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Best Dining Bets
The Best Restaurants
San Francisco's Finest: Restaurant Michael Mina, 335 Powell St., Union Square (tel. 415/397-9222), is the place to go for Union Square fine dining. Dozens of fancifully presented small portions add up to a delightfully long, lavish meal. And then there's Restaurant Gary Danko, 800 North Point St., Fisherman's Wharf (tel. 415/749-2060), always a sure bet for a perfect contemporary French meal complete with polished service and flambéed finales.
Chez Panisse (Berkeley; tel. 510/548-5525): This is the domain of Alice Waters, "the queen of California cuisine." Originally inspired by the Mediterranean, her kitchen has found its own style, captivating the imagination as well as the senses. Chez Panisse's delicacies include grilled fish wrapped in fig leaves with red-wine sauce, and Seckel pears poached in red wine with burnt caramel.
Bistro Don Giovanni (Napa; tel. 707/224-3300): In this large, cheery Napa Valley dining room you can get an incredible Italian meal without a reservation. Just drop in and wait at the bar for a seat.
Terra (Napa; tel. 707/963-8931): One of the state's best choices, this small restaurant affords its patrons intimacy, outstanding food by Hiro Sone (one of California's best chefs), great wine, heavenly desserts, and freedom from pretense.
Restaurant 301 (Eureka; tel. 800/404-1390): A recipient of Wine Spectator's Grand Award, Mark Carter is passionate about food and wine, and it shows: His hotel restaurant is considered the best on the Northern Coast. Most of the herbs and many vegetables come fresh from the hotel's organic gardens. Indulge in the five-course fixed-price dinner menu; Carter pairs each course with an excellent wine, available by the glass, or as part of a wine flight.
Erna's Elderberry House (Oakhurst; tel. 559/683-6800): Erna's shines like a beacon across the culinary wasteland around Yosemite. The six-course menu, which changes nightly, is an ideal blend of Continental and Californian cuisine. Portions are bountiful, served in an elegant European setting.
bouchon (Santa Barbara; tel. 805/730-1160): With an intriguing seasonal menu derived from Santa Barbara County's wine country, this intimate restaurant (whose name means "wine cork") is hidden behind a shrubbery portal in the heart of downtown. The food and service are impeccable, and an experienced staff stands ready to help coordinate by-the-glass (or even half-glass) wines for each course.
Grace (7360 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; tel. 323/934-4400): The best overall dining experience in Los Angeles. Iron Chef Neal Fraser was trained by America's finest chefs, and it shows (the foie gras served two ways is worth the trip alone). Sophisticated yet unpretentious, Grace is a splurge worth making.
The Hump (Santa Monica; tel. 310/313-0977): The chefs here are deadly serious about their sushi. Flown in daily from Tokyo's Tsukijii and Fukuoka fish markets in oxygen-filled containers, it's so fresh a sign at the entrance warns that the meat's still moving.
Koi (West Hollywood; tel. 310/659-9449): One of L.A.'s hottest restaurants has celebrities arriving nightly for addictive dishes such as baked crab rolls with edible rice paper. Koi is a killer combo of good feng shui and superb Asian fusion cuisine.
The Marine Room (La Jolla; tel. 858/459-7222): It has been around for 60-plus years, but chef Bernard Guillas keeps this senior citizen in tiptop shape. Those who come for the smashing beachside view (waves sometimes slam into the windows) may be surprised by the inventive, French-inspired food.
The Best Culinary Experiences
Grazing at San Francisco's Farmers Market: In 2003, San Francisco's favorite outdoor culinary fair moved to the Ferry Building Marketplace, where some of the best artisan food producers and restaurants have storefronts. Stop by to peruse the exceptional, abundant selection of gourmet shops and restaurants, or join the locals during open-air market days to feast on the freshest vegetables, fruits, and prepared foods from beloved restaurants.
Dining on Dungeness Crab at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf: Eating fresh Dungeness crabmeat straight from the seafood venders' boiling pots at the corner of Jefferson and Taylor streets is a classic San Francisco culinary experience.
A San Francisco Dim Sum Feast: No place this side of China does dim sum as well as San Francisco. Experience a taste of Hong Kong right at your table with a myriad of mysterious and exotic little dishes -- from dumplings and potstickers to salt-fried shrimp and ducks feet. At the city's best dim sum house, Ton Kiang (tel. 415/387-8273), you'll be wowed by the variety of mysterious dishes. For downtown dim sum, the venerable Yank Sing (tel. 415/957-9300), offers an exotic edible surprise on every cart that's wheeled to your table.
A Decadent Meal in the Wine Country: The Wine Country is a better backdrop for indulgent dining than any other place in the state. Add the best wines and some of the nation's most talented chefs, and you've got the ultimate dining experience. Diners with deep pockets must reserve an evening meal at The French Laundry in St. Helena (tel. 707/944-2380). More moderately priced memories can be made at aforementioned Terra (tel. 707/963-8931).
Point Reyes Oysters: Drake's Bay Oyster Farm (tel. 415/669-1149) sells its farm-fresh oysters -- by the dozen or the hundreds -- for a fraction of the price you'd pay at a restaurant.
Samoa Cookhouse (Samoa; tel. 707/442-1659): When lumber was king in Northern California, cookhouses were the hub of Eureka. Here the mill men and longshoremen came to chow down on three hot meals before, during, and after their 12-hour workday. The Samoa is the last of the great cookhouses, and the food is still hearty, served up family style at long red-checkered tables; nobody leaves hungry.
A Gourmet Picnic at the Hollywood Bowl: What better way to spend a typically warm L.A. evening than under the stars with a picnic basket, bottle of wine, and some naturally amplified entertainment. Home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Bowl hosts visiting performers ranging from chamber music quartets to jazz greats to folk humorists. The imposing white Frank Lloyd Wright-designed band shell always elicits appreciative gasps from first-time Bowl-goers.
Grand Central Market (Los Angeles; tel. 213/624-2378): Fresh-produce stands, exotic-spice-and-condiment vendors, butchers and fishmongers, and prepared-food counters create a noisy, fragrant, vaguely comforting atmosphere in this L.A. mainstay. Prepared foods of every ethnicity are served at counters throughout the market, from chile relleno burritos (around $2) to a complete Thai plate for under $5.
A Date with the Coachella Valley: Some 95% of the world's dates are farmed here. While the groves of date palms make evocative scenery, it's their fruit that draws visitors to the National Date Festival in Indio each February. Amid the Arabian Nights Parade and camel races, you can feast on an array of plump Medjool, amber Deglet Noor, caramel-like Halawy, and buttery Empress dates. The rest of the year, date farms and markets sell dates from the season's harvest, as well as date milkshakes, date coconut rolls, and more.
Fish Tacos: These tasty treats migrated north from Baja California and were popularized in San Diego some 25 years ago by Rubio's Baja Grill. Now a sizable chain, Rubio's is still a reliable choice, but better yet are casual fish market/eateries like Point Loma Seafoods (tel. 619/223-1109), Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill (tel. 619/497-0914), and Bay Park Fish Co. (tel. 619/276-3474).
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
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