Where in the entire State of California do I enjoy eating the most? Unequivocally, San Francisco.

San Francisco sets a food and wine precedent in California given it’s attractive climatic conditions and its rich, and well placed terroir. Consequently, you will relish in the freshest seasonal ingredients available and experience the counter culture of culinary innovation influenced by San Francisco’s creative cultural history.

I will take this opportunity to provide you with a roadmap of some of the best places to dine, drink and play.

For Italian cuisine, my ubiquitous favorite is Cotogna in Jackson Square. Soulful, seasonally based Northern Italian cuisine by Chef Michael Tusk who also presents fine Italian-French influenced cuisine at his Michelin starred restaurant next door, Quince. Other stellar Italian restaurants to check out are A16 in the Marina, Delfina in the Mission, and Tosca Café in North Beach by famed Chef April Bloomfield. If you are in the wine country, don’t miss a dining experience at Michael Chiarello’s Bottega, one of my favorite places to eat in Napa.

For Japanese cuisine, Kusakabe in the Jackson Square neighborhood serves sushi, Kaiseiki style, a purist approach that highlights the supremacy of the high quality fish that they utilize in the Omakase presented courses. I also adore Akiko’s in the Financial District for an even more intimate environment, as well Ichi Sushi and Ni Bar in the Mission District for a culture forward verve with a more contemporary vantage point on hot and cold dishes. Ichi also serves skewers of many variety, including the most coveted part of the chicken, the “Chicken Oyster.”

For Spanish-Basque, my hands down go-to tapas restaurant in San Francisco is Chiarello’s Coqueta at 5 Pier. The authenticity of Chiarello’s restaurant harkens back to my days eating in San Sebastian. My other favorite is Piperade in North Beach.

For seafood, you have many choices, both traditional and more contemporary. I have two places in mind. First, old schoolers will punish the perennial line at the over 100 year old Swan Oyster Depot in Nob Hill for a no-non-sense seafood nirvana experience. The other is Foreign Cinema in the Mission District, housed in a high ceiling, open spaced venue with not only great seafood, but also projected film on one of its exterior walls in the patio to heighten the cultural senses.

For meat lovers, there is the classic House of Prime Rib that has no equal when it comes to the traditional prime rib dinner (other than Lawry’s). For more modern carnivores, I highly recommend Michelin starred chef Daniel Patterson’s newly anointed steakhouse, Alfred’s, in the Financial District that opened in the last few months.

For pizza, I will direct you to the only pie maker in town worthy of great attribution—Una Pizza Napoletana in SOMA, open Wed to Saturday from 5p.m. to “out of dough.”

For farm to table fare, San Francisco offers an endless supply. However, only a few stand in a league of their own, including State Bird Provisions, Al’s Place, Lazy Bear and Rich Table. In the case of State Bird Provisions, you will experience farm to table in the unique delivery medium of dim sum where both servers and chefs alike will present in a rolling push cart a variety of irresistible bites that are both soulfully delicious and perfectly articulated.

For drinking, I have two watering holes that indulge the evolved drinker and they are both James Beard Foundation nominated—Bar Agricole in SOMA and Trick Dog in the Mission District. The Mixologists are alchemists and the inimitable staff in the kitchen complements the seasonal and artisanal spirits with unparalleled bar food.

My go-to places to play are the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Palace of Legion of Honor, San Francisco Symphony or Opera House, and The Fillmore for popular music. Presently, the Palace is featuring an exhibition of Pierre Bonnard, the preeminent artist representing the artistic transition from Impressionism to abstraction. For David Bowie fans, Tony Visconti and Woody Woodmansey celebrates the great icon of rock n’ roll at The Fillmore on Friday, April 29. One of the great cultural treasures of San Francisco is Diego Rivera’s 1931 fresco at the San Francisco Art Institute on Chestnut in North Beach, which can be viewed by the public. Lastly, we cannot forget the literary epicenter in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco where the beat writers waxed poetic—City Lights.

San Francisco holds a unique history in American culture and your experience in this city will inspire, ignite and invigorate your deepest desires to indulge in every dimension of your sensorial aspirations.

Culturally yours,

Elliot M. Shirwo

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