I left my heart in San Francisco

Let’s get this out of the way before we start. When workers finish painting the Golden Gate Bridge, they don’t actually go right back to the beginning and start again.

Disappointing, I know. But, I can confirm that San Francisco’s reputation as a dining capital is no myth.

After two consecutive trips to explore the culinary delights of New York, this time MCA headed to the birthplace of Irish

coffee (actually these are more ‘alternative facts’… but the Buena Vista Café has been specialising in Irish coffee since the ’50s and the speed with which they serve them up is a true spectacle). With companies represented ranging from fast-casual food formats to wet-led community pubs via high-end dining, the agenda – designed by renowned local food writer, Marcia Gagliardi – was nothing if not eclectic, reflecting the diverse nature of the San Francisco scene.

We started our excursion at Lolò – on a Thursday evening after an 11-hour flight – in the heart of the Mission district – a restaurant that hits you over the head with its design just as much as the flavour it packs into its celebrated carnitas (tacos with pulled pork). This venue highlights San Franciscans’ love of theatre both in its design and through the show that is made of mixing the mescal and agave-based concoctions at the cocktail bar. It was also a great introduction to the Mission district – a hipster hangout resplendent with independent bars and eateries.

Two institutions of hospitality

Our first full day in San Francisco started with meeting two legends of food and drink in the Bay. We gathered at Nopa in Divisadero Street to hear from its co-founder, Laurence Jossel, as well as the owner of neighbouring Bi-Rite Market, Sam Mogannam.

Jossel clearly lives and breathes the city’s food and drink scene and is right at the centre of it with Nopa and its sister restaurant Nopalito. The former focuses on simple but top-quality dishes made with seasonal ingredients sourced from local providers. The ethos is shared by Nopalito, which has a focus on Mexican cooking. Both set a huge amount of store by the artisanal – a theme that came up throughout our trip – with Nopalito even grinding its own masa for the tortillas.

As well as sharing his passion for food and drink, Jossel set out some of the challenges of operating in a city where a liquor licence can cost up to $300,000 (£231,000).

As well as setting us up for the day with some breakfast ice cream, Mogannam shared the story of Bi-Rite Market – a San Francisco institution that combines his skills as a chef and in creating a retail environment packed with the most sensational fresh, local ingredients.

The bold burger boasts

Our itinerary included some bold claims and one that stood out was the confident promise of “the best damn cheeseburger in San Francisco” at 4505 Burger & BBQ. Further research would be needed to fully verify the claim but I’d certainly concede it was a tasty burger, topped by Gruyere and 4505’s selection of home-made sauces. Founder Ryan Farr met us in the converted shipping container that houses the restaurant and explained the serendipity that sparked its creation – having quit the industry several years ago and insisted in a fit of pique that he would only ever return if this particular site came on the market, only to receive the call a few months later. Even the vegetarian options at this place sound decadent – “grits & egg with roasted green chilli peppers on a buttery griddled bun”.

This wasn’t the last burger we tried on the trip as we took a detour to a restaurant in the shadow of AT&T Park (the home of the Giants baseball team) to try the highly sought-after Impossible Burger. If you believe its backers – who include some seriously wealthy Silicon Valley heavyweights – the Impossible Burger could well change the way we think about meat forever. It’s an entirely plant-based burger that looks and bleeds like the real thing. According to chef Jorge Lumbreras at Public House, the plant-based patty is now outselling the real thing by four to one. The rumour is that at least one restaurant chain in the UK is looking to put the Impossible Burger on its menu so you should soon be able to make your own mind up.

Of the 14 three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the US, three are in San Francisco, and we were lucky enough to visit one of them – the fabulous Quince, founded by Michael and Lindsay Tusk in 2003 and still relentlessly innovating to this day. On a design level, this was a must-see with a meticulous attention to detail going into every aspect of decoration, table setting and the exclusive art collection on the walls. It wasn’t only a feast for the eyes though as we tasted a selection of canapes, including squid chips with pickled strawberries, preserved lemon and Espelette pepper, as well as Tsar Nicoulai Caviar with brioche, crème fraiche and rooftop flowers. Lindsay took the time to tell us a little about the story of the restaurant and we also heard about its partnership with Fresh Run Farm.

Quince is fairly unique in that it shares a central kitchen with its Italian casual-dining sister brand, Cotogna, which is right next door. It’s fascinating to see how two such different operating models can seamlessly operate hand in hand.

Concepts that would fit the UK

There were several concepts on the trip that could be dropped into the UK scene and would surely take off. One of these was China Live, a mega culinary and cocktail multi-floored project in Broadway.

The 30,000sq ft space takes in everything from a flower and plant stand, Oolong Café, book shop and a 120-cover restaurant area taking in eight stations: dumplings and dim sum, Chinese charcuterie and barbecue, cold salads and starters, noodles and rice bowls, fresh and live seafood, rice bowls, soups and tonics, wok stir-fry and grill, and desserts.

Greek concept Souvla, which now has three sites across San Francisco, was also very highly regarded by the operators on the trip. Owner Charles Billies, who took the time to talk to us, has taken the classic souvlaki and given it a Bay area ingredient-driven, contemporary spin. We also road-tested the huge kale salad bowls, topped with everything from apples to their selection of souvlaki meats, complemented by feta cheese. Souvla’s Greek frozen yoghurt was also a hit – especially the decadent baklava flavour.

Fully baked

The importance and quality of baking in San Francisco was brought home, particularly by two operators. Josey Baker, who as well as being a baker previously lived on Baker Street, co-owns The Mill with coffee roastery, Four Barrel Coffee. Their café on Divisadeo is one of the best-smelling

places I have ever stepped into and boasts an impressive 23 different types of breads for sale.

Meanwhile, Tartine Manufactory, like Josey Baker, takes pride in grinding its own wheat for the dizzying array of breads on offer. The founders invited us into their café and open kitchen (which the company bizarrely shares with a tile factory), to try out San Francisco toast. These small rectangles of crusty bread smeared with everything from seaweed butter to home-made Nuttella have become the city’s latest craze.

As well as visiting some of the best restaurants and bars in the city, the tour wouldn’t have been complete without pit-stops at two of San Francisco’s culinary landmarks. Our guide Marcia describes the Ferry Building Marketplace as “where San Franciscans go to worship” – a place that brings together the foundation blocks of the city’s food and drink scene. From Blue Bottle Coffee to Hog Island Oysters, Acme Bread and Fort Point Beer, there are fresh producers of almost every kind as far as they eye can see.

We also caught up with the influential Off the Grid market at the Fort Mason Centre, overlooking the bay. The market rotates around four locations within the city with a cast list of more than 200 vendors, selling everything from sushi burritos to empanadas, jian bing (Chinese crêpes) and Nepalese dumplings, all married to drinks, music and good times.

Time to whet the whistle

Talking of drinks, we made a number of pit stops to sample the city’s diverse cocktail scene. Among the most creative is Trick Dog Bar. The cocktail menu is compiled by a consulting team known as the Bon Vivants, who worked with 14 local artists to pair each cocktail with a mural around San Francisco.

The works have been collected in a book which adorns each table.

Other highlights of the bar scene include Smuggler’s Cove – a rum-centred speakeasy that inspired New World Trading Company’s concept of the same name. Even though the entrance is a completely anonymous plain door and we visited at 3pm in the afternoon, customers were packed shoulder to shoulder in the tiny but characterful bar.

We rounded off the trip in style with dinner at Michelin-starred The Progress, the second restaurant from State Bird Provisions owners Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, which sits right next door to their debut site. The restaurant is themed around ‘family-style sharing’, with groups deciding on four dishes to be shared communally. We were hosted in the restaurant’s private dining space where we were lucky enough to get a personal introduction from Brioza and a delicious tasting menu. My highlight was the Yuba (skin of Tofu) with an edamame salad and sauce. This was all complemented by drinks kindly provided by our friends at Wines of California, including the famed California Cabernet Sauvignon Silver Oak and wines from Twomey.

With just three days in San Francisco, we were never going to be able to take in everything the city has to offer, but what we did see provided plenty of food for thought and it was good to see operators returning home full of inspiration from all they had seen, and consumed.