SAN FRANCISCO WAS FOUNDED ON HOSPITALITY and diversity during the 1849 Gold Rush when adventurers from around the world arrived seeking the comforts of home. To accommodate the influx of visitors and new money, world-class hotels with fine dining rooms were constructed by the early 1900s and international restaurants opened and dished out classics to new residents hungering for a taste of their homelands.
Fast forward to the new millenniums Internet explosion. Again the city's hotels and restaurants expanded to accommodate the sudden increase of fortune seekers, visitors and new dollars. Rooms underwent multimillion-dollar facelifts or were constructed from the ground up, hotel restaurants resurged as top destinations, and hotels became as diverse and accommodating as the city itself.
Whether your preference is historic, modern, boutique or grand, San Francisco hotels offer temporary homes to suit all tastes--and include state-of-the-art technology and renowned dining rooms showcasing the best of Northern California's fresh ingredients and famed wines.
Now the only dilemma for today's visitor is whether to hit the town and see all the sights or experience some of the best of San Francisco without ever leaving the hotel. Next time you're visiting the city step into any of the following hotels, among others, to dine and dream in the grandest of style.
CONTEMPORARY LUXURY
The Ritz-Carlton dings to its Nob Hill perch of perfection. The 1909 landmark is the city's only hotel boasting both Mobil Travel Guide's Five Stars and the American Automobile Association's Five Diamonds. Living up to its trademark Ritz regality the hotel pampers with old world opulence from the traditional European-style accommodations with Italian-marble bathrooms to afternoon tea, the Terrace Restaurant's Sunday jazz brunch and the Five-Diamond Dining Room. Gilded, richly upholstered, and sconce lit, the hotel's flagship restaurant is a white-glove wonderland for culinary classicists where chef Sylvain Portay orchestrates composed contemporary French cuisine. His sculptural lobster salad, beginning with a base of caviar cream topped with layers of the crustacean and a mix of lettuces, haricots verts and avocado, is crowned with a lobster head. Duck pot-au-feu takes comfort food to celestial heights with roasted and sliced duck breast alongside a crisped crouton topped with velvety foie gras-infused duck confit and a melange of baby carrots, leeks, and turnips, watermelon radish and haricots verts.
The newly built Four Seasons hotel and luxury residences have been straddling hip and haute since opening in late 2001. Its fifth floor lobby bar is home base for guests who sink into leather club chairs and sip cocktails while a pianist intermingles jazz standards with the likes of Pink Floyd and The Grateful Dead. Other prime pursuits include lounging in oversized rooms overlooking Yerba Buena Gardens or heading to the enormous adjoining Sports Club L.A. It's a two-block walk to Union Square and Moscone Center, but you won't have to even leave the building for elegantly French-influenced seasonal California cuisine. Within the airy, windowed room overlooking bustling Market Street former chef David Blessing set the quality standard with fare highlighting the bounty of Bay Area seasonal ingredients. His successor (yet to be determined as of this writing) is sure to follow in Blessing's farm-fresh footsteps.
FASHION FORWARD
Visitors in favor of the national trend toward playful, modern, hip hotels feel at home at the W San Francisco, which is a paintbrush stroke away from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The 423 rooms are designed to feel like home--or at least a friend's very color-coordinated and streamlined-chic home--with shades of brown and blue, window seats, and high-tech conveniences. Their motto 'Whatever you want, whenever you want it' includes access to the octagonal three-story lobby's board games and comfy couches and New York-swank XYZ restaurant and bi-level bar. The bright white XYZ restaurant dotted with colored portholes is as fresh and vibrant as chef Malachi Harland's hominy cakes with Ancho chili sauce, pico de gallo, and creme fraiche or his roasted maple leaf duck breast atop butternut squash, Brussel sprouts and bacon jus.
Unlike the W, public spaces are not a focus at the 198-room Hotel Palomar. But its one-two punch of luxury living and cutting-edge fine dining instantly captured the hearts of food and travel lovers when it opened in 1999. The Kimpton Group's highest-end local property is a sleek ensemble of leopard print, black-and-beige stripes, and dark wood-and-glass furnishings. Penthouse-slick glamour is the name of the game here, and its location--on the top five floors of a 1907 landmark office building above downtown's Market Street thoroughfare--heightens the air of exclusivity. Equally if not more indulgent than the hotel is its restaurant, The Fifth Floor. The clubby room of zebra striped rugs, red leather and velvet banquettes, and Frette linens is racy, but it can't catch chef Laurent Gras who redefines modern French dining with surprisingly original combinations of ingredients and techniques and creative presentations. Classics include a fanned avocado dome over crabmeat seasoned jalapeno and basil and Niman Ranch pork belly slowly poached, roasted, and enriched with black truffles and truffle jus.
Another property waxing modern whimsical is Hotel Monaco San Francisco, a world travel-inspired fantasy, also from the ever-expanding Kimpton Group. Two blocks off Union Square, the renovated 1910 Beaux-Arts building has smaller rooms with signature canopy beds and boldly striped walls, while public spaces are playfully decorated with heavenly frescoes and adventure-related accents such as an oversized travel trunk check-in counter. Most architecturally awe-inspiring is the adjoining French-California brasserie, the Grand Cafe. A restored turn-of-the-century ballroom with 30-foot ceilings, towering bunny sculptures, and deco and nouveau grandeur, the restaurant is a pre-theater favorite with its own ovation-worthy drama. Chef Paul Arenstam's opulent menu featuring his irresistible flaky and rich porcini mushroom tart with frothy black truffle sabayon and melt-in-your-mouth sauteed skate over braised cabbage, bacon, and brown butter caper sauce heightens the performance. The more casual front room, the Petite Cafe is downtown's top spot for pre-theater snacks and cocktails.
Across the street from the Monaco is Ian Schrager's contribution to San Francisco's hip hotel collection, Clift. Once known as The Clift, one of the city's time-honored traditional hotels, Schrager unveiled a Philippe Starck-driven remodel in 2001, transforming it into the city's most trendy place to crash. Like most historic properties the monochrome pale purple and orange rooms can be small. But the style factor is larger than life--from colored mirror accents to the gorgeous historic wood-paneled Redwood Room, one of the sexiest bars in the city. Adjoining the bar is Asia de Cuba. Known for its celebrity clientele and Starck's etched glass cocktail tables and red velvet-draped, 25-foot-high, wood-paneled walls, the bi-coastal restaurant lures glamour diners into high-backed crescent-shaped booths to eat and be seen. Prices are among the city's steepest, but entertainment value is included and the large Asian-Cuban dishes are meant to be shared. Signature items include Asian calamari salad tossed with hearts of palm, cashew, banana, chicory and sesame orange dressing and honey-glazed pot roast over bok choy with fried plantains, and enoki mushrooms.
OLD WORLD ELEGANCE
While many downtown hotels are receiving modernizing facelifts, The Palace Hotel celebrates its historic heritage. Built in 1875 and rebuilt after the 1906 quake, its jaw-dropping centerpiece is the Garden Court, a 1909 dining spectacle and traditional Sunday buffet brunch spot with a double row of massive Italian-marble Ionic columns, 10 huge chandeliers, and an 80,000-pane stained-glass ceiling that towers 55 feet above the sparkling wine, shrimp and freshly shucked oysters, and eggs Benedict. Art lovers settle into the The Pied Piper Bar to admire the giant Maxfield Parrish mural before retreating to one of 552 rooms. Updated in 2002 they still echo old world tradition with mahogany poster beds, floral fabrics and marble vanities.
A prelude to the historic hotel within, famed doorman Tom Sweeney announces the entrance to Union Square's Sir Francis Drake in his conspicuous Beefeater suit. Inside, the 21-story hotel built in 1928 is a lighthearted ode to old world opulence with grand staircases and swirls of red and gold. The 417 rooms have advanced since the days when their modern wonders included ice water on tap and radios in every guest room. Today it's a contemporary-cosmopolitan collage of sage and cream stripes, red and gold. Adjoining the hotel is Scala's Bistro, a festive, bustling and stylish spot for Italian fare. Conceptualized by and named after Donna Scala of Bistro Don Giovanni in Napa Valley and now presided over by chef Staffan Terje, the Italian- and French-inspired restaurant covers all cravings from thick, juicy burgers and paper-thin filet mignon carpaccio with arugula, capers, lemon and parmesan shavings to perfectly crisp and moist seared salmon filet resting on buttermilk mashed potatoes with a zesty tomato, white wine and chive sauce. Atop the hotel on the 21st floor Harry Dentoffs Starlight Room is the spot to cut the rug backed by live swing bands and panoramic city views.
BOUTIQUE CHARM
If intimate environs and world-class refinement are on the itinerary, book a room at Campton Place Hotel. The boutique jewel embedded in the heart of Union Square coddles visitors in its 110 Italian-modern rooms swathed in sand and sage hues, pear wood and limestone. Although hundreds of shops beckon outside, one of the greatest reasons to hibernate is the Restaurant, which has a longstanding reputation for rearing some of the city's finest chefs. French chef Laurent Manrique took tableside service to new heights when the dining room reopened in 2002 after a glamorous facelift. But don't count on scooting into one of the gold crashed-velvet booths for his cart-served foie gras four ways. As of May 2003 Swiss chef Daniele Humm, a 27-year-old Michelin-star-rated newcomer, steps in for Manrique who hopped over to celebrated seafood hot spot Aqua. Until Humm reworks the menu, however, the kitchen is still command over crayfish, breast of quail, and cinnamon cap mushrooms in puff pastry and Colorado lamb saddle and shank with sweet peppers and cumin lamb jus.
One block west off of Union Square the Prescott Hotel guests slip past the discreet lobby and head to guest rooms that buck trends, florals and lace for rooms more soothingly homey style in dark greens, burgundy and cherry wood. If the hotel is the hiding place, its adjoining restaurant Postrio is the coming out party. Wolfgang Puck's only San Francisco endeavor has been a special occasion favorite for over a decade. Guests make a dramatic descent into the bright, bi-level dining room and indulge in brothers Mitchell and Steven Rosenthal's house smoked salmon on buckwheat blini topped with dill creme fraiche and caviar or bacon wrapped Wolfe Ranch quail with Manila clams, creamer potatoes and garlic lemon glaze. Casual diners know to slip into the crowded bar for gourmet pizzas and pre-theater socializing.
More moderately priced and European in style is the Hotel Vintage Court, which is two blocks north of Union Square and right on top of one of the city's best French restaurants. Oenophiles will appreciate that the 1066 rooms are named after wineries and adorned with modern country decor of earth tones, greens and wrought iron, not to mention the cozy lobby where complimentary California wines are enjoyed each evening on couches fronting a blazing fire. The hotel may inspire one to sink into a chair and stay awhile, but the magic happening in the adjoining legendary Masa's restaurant is more than enough reason to get off the couch. Behind the entrance's backlit white curtains, a dim modern-minimalist dining room keeps the attention focused on chef Ron Siegel's delicate checkerboard of hamachi carpaccio with shiso and radish salad, poppy seed mile, and Meyer lemon vinaigrette or full-flavored bacon-wrapped black cod with razor dams, baby leeks, toasted garlic and gigli pasta.
For more information on San Francisco hotels and special offers visit the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau's web site at www.sfvisitor.org
THE DINING ROOM AT THE RITZ-CARLTON, SAN FRANCISCO
The Ritz-Carlton's Dining Room embodies classic fine dining with opulent surroundings, white-glove service, and Chef Sylvain Portay's sophisticated French-inspired cuisine. Portay simplifies four-star dining for the home chef with his Roasted Rack of Lamb, which sommelier Stephane Lacroix suggests pairing with a rich, hearty full-bodied red wine such as Trinchero Mario's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1999. Its rich, smooth and complex character complements the reserved decadence of the lamb and its jus, and the caramelized ribs accentuate the wine's velvety dark fruit flavors and enliven the glaze's roasted bell pepper flavors.
Roasted Rack of Lamb with Caramelized Ribs, Potato Boulangere, Tomato Confit, Scallion and Fava Beans
Chef Sylvain Portay
2 rack of lamb, French cut, with trimmings 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. olive oil 3 unpeeled garlic cloves 2 cups veal stock (available frozen at gourmet grocers) 2 red bell peppers 2 large yellow onions 1 Tbsp. tomato ketchup 1 Tsp. honey salt and pepper 1 strip of bacon 2 large Yukon gold potatoes 4 scallions 2 cups fava beans 2 large tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 450[degrees]F. Trim the fat off the lamb and reserve. Cover each of the meatless lamb rib bones with tin foil and generously season the meat with salt and pepper
In a large saute pan heat 1 tablespoon olive oil until it is almost smoking. Add the garlic and lamb and roast in the oven for 6 minutes. Turn the ribs over and roast another 6 minutes.
Remove from the oven, reserve the ribs, add lamb trimmings and veal stock to the pan, and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Reserve the lamb jus.
Prepare rib glaze: Halve the bell peppers, remove seeds and core, and broil skin-side up until skins begin to blacken. Transfer the peppers to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand for a few minutes. Peel off the skins, rinse the peppers, and reserve. Slice one onion into thin ringlets. In a medium saute pan heat 1/2 cup olive oil over moderate heat. Add the onions and cook until transparent, about 20 minutes. Strain and puree the onion with the bell pepper, then reduce the puree slowly in a nonstick pan to 1 cup. The puree should have a marmalade-like consistency. Mix in the ketchup, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Reserve.
Prepare the vegetables: Peel potatoes, halve them, and cut them into solid cylindrical shapes. Cut bacon and remaining onion into 1-inch pieces. Cook in a heated saute pan over moderate heat. Add potatoes and lamb jus and braise until potatoes are cooked, add the scallion and braise during the last few minutes. Blanch and peel fava beans. Peel, seed and quarter tomatoes.
Generously coat the ribs with glaze and roast for 6 minutes at 400[degrees]F.
Serve: Reheat potatoes and other vegetables in lamb jus. Slice roasted lamb, remove tin foil from the bones, and serve with lamb jus and vegetables. SERVES 4.
SEASONS RESTAURANT, FOUR SEASONS SAN FRANCISCO
Seasons Restaurant highlights the Bay Area's abundant fresh seasonal bounty. An oasis of refinement, the dining room exudes casual elegance befitting chef David Blessing's cuisine, which highlights natural flavors of quality ingredients. Exemplifying his unadulterated style is his refreshing and bountiful Seared King Salmon and Warm Spring Salad, which Sommelier Rom Toulon pairs with a rich, full-bodied white such as Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2001. Balanced and clean, the wine has enough acidity to complement the dish's greens and vinaigrette and a roundness and fullness that mirror the fish's opulent character.
Seared King Salmon and Warm Spring Salad with Peas, Carrots, Asparagus, Fingerling Potatoes and Chardonnay Vinaigrette
Executive Chef David Blessing
2 6-oz. salmon filets, with skin 4 quartered fingerling potatoes 1/2 cup snap peas 3 asparagus spears, halved lengthwise 3 each peeled baby carrots 1 Tbs. sugar I cup champagne vinegar 1 Tbs. mustard seeds 1 bay leaf 6 whole white peppercorns 1 garlic clove 1 whole clove 1 small red onion, peeled and sliced into 1/4' thick rings, about 1/2 cup 1 cup Chardonnay, reduced to 1/3 cup and cooled 1 oz. fresh lemon juice 1 shallot, minced 1/2 Tbs. Dijon mustard 1/2 Tbs.sugar 1-1/6 cup excellent quality extra virgin olive oil 4 cups mesclun greens mix 6 each cherry tomatoes, halved salt and pepper to taste
Boil potatoes in salted water until tender when pierced with toothpick, drain, cool, quarter and reserve. Blanch the peas, carrots and asparagus separately in salted boiling water until each is tender (approximately 1 1/2 minutes each). Shock the vegetables in ice water, drain and reserve.
Pickle the onions: Bring sugar, champagne vinegar, mustard seeds, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic, and clove to a boil in a small pot. Simmer for five minutes and strain. Discard solids and pour over onions into a shallow bowl. Cover and let cool to room temperature.
Make Chardonnay Vinaigrette: In a non-reactive bowl combine Chardonnay reduction, lemon juice, shallots, mustard, sugar, and 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil. Reserve.
Season salmon evenly on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large saute pan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over high heat until almost smoking. Place fish skin side down in pan and reduce heat to medium. Continue searing fish slowly until skin becomes crisp (approximately 2 minutes). Turn fish over and put pan and fish together in oven at 325[degrees]F. Bake approximately 4 minutes for medium rare to medium.
Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in saute pan until almost smoking. Place potatoes in the pan, cut-side down. Reduce heat to medium and sear until golden brown on all sides. Add carrots, peas, asparagus and onions to pan and continue to saute until all vegetables are thoroughly heated through (approximately 2 minutes), and season as desired. Remove pan from heat, add 1/2 cup vinaigrette to the vegetable mixture and toss to coat evenly. Place entire mixture in a medium bowl, add the mesclun greens and split tomatoes. Toss and season as desired. Split mixture evenly and arrange salad in center of two plates. Place salmon filet on top. Drizzle additional vinaigrette around the plate and serve. SERVES 2.
XYZ, W SAN FRANCISCO
XYZ's white-on-white design and trademark colored portholes are as fresh and contemporary as Chef Malachi Harland's modern American cuisine. Malachi, who was hailed as one of the San Francisco Chronicle's Rising Star Chefs in 2003, accents his clean and seasonally-driven cooking style with Roasted Beef Tenderloin, which Wine Director Michael Garcia recommends pairing with an intense, yet elegantly balanced red wine such as Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2000. The Cabernet sauce creates a natural symmetry between the dish and wine. The pure flavors of the tenderloin and vegetables illuminate the Cabernet's deep cassis character and refined tannins, while mushrooms and a slight charring of the meat echo the wine's toasty notes.
Roasted Beef Tenderloin, potato puree, Chanterelle Mushrooms and Cabernet Sauce
Chef Malachi Harland
4 7-oz. cuts of beef tenderloin 1/2 cup pure olive oil 3 oz. cleaned and sliced chanterelle mushrooms (or your favorite mushrooms) salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste 1 garlic clove, crushed 2 sprigs fresh thyme 1 cup sliced shallots 5 whole black peppercorns 1/2 bay leaf 3 parsley sprigs 2 cups good quality Cabernet Sauvignon 2 cups veal stock (available frozen at gourmet grocers) 2 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled 2-1/2 cups heavy cream 4 Tbs. softened butter white pepper to taste 8 baby carrots 8 green beans 4 baby turnips 1 Tsp.finely chopped chervil or chives
Roast the mushrooms: Preheat the oven to 350[degrees]F. In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper, add the garlic and thyme and toss in the pan to coat. Put the pan of mushrooms in the oven for 10 minutes. Reserve.
Make the Cabernet sauce: In a medium saute pan over medium heat, heat 1/3 cup olive oil and saute shallots, peppercorns, bay leaf, and parsley sprigs until shallots are translucent. Add red wine and reduce until nearly dry but not caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add veal stock and reduce to sauce consistency, about 10 minutes. Strain and reserve.
Puree the potatoes: In a large pot of boiling water cook the potatoes until they're soft in the center. Remove potatoes from water, let steam dry, and run them through a fine-mesh food mill or mash them by hand. Return to a saucepan and fold in cream, butter, and salt and white pepper to taste. Reserve.
Season beef tenderloin liberally with salt and black pepper. In an oven-safe pan saute 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-high heat and brown each side of the meat. Place the pan in the oven and cook for approximately 6 to 8 minutes or until desired temperature. Remove from the oven and set steak aside in warm place to rest.
Blanch the vegetables: Quarter the turnips. Cook the carrots, green beans, and turnips in a pot of salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove, cool immediately in an ice bath, and pat dry. Cut the carrots in half lengthwise and the green beans in half widthwise.
In a large saute pan, combine and warm the Cabernet sauce, mushrooms and vegetables. Adjust seasoning.
Serve: Place the steak and potato puree on a dinner plate. Pour the sauce and mushrooms over the steak and garnish with chopped chervil or chives. SERVES 4.
