boosters, booths, child menu. Reservations advised. Especially popular in the morning, when local computer executives gather for power breakfasts of buckwheat pancakes and
huevos rancheros, this attractive spot is filled with comfy booths and lots of windows. It's sort of like an updated old-time coffee shop, but with a full bar. Breakfast is served until 2:30 on weekends and
includes all the usual suspects plus an extensive selection of omelettes and pancakes. Lunch brings on soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, and a popular chili. American-style entrees are added at dinner
along with a few more frou-frou items such as lobster ravioli with red pesto sauce or baked local halibut with pineapple salsa. Dessert portions are large enough to satisfy two or three people—the menu claims "all
desserts have been tested by the American Trucking Association and found to be way too large"--and include a signature hot fudge sundae and delicious peach cobbler. Should boredom set in, just check out the
mish-mash of curiosities lining the walls. PALO ALTO What to Do Frys Electronics 340 Portage Ave./El Camino Real (south of Page Mill Rd.), (650)
496-6000, fax (650) 496-6018. Everything electronic is for sale in this gargantuan warehouse, and many refurbished items are available at good prices. It is the
place to come for one-stop comparison shopping. Need an answering machine? All available models are displayed here. Fresh flowers, both popular and esoteric magazines, and even candy are also among the inventory mix.
Where to Eat Mango Cafe 435 Hamilton Ave./Waverley, (650) 324-9443. L M-F, D daily. Highchairs. Reservations accepted. Traditional Jamaican,
Trinidad, and Tobago cuisines dominate the menu. Chicken roti from Trinidad is a combination of curried chicken, potatoes, and veggies wrapped up burrito-style. Jamaican beef and chicken patties have a flaky
crust, and vegetarian Rasta Pea Cook-Up includes a variety of beans along with unusual cho-cho. Curried goat and the house specialty, jerked chicken, are also available. The menu also offers a large
selection of playful tropical smoothies, as well as a blend-your-own version—all served in humungous globe glasses with a big straw. Though the decor is simple, the dining room is comfortable and service is
friendly and efficient. I-80 NORTH IN BETWEEN VALLEJO What to Do Mare Island Historic Park (707) 557-1538, fax (707) 552-3266;
www.mareislandhpf.org. Tour: (707) 644-4746; by donation, $10, 6-12 $5; reservations required. Historic Mare Island, the West Coast's first Naval base and shipyard, was founded in 1854 to fend off
pirates who were then roaming the local seas. Interestingly, it is named after a female horse that swam to the island. Over a period of 142 years, 513 ships were built here. The base also launched the
first U.S. submarine, and the movie Sphere—starring Sharon Stone—was filmed here. Because the island still has a guarded security gate, the only way to see it is via a guided tour. The 2-hour tour
includes seeing world-famous St. Peter's Chapel, built in 1901 and featuring beautiful Tiffany stained-glass windows and an inverted-keel redwood ceiling (it was the Navy's first inter-denominational chapel); the
historic cemetery (burial place of Anna Turner, daughter of Francis Scott Key); and Officer's Row mansions and gardens. The Admiral's Mansion can be toured for an additional fee ($4).
Participants also see Alden Park, which is home to a cannon from the War of 1812, torpedoes from the Civil War, and a German Marder suicide submarine from 1944. Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum
734 Marin St./Virginia St., (707) 643-0077, fax (707) 643-2443; www.vallejomuseum.org. Tu-Sat 10-4:30. $2, seniors $1, under 13 free. Operating inside the town's former City Hall,
this museum's treasures include a working submarine periscope that pokes through the roof and provides a view of Mare Island. I-880 SOUTH OAKLAND Where to Eat
Montclair Bistro 6118 Medau Pl./Moraga Ave., Montclair district, (510) 482-8282; www.montclairbistro.com. D Tu-Sun, SunBr; $$$. Reservations advised. The California bistro cuisine
served here, in elegant yet comfortable surroundings, includes Dungeness crab cakes, tasty salads, and a variety of seasonal soups as appetizers. Among the main courses are full-flavored fish (salmon with baby
veggies and a piquant dressing) and classic meats (roasted herb-crusted rack of lamb with white beans). Dessert choices are interesting, but smart diners order the Frangelico-Grand marnier souffle in advance, so
it is ready when they are. WINE COUNTRY SONOMA The Girl and The Fig 110 W. Spain, in the Sonoma Hotel, (707) 938-3634, fax (707) 938-2064;
www.thegirlandthefig.com. L-D daily, SunBr; $$-$$$. Reservations advised. A signature arugula-goat cheese-pancetta-pecan-grilled fig salad is usually among the menu's assortment of figgy goodies in
this festive spot. Entrees might include a Liberty duck confit with French green lentils, appetizers a charcuterie platter, and desserts something flavored with intriguing herbs. The wine list favors
Rhone-style varietals from Sonoma and offers flights for comparing and contrasting. A back patio outfitted with a fountain is primo in warm weather. NAPA Where to Eat Tuscany 1005 First St./Main St., downtown, (707) 258-1000, fax (707) 256-3575. L M-F, D daily; $$-$$$. Highchairs, boosters. Reservations advised. This inviting restaurant
operates inside a substantial, wide-open space that retains the 1855 building's original hardwood floors and brick walls. It has no trouble mixing modern and new with cozy and warm. Servers wear casual blue
work shirts, and tables are covered with butcher paper. The restaurant is wildly popular with locals, and lots of families dine here. Indeed, animated diners are content to eat in the bar when the main room
is full. The Mediterranean menu includes pizzas made in a wood-fired oven and both grilled and rotisserie meats. Among the possibilities for starters are a fig-and-walnut salad with baby arugula or a butter
lettuce salad with fresh pears and candied walnuts; for entrees, a superb half-moon ravioli in a light sage cream sauce or a spice-rubbed rotisserie chicken with perfect, creamy baby Yukon potatoes. |
