Murtle's Wedding at The Fairmont San Francisco

It's only apt to end my San Francisco series with the reason why I was in the city:

MURTLE'S WEDDING!

Murtle got married at the historic Fairmont San Francisco located atop Nob Hill. 

Photo Credit: www.hotels.com

It's home to the famous Tonga Room, a tiki bar which has been featured on Anthony Bordain's show Layover... 

The Penthouse Suite at The Fairmont San Francisco where Murtle's wedding ceremony and reception took place was not too shabby either.

The suite is 6,000 square feet and spans the entire eighth floor of the main building of The Fairmont San Francisco. President John F. Kennedy, Prince Charles of Wales, Mick Jagger, Tony Bennett, and Nat King Cole are a few of the VIPs that have stayed at the Presidential Suite.

One has to take a private elevator to reach the Presidential Suite and this charming entrance is what greets guests. 

The suite also features an expansive living room which was transformed into a wedding hall for the ceremony.

There are three large bedrooms in the suite and this travel inspired room is one of them: 

The formal dining room, on the other hand, can seat up to 60 guests. It was perfect for Murtle's intimate wedding celebration.

One of the highlights of the suite is the "two-story circular library crowned by a rotunda where a celestial map is rendered in gold leaf against a sapphire sky."  

At the second floor of the library, there's a secret passageway concealed by bookshelves. It used to lead to the rooftop of the hotel for the ultimate in stargazing. Rumor has it that JFK conveniently utilized the passageway for his trysts with Marilyn Monroe.

Books are mostly vintage with 1st edition copies part of the collection.

My favorite room though is the billiards room! It is covered in handcrafted Persian tiles from floor to ceiling making it one of the most beautiful rooms I've seen in a long long time.

From the living room, there is a door that leads to the terrace..

for sweeping views of San Francisco!

Here's a collage of some of the special moments during Murtle's wedding!!!

The Fairmont San Francisco is located at 950 Mason Street San Francisco California, United States. For more information, click here.

Everything Truffle at Umami Burger

I love burgers and heard a lot of good things about Umami Burger so it was a must try when I was in San Francisco.

Umami Burger offers freshly ground, premium beef patties that are infused with secret ingredients that have umami (a flavor that falls outside salty, sweet, bitter, and sour) properties. Umami induces salivation and a sensation of furriness on the tongue, stimulating the throat, the roof, and the back of the mouth.  

Umami Burger has full bar service and wait staff, concepts not common for most burger joints.

Umami's Bar Menu

I had a hard time narrowing down my choice as I wanted to try a lot of things on the menu!!! In the end, my meal consisted of The Royale Burger with a side of truffle fries and root beer.

Abita Root Beer

Bottled root beer is the best!

Truffle Em' Thin Fries

Fries are topped with truffle cheese and truffle salt.  Sad that they scrimped on truffle.

The Royale 

Beef patty topped with braised short rib, roasted garlic aioli, and truffle cheese.

Just look at that beautiful chunk of meat! The patties at Umami Burger are always cooked medium rare just the way I like it! Flavors were spot on and the melt-in-your-mouth ribs tied the Royale Burger beautifully. 

Umami Burger has multiple branches in California, Florida, and New York. For more information, click here.

Diners in San Francisco

I love diner food so I made sure to have my fill of classic greasy Americana that these late night joints offered when I was in San Francisco.

I'm glad to have had the chance to visit the iconic Fog City Diner at Embarcadero before it went on a serious remodel. It has now reopened minus its neon lights and black & white tiles which is sad because I loved it the way it was.

Mac & Cheese

Bacon Burger

Lori's Diner,  located at the heart of Union Square, reminded me of Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe from the Archies. 

Food certainly didn't look appetizing but it sure was filling. I have to admit though that Lori's Diner was my least favorite among the diners I tried.

Buffalo Wings

Lori's Garden Salad

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Reuben Sandwich

Chicken Fried Steak

Lori's Signature Burger

Vanilla Milkshake

Hot Chocolate

We also went for snacks at Mels Drive-in which has many locations in California. Some might recognize this diner because there are replicas of Mel's Drive-in at Universal Studios theme parks worldwide. 

Photo Credit: http://www.melsdrive-in.com/

Mel's Drive-in also gets a failing mark in presentation just like most diners but food, I promise, tasted better than it looked.

 Cheese Fries

Short Rib Sliders

The Famous Melburger

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Spaghetti & Meat Balls

Cheeseburger

Fog City is located at 1300 Battery St, San Francisco, California 94111, United States. For more information click here.
Lori's Diner has multiple branches in San Francisco. For more information, click here.
Mels Drive-in has multiple branches in California. For more information, click here.

Keeping Fresh at In-N-Out

A trip to the West Coast isn't complete without visiting In-N-Out. Lucky for us, there's an In-N-Out branch at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

Fisherman's Wharf branch

In-N-Out appears to have a very basic menu, but you can click here to learn more about their not-so-secret menu.

Everything tastes 100 times better with fresh ingredients and this is exactly the reason why In-N-Out has an almost cult-like following. It has managed to keep its ingredients fresh and has avoided using preservatives unlike most burger joints.

Our Tray

Cheeseburger

Perfectly Toasted Bun + 100% pure American Beef Patty  + American Cheese + Fresh Vegetables = Burger Heaven

Double-Double Cheeseburger

Double Beef Patty + Double Cheese = Double Happiness

Animal Style Fries from the Not-So-Secret Menu

Hand Cut Potatoes + Special Spread with Pickles and Onions = Best Fast Food Fries 

For the best bang for your burger buck, In-N-Out is it!

In-N-Out has locations in Northern California, Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah & Texas. For more information, click here.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco

The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco is one of the top farmer's markets in the U.S.A, offering a wide variety of  fresh farm produce and artisan food.

The market is open 3 days a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) but it's best to visit the Saturday market as it's much larger and is held both in front of the Ferry Building Marketplace and the rear plaza overlooking the Bay.

From the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market Website:

The markets offer fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, meats and eggs from small regional farmers and ranchers, many of whom are certified organic. A wealth of other products include regional artisan specialties such as breads, cheeses and jams. The Thursday market features an array of artisan street food: wood-fired pizza, grilled meats, sandwiches, and tacos, while the Saturday market also includes local restaurants serving a variety of hot, delicious meals. 

Inside the Ferry Building Marketplace, you can find the more established artisan food purveyors:

Blue Bottle Coffee

Blue Bottle Coffee has grown to a small network of cafes and is the brainchild of a slightly disaffected freelance musician and coffee lunatic, weary of the grande eggnog latte and the double skim pumpkin-pie macchiato. He opened a roaster for people who are clamoring for the actual taste of freshly roasted coffee. Using a miniscule six-pound batch roaster, he makes an historic vow: “I will only sell coffee less than 48 hours out of the roaster to my customers, so they may enjoy coffee at its peak of flavor."

Acme Bread

The Acme Bread Company started in 1983 to bake bread for restaurants and stores who wanted to offer better bread than was generally available on the wholesale market at the time. It's one of the pioneers of the San Francisco Bay Area's "Bread Revolution", which in turn created the modern "artisan bread" movement in America, and remains a "benchmark" for commercial handmade bread.

Mariposa Bakery

Mariposa Baking Company creates gluten-free baked goods that are indiscernible from the finest, high-caliber gluten-based products available with made with the finest ingredients: fragrant orange oil; elegant chocolate; sweet, locally grown walnuts and fine Italian roasted espresso.

Cowgirl Creamery

Cowgirl Creamery Artisan Cheese is a full-service, European style cheese shop offering Cowgirl Creamery’s own cheeses and artisan farmstead cheese from some of the most distinguished cheesemakers in America and Europe. Staff are all highly trained and the shop carries tools such as knives, books and cheese boards, and has a selection of cheese accompaniments including local jams and honeys, local crackers, and cured meats.

Cowgirl Creamery Sidekick

Cowgirl Sidekick, is a cheese and dairy bar, next to the Cowgirl Creamery cheese shop in the Ferry Building Marketplace. The kitchen offers a morning menu that includes challah rolls with sweet and savory fillings, gougères, cottage cheese with fresh fruit, and sweet and savory yogurt bowls.gougères, cottage cheese with fresh fruit, and sweet and savory yogurt bowls. Lunch time includes a fresh mozzarella bar, green salads, a daily artisan cheese plate, cheese soup, cheese toasties, and grilled cheese

The Slanted Door, a modern Vietnamese restaurant in the Ferry Building Marketplace also comes highly recommended. Chef Charles Phan's food, using organic produce and ecologically farmed meat,  has been nationally lauded as the pinnacle of Asian cuisine. Diners often line up early, eagerly waiting for The Slanted Door to open.

If food's not your thing, maybe the view of the San Francisco- Oakland Bay Bridge from the Ferry Building Marketplace might cheer you up.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is located at One Ferry Building San Francisco, California. For more information, click here.