San Francisco Tripping One

Some months back, Senora Foodblog found crazzzzzy cheap air tickets to San Francisco and like a good wife, immediately bought them.

Senora Foodblog booked a quaint room at the sexy boutique hotel, Hotel Rex, part of the Joie de Vivre hotel family. Small in size but very romantic with that 1920’s feel, Hotel Rex reminded me of some of the hotels I stayed in while traveling through Europe. Presiding in the heart of town, with Union Square, China Town and North Beach just blocks away, we couldn’t ask for a better location to start our California adventure.

Arriving at the hotel around 7pm we got our luggage comfortably to our room. I upgraded to a king for an additional $20. Well worth the money, the room change gave us a great view of the street and also some well needed extra space. After the long day of travel, the Senora and I both agreed not to make a big deal about dinner and just find something close to the hotel instead.

Next to China Town (the corner of Grant and Bush), we found this warm, inviting little place, Café de la Presse. Before writing this blog, I hit Google and discovered a huge amount of blogs/reviews praising this restaurant. I guess the Senora and I just got lucky.

Upon entering the restaurant, the waiter/bar keep greeted with a smile and sat us at a small table for two with a window by the side of the bar. We had a great view of the famous China Town entrance arch.

Within a short time Michael (bar keep/ server) was showing us pictures of his scooter (which he was very proud of indeed) and telling us of a recent scooter event in town. He tells us that he is a big fan of the Austin scooter scene. Café de la Presse definitely had the laid back feeling that the Senora and I like so very very much.

For our meal, we started with Tarte Flambee Classique (bacon, onion, crème fresh tart). Imagine the very lightest pizza you have ever eaten, only square. The tarte was amazing with huge flavor. We both liked this very much. The Senora followed with a light tomato/basil salad and onion soup as her main. I decided to try the old tried and true French favorite, Boeuf Bourguignon, a hearty beef stew with carrots and potatoes, cooked in wine with herbs. This had good flavor but not outstanding. Served in a small cast iron pot, the presentation was rustic and cool. In hindsight, I kind of wish that I had tried the duck, which looked fantastic. With wine, some laughs and wonderful memories of Senora Foodblogs eyes, the meal came to $65 + tip.

It was beginning to get late so we slowly made our way back to the Hotel Rex, holding hands, enjoying the cool San Francisco night. We finished the evening with a chilled bottle of Piper Sonoma in our room. We were both pretty tired but excited and restless, filled with anticipation about the next day and our continued adventure in San Francisco. I went to sleep that night with a smile on my face, dreaming only of Dim Sum.