Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
$$$-$$$$
After a few days of noshing on bread and chocolate, two of the city's
more famous outputs, you may be grateful for the clean Mediterranean flavors
that are lovingly cultivated at
Kokkari
(200 Jackson St., at Front;
%
415/981
-
0983; www.kokkari.com; Mon-Sat 11:30am-2:30pm and 5:30-10pm; AE, MC, V),
where classics like grilled tuna, grilled whole fish, and some sizable salads hit in
the mid-teen dollar range. Meats are roasted on spits by an enormous fireplace,
the centerpiece of the establishment's architect-designed space.
$$$$
The word
iconic
is often bandied about to describe
Tadich Grill
55
(240 California St., near Battery;
%
415/391
-
1849; daily 11:30am-9:30pm; MC, V),
which has been in business in one form or another since 1849—in this Financial
District location only since 1967, although the tile floors and brass fittings give
off a men's-club aura that comes across as much older. There's still a whiff of the
gold rush here, and you won't get out of this dusky spot for cheap; mains are
around $19 but hearty and manly, including oysters, ahi tuna filet, and that city
standby, cioppino. Meats are cooked on a mesquite-fueled grill. Because even the
lesser dishes' portions are more than enough for a meal, I am usually satisfied with
the clam chowder ($7/bowl), which isn't skimpy with the meat, and I eat it at the
80-foot-long bar where, no doubt, many world-changing business deals have been
casually closed. Every established local, from former mayors to titan bankers,
knows Tadich, but reservations aren't accepted from any of them—they have to
wait if there's a line, just as you do. Waiters wear white coats, tablecloths are crisp,
and when you walk out of here, you really feel like you've eaten at a restaurant.
$$-$$$$
Perhaps the most celebrated restaurant in town of late is
Slanted Door
(1 Ferry Building;
%
415/861
-
8032; www.slanteddoor.com; daily 11am-2:30pm
and 5:30-10pm; AE, MC, V),
a high-end Vietnamese wonder where unlike flavors
are blended to great acclaim by chef Charles Phan, whose family owns the place.
The restaurant used to be in the Mission, but in 2004 it moved to the Ferry
Building, where prices went up and availability became tough. Dinner is expen-
sive, and the wait brutal, but come for lunch, and you can try the award-winning
cuisine for much less. It's also possible to make a meal of the vegetarian options
(which are delish, even for carnivores), for about a third as much as the meat and
fish-based dishes. The caramelized tiger prawns ($15.50 at lunch) are a favorite,
but the menu runs dozens of options long, and many of the items deliver new
fusion twists on Vietnamese recipes. The
prix fixe
lunch (about $40) lets you try
seven small-plate menu items from a list. The cheapest way of all to go is to visit
Out the Door (
%
415/321
-
3740),
the restaurant's small sampling shop, located
next door. Here, a few of the menu's favorites, like spring rolls and grapefruit and
jicama salad, are served from a counter for about $8 a plate.
SOUTH OF MARKET
The blend of restaurants in SoMa reflects the fact that the district is leaping from
borderline squalor to condos and office towers. The places to eat fall along a similar
divide. You'll find lots of after-work drinkeries and capacious new-brew restaurants
catering to the conventioneers around the Financial District end. In the tattier
Mission area, there are more low-down, steamy kitchens catering to the frugal.
