43314 Fri Feb 03 20:19:18 -0800 2006 11 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 211653 Help! I'm going to be staying at a friends flat in the central part of the city and need to know where to get the basics. 1. a great cup of coffee 2. a sumptuous breakfast 3. cheese/fancy food shop 4. comfortable spot for afternoon pastry 5. amazing neighborhood joint for dinner And anything else you think I'm visiting for a week from Boston for the first time. Oh, by the way, I will be staying on Pine St. between Laguna and Buchanan. Fri Feb 03 20:19:18 -0800 2006 0 tess 1 211654 To me, this would be the perfect day for your parameters: 1. Ritual Roaster, though others will say Blue Bottle or Organica. Peet's is SF's answer to Starbuck's, way better than Starbuck's, but better at some locations than others. 2. Mama's on Washington Square, Dottie's, Kate's Kitchen, or many other places. Breakfast is easy in this town, so decide based on geography. 3. The cheese scene in SF is dominated by Cowgirl Creamery in the Ferry Building. Buy cheese and eat it out by the water, take it to the Wine Merchant and enjoy it with wine, or take it back to your hotel for a snack. For a restaurant with cheese, try Cav. Great food at this wine bar, and like 20 cheeses to choose from. 4. We have so many bakeries I can't even begin to tell you. Again, decide by location: Delessio, Delanghe, Tartine, Madeleine, Rulli (various locations), and many many more. 5. Canteen Fri Feb 03 20:28:13 -0800 2006 211653 0 nooodles 1 211658 Be sure to check out Boulangerie Bay Bread (2325 Pine St.) for excellent baked goods. They operate a cafe around the corner on Fillmore St. that serves coffees, their baked goods, sandwiches, salads, etc. and would be good for your afternoon pastry. Also worth checking out in the same block of Fillmore St. off Pine is Tango Gelato (2015 Fillmore St.), if you are in the mood for ice cream. There is a Peet's Coffee (2197 Fillmore St.) two blocks north of Fillmore@Pine. Fri Feb 03 21:00:30 -0800 2006 211653 0 DavidT 1 211659 You're going to be staying very close to both Fillmore Street and Japantown. I've previously posted a list of places you can check out in the immediate neighborhood. See the link below. Of course, there are plenty of great places fitting your requests outside the neighborhood as well, so don't feel compelled to just stick around this part of town, although it would be one of many possible pretty good ways to enjoy the city if you did. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/41887#202597 Fri Feb 03 21:04:50 -0800 2006 211653 0 Benny Choi 1 211660 There won't be much immediately around where you're staying, but you can stroll the 2 blocks down to Fillmore St. for almost all of your needs -- it's pretty much a full-service neighborhood. Royal Ground for coffee (you can do laundry there, too, if you're staying awhile); Vivande for cheeses & fancy foods (and another place just off of Fillmore that I can't remember the name of); and a few good neighborhood dinner joints, including Jackson/Fillmore Trattoria, The Elite (under new, better ownership), and a few decent sit-down pastry places. Not sure about the sumptuous breakfast, as my preference for that meal is good, cheap and greasy... Fri Feb 03 21:06:06 -0800 2006 211653 0 Zach Georgopoulos 1 211665 I don't think most SF residents would call Pine & Laguna central. 3. Leonard's 2001 / Cheese Plus 5. Quince is a block or so away. Fri Feb 03 21:12:06 -0800 2006 211653 0 Robert Lauriston 2 211667 I'd agree most wouldn't call this part of town central, but from a functional standpoint, it kind of is. Go north (short bus ride up Fillmore on the #22) and you're easily in Cow Hollow and the Marina. Plenty of places to choose from on Union St., Lombard St., or Chestnut St. Go west and you're easily in Laurel Heights and the Richmond. Lots of places, especially Asian places, on Geary and Clement Streets. Go south (especially on the #22 Muni bus) and you're easily in Western Addition, the Haight, the Castro, and the Mission. Someone could write an entire guidebook on just the restaurants accessible along the #22 bus line. Go east, and you're quickly on Van Ness, Polk St., on Nob Hill, near Union Square, or in the financial district. I think your point may be there really is no place in San Francisco considered the "central" part of town. Fri Feb 03 21:21:15 -0800 2006 211665 0 Benny Choi 3 211683 FWIW, the geographic center of SF is around 23rd & Grandview. The 24th St. commmercial strip can therefore claim to be "central" San Francisco...... Link: http://eatingchinese.org Fri Feb 03 23:59:08 -0800 2006 211667 0 Gary Soup 3 211784 Driving or taking public transportion, the neighborhood between the Church St. Muni Metro station and the 16th St. BART station is a lot more central. Which probably has something to do with it also having the highest concentration of Chowhound-approved restaurants. Sun Feb 05 14:28:58 -0800 2006 211667 0 Robert Lauriston 1 211666 Breakfast at Ella's on Presidio and California can be considered sumptuous. It would be a long walk from where you're staying (1.0 mile according to Yahoo maps) but you could hop on either the #1 or #2 Muni bus lines to cut some of the distance down. If your stay includes a Saturday, then you must spend the morning at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market. Not exactly a breakfast stop, but most definitely sumptuous by many measures. Fri Feb 03 21:15:09 -0800 2006 211653 0 Benny Choi 1 211670 Are you willing to leave that area? Take public transportation? Or just in that neighborhood? Fri Feb 03 21:32:54 -0800 2006 211653 0 C Addict 1 211726 Most suggestions thus far have you going East, but you could also go West toward Divisidero, where you'll find the following: 1. a great cup of coffee - Martha & Bro's on Calif. and Divis, a local chain-let that has excellent house blend coffee. 2. a sumptuous breakfast - can't remember the name of it, but there's a pretty good, fancy-ish breakfast place across Calif. St. from Food, Inc. 3. cheese/fancy food shop - Food, Inc., next to Martha, has nice deli/prepared food type stuff for you in a Euro-style cafe setting. 4. comfortable spot for afternoon pastry - see above 5. amazing neighborhood joint for dinner - Socialle on Sacramento and Spruce (a few blocks west still) is a very good, very cozy, rather-upscale neighborhood joint. For a more down to earth experience, try Frankie's Bohemian on Pine and Divis. Good beer/burgers, plus some unusual Czech food. Godzila Sushi on Bush and Divis is also quite good/reasonable. Sat Feb 04 15:53:59 -0800 2006 211653 0 Rob