Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop

For many people visiting San Francisco for the first time, there are a few landmarks which are easily recognizable.  The gorgeous colors of the Golden Gate Bridge, the curves of Lombard Street, the cable cars easily seen around the city, and to anyone on the pier, the famous Ghirardelli sign.

Say "Gear-ar-delly"

The Ghirardelli sign indicates Ghirardelli Square, an entire block showcasing the original factory, chocolate shop, ice cream shop, chocolate cafe, and other neighboring food vendors.  Started in 1852 by a man named Domingo Ghirardelli, Ghirardelli Chocolate is America's only chocolate company that controls the entire chocolate manufacturing process, from blending their own beans, to methods of roasting, and eventually processing and packaging.  The company ensures the highest level of chocolate making, and if you're one of the few that have yet to taste a Ghirardelli chocolate bar, I highly recommend you do, because you are missing out.

Peppermint Bark, so good.

Ghirardelli boasts over 40 varieties of chocolate, and the chocolate shop located in the Square showcases them all.  I do have a personal favorite, but the sad news is that my favorite one is only available seasonally.  It is the Peppermint Bark, and only available around Christmas time.  During my 10-day stay in San Francisco, I probably bought about 5 of those chocolate bars to hold me over.  Hey, it's only available a few weeks of the year and it they were on sale, leave me alone.

Joe's Crab Shack

"Eat at Joe's."

The slogan is easily identifiable all over the country.  So what exactly am I doing here?  Am I really spending my money at a chain restaurant...willingly?

To be quite honest, there are just two national chain restaurants that I wouldn't mind having a hearty meal at.  Joe's Crab Shack is one of them.  For those that want to know...::sigh::...The Olive Garden is the other.  Yes..  I said it.  Salad, breadsticks, and never-ending pasta bowls?  Come on people!

This meal was very unexpected.  It was my first lunch while in San Francisco.  Waking up early at my hotel, which was just a few steps from Fisherman's Wharf, I took a long walk through the marina and eventually the Wharf.  Past the few food trucks with awesome names (Kung Fu Tacos.  Yes!), the In-N-Out Burger (eventually will return), crab shacks (mouth watering), pasta houses (why not?), chocolate stores (sweet cavity central!), I came to a sudden stop.  There it was. The large "Eat Crab" wall sign.

Yup, this definitely got my appetite going

Being on the bay and not really knowing my way around yet, I longed for seafood.  In fact, I was dying for it.  This seemed like a good enough place as any to start.  And even better, coupon for free appetizer at the door.  Rachel Ray, eat your $40-a-day heart out.

Tea House at Japanese Tea Garden

On my visit to San Francisco I wasn't planning on doing many "touristy" things.  Many buildings, attractions, and sites that most tourists flock to really don't interest me that much.  When I visit a new city, I get to know it best I can through its food and people.  However, when I read about the Japanese Tea Garden located right outside Golden Gate Park, I couldn't resist making the one hour trek over from my hotel to see it.

The Japanese culture has always piqued my interest.  The architecture, the people, the clothing, customs, traditions, language, and food.  I mean, really, what is there not to love?  Everything about it is beautiful.  Offering a type of zen and tranquility no matter what is it you're gazing upon.

The Japanese Tea Garden in SF is said to be America's oldest public Japanese tea garden.  It was originally created in 1894 as a one-acre Japanese-style garden.  Over the next few decades, a man named Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese landscape architect, had moved his family onto the property.  Mr. Hagiwara put all his personal wealth, passion, and creative talents into the garden to achieve in what he thought in his own eyes was perfection, and expanding it to about five acres.

In 1942, along with many other Japanese Americans, Mr. Hagiwara and his family were forced to move from their home and live in internment camps.  When WWII was over, he and his family were not allowed to move back into their home, and in subsequent years, many of the Hagiwara family heirlooms were removed, replaced with other additions, and eventually turning into a public space for viewing.

Walking up to the Japanese Tea Garden is very minimalistic.  Open landscape with a few small statues and man-made stools in front of an Asian-style gate.  On one of these stools sat an older Asian male, playing a Japanese flute for passer-by's.  What made him stand out was his engaging smile as he played, saying with it "I am happy, and there is no other place in the world I would rather be than here right now".  As you then walk through the main entrance, you are transported into another world.

The Crab Station at Fisherman's Wharf

Fisherman's Wharf is a neighborhood located in San Francisco's north-east corner.  Back in the day Fisherman's Wharf used to be the area where fishermen settled and fished for Dungeness Crab.  Although it is still used as a port for many of San Francisco's fisherman and their fleet, the area has mainly been redeveloped into a tourist attraction, attracting many people from all over the country.

Crab Houses lining the street along the Wharf

Walking into Fisherman's Wharf you start to see your usual tourist traps.  Small stores selling cameras, t-shirts, mugs with "I <3 SF", museums, and...an In N Out Burger?  Walk even further and you start to see pasta houses, seafood restaurants, and crab stalls that have been handed down from generation to generation.

If you're an avid seafood lover, there is no way you can turn down the idea of eating fresh seafood along the bay.  Seafood freshly caught hours beforehand, boiled, broken down, and served with nothing more than cocktail sauce and lemon.  Heaven.

Incanto

Anyone who loves offal as much as I do knows the name Chris Cosentino.  He is considered to be at the forefront of nose-to-tail dining in North America.  His restaurant, Incanto, has been named by some as the most adventurous restaurant in the United States.  He runs the website, Offal Good, educating people on how to buy, handle, and cook offal.  He opened a small shop called Boccalone in the Ferry Building, selling San Francisco's famous "meat cone".  For someone with so much passion for what they do, it is no surprise that I made Incanto my first dinner stop during my trip to San Francisco.  I was psyched.  

The restaurant is gorgeous, and very well put together.  Large wall-size windows overlook the sidewalks of Noe Valley, pictures of pigs grazing, figurines of pig heads on the walls, colors of light brown and white stretching from the front of the restaurant to the back, an open kitchen, and humorously, a bookshelf in the bathrooms containing cookbooks that would make any avid collector smile.

A friend and I decided to go big.  Heck, I flew 3000 miles to come here.  When talking with our server we asked if we had ordered enough, and when she said yes, we ordered some more.  The restaurant started us off with a bread platter containing house-made tapenade, breads, and breadsticks.

Incanto's Bread and Breadsticks with House-Made Black Olive Tapenade

Like many restaurants, I tend to skip on bread platters, as they serve no more purpose than to just get your palate going, while filling you up in a few bites.  Incanto was no different, serving bread which was passable, but not exceptional.  The olive tapenade didn't do wonders for me.  This was pushed off to the side.  Now bring on the offal.