What's New

One of the greatest challenges of producing a quality travel guide is staying on top of the never-ending changes that take place in San Francisco, a city that is always in a state of flux. This section highlights the latest trends, attractions, and openings. There's some great stuff here, so be sure to add it to your to-do list while exploring the city.

Hotels

What's been the norm in L.A. and New York for the past half decade has finally permeated the San Francisco hospitality industry: hip boutique hotels created by cutting-edge design companies with destination bar/lounges and restaurants run by celebrity chefs. In this edition I've added five formerly frumpy Union Square hotels that have been transmogrified from just a place to stay to the place to be.

Take the new Hotel Vertigo (940 Sutter St.; tel. 800/553-1900) for instance. It has a playful, eclectic decor by Thomas Schoos Design, Inc., and food by celebrity chef Tyler Florence. The Hotel Frank (386 Geary St.; tel. 800/553-1900) followed suit with a major renovation in the fall of 2008 that incorporated a blend of popular design trends through the decades, from turn-of-the-century Beaux Art classicism to '40s Art Deco and retro '60s chic.

Other examples include the newly renovated Villa Florence (225 Powell St.; (tel. 866/823-4669) with its slick new Bar Norcini wine bar; the Hotel Metropolis (25 Mason St. (tel. 800/553-1900) and its yin/yang combo of cheeky decor and Zen ambience; and my new favorite, the Hotel Union Square (114 Powell St.; tel. 800/553-1900), built in 1913 for the 1915 Pan Pacific Exposition yet now one of the sexiest hotels in the city. If lace curtains and teddy bears just won't do, any of these five new hotels will satisfy the snob in you.

Restaurants

For the first time in decades someone has finally opened a true destination restaurant on the Embarcadero. Heck, they built two. The duo of EPIC Roasthouse (369 Embarcadero; tel. 415/369-9955) and the adjacent Waterbar (399 Embarcadero; tel. 415/284-9922) has managed to get even us restaurant-jaded locals excited. Design genius Pat Kuleto worked his magic yet again to create two of the sexiest restaurants in the city. Even if the prices are beyond your budget, you really need to stop by both restaurants and admire what money, style, and setting can produce.

Two other restaurant newcomers that are getting national press are Ducca (50 Third St.; tel. 415/977-0271) and Spruce (3640 Sacramento St.; tel. 415/931-5100). The former is my new favorite Italian restaurant in the city -- the things Executive Chef Richard J. Corbo can do with buffalo mozzarella is humbling -- while the latter is the new darling of the Pacific Heights ladies-who-lunch crowd and worth the drive across town just for the burger and fries.

Sightseeing

It took, like, forever, but the city finally got around to opening the new California Academy of Sciences (55 Concourse Dr.; tel. 415/379-8000). Four years and $500 million dollars later, but the results will wow you. It's the only institution in the world to combine an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and scientific research program under one roof, and what a roof it is -- a 2 1/2-acre undulating garden canopy carpeted with over a million plants and flowers. There's much to see and do at the Academy that you could easily spend an entire day roaming amongst the high-tech exhibits. Along with the brilliant de Young Museum and beautiful Conservatory of Flowers, it's yet another reason why everyone who's vacationing in San Francisco should spend at least one full day in Golden Gate Park.

Nightlife

The more things change. Your grandparents might remember when San Francisco's Fillmore Corridor was the swingingest jazz venue in the 1940s and '50s. Though not quite back to its halcyon days, this revitalized stretch of Fillmore Street just south of Geary Boulevard is once again the top West Coast destination for jazz music now that the new Yoshi's Jazz Club (1330 Fillmore St.; tel. 415/655-5600), has opened. The two-story, 28,000-square-foot jazz venue is attracting some of the finest jazz artists in the world: Stanton Moore, Branford Marsalis, Diana Krall, et al. Even if you're not a jazz fan, it's still worth the trip to revel in the coolness of it all.

On an entirely different note, I've also added some info about the best drag shows in the city. If you're out on a Friday night and looking for something to do that's decidedly off the straight-laced path, head to the Cinch (1723 Polk St.; tel. 415/776-4162), for its weekly Charlie Horse drag show, or bring grandma to a brunch she'll never forget at Harry Denton's Starlight Room (450 Powell St.; tel. 415/395-8595). Their weekly Sunday's a Drag brunch performance is fit for a queen.