Advice you can taste. Adventure you can feel.

Sweet Tooth SF

S-U-G-A-R, Weotta love sugar… our bodies need it, our taste buds crave it and some of us can’t get enough of it. Lucky for us, San Francisco offers a lot of fantastic ways to get it… top-notch ice cream parlors, nationally acclaimed bakeries, and purely sinful chocolatiers… we have it all.

Where to start? How about breakfast at Tartine? This bakery has a line from the minute it opens to the minute it closes, and rightfully so… they just do a fantastic job on basically everything. For breakfast, try their delightful double pain au chocalat or the subtly sweet, yet perfectly flaky frangipane croissant. And for those of you with the need something a little sweeter get one of their creamy éclairs… it really is no wonder this little gem won a James Beard award.

Ok, now that you are on your first sugar high of the day take a nice stroll through the Castro and up the Haight to Cole Valley. Nestled in the heart of Cole Valley you will find your next stop, Boulange de Cole Valley. By the time you get there you should be about ready for your second rush of the day and excited for a little something sweet to get you going. How about a canele? This pastry is really something you must experience.  For those of you who have been to the south of France you know what I mean, and to find it in SF is really quite a treat. O yes, you should get a few of their delicate almond macaroons as well. These colorful, petite, tasty sandwiches of butter cream are just the thing to keep you buzzing through your afternoon.

At this point you are probably bouncing off the walls, but what day of sweets would be complete without every kid’s favorite, ice cream? Some of our favorite places are Mitchell’s in the Mission and Bi-rite Creamery next to Dolores Park. Both quite different… At Mitchell’s you get the down home, old-school feeling we all crave from our childhoods… you will seriously feel like you are a kid again.  But since you are an adult, you should try one of their more mature flavors like Kahlua mocha cream and rum raisin. Bi-rite, on-the-other-hand, screams San Francisco foodie nouveau with artisanal flavors like salted caramel, balsamic strawberry and lavender… all produced from the finest of cows, of course. O ya, they have homemade ice cream sandwiches… now there is unforgettable for you… get one!

What day of sweet indulgence would be complete without chocolate? So, to complete your day get a mellow cup of sipping chocolate at Bittersweet Café on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights. Now, sipping chocolate shouldn’t be confused with hot cocoa… very different stuff. Sipping chocolate is way richer, decadent, and really warms the soul. If you have never tried it before get Bittersweet’s signature drink, the Bittersweet; it is basically melted bittersweet chocolate… can you say sinful satisfaction?

There you have it, a taste of SF’s sweetest sensations… Weotta get our sweet tooth on… one more thing… don’t forget to brush your teeth.

Bilingual on a Budget

Laid off? No worries, could be so much worse. Remember, we do live in one of the best places on earth. Weotta take advantage of our newfound time! Once you file for unemployment, it’s time to put those New Year’s resolutions into action, time to reinvent yourself! Weotta… …Learn a new language. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ve probably realized the wave of the future is not America-centric. What better way to expand your mind, as well as your resume, than to learn another tongue.

Spanish opens up your job prospects to not only the USA but to 15+ other countries in Europe, Central, and South America… a big bonus is that most of them have gorgeous weather, and are within spitting distance to a gorgeous white sand beach. For the perizosas a.k.a. sloths among us, Spanish podcasts are free and abundant. By far, the best and mas rapido way to learn a new language is to be surrounded with native speakers. If you’re not bringing in a paycheck, chances are you’ll be eating lots of burritos, so what better way to practicar tu espanol than in the Mission or Excelsior districts. And if you don’t think you can swing the new direct AeroMexico route from SFO to Mexico City, take the Dublin/Pleasanton BART to the Fruitvale station and stroll along International Boulevard, where taco trucks abound. Government money not enough for you to live on? Join the ranks waiting tables. Most kitchens in America are filled with Spanish speakers… not only can you practice your new love of Spanish with the line cooks and dishwashers but you can earn a few pennies along the way.

Subsisting in San Francisco grants access to the best Asian cuisine in the USA as well as exposure to plentiful Mandarin speakers. Why wouldn’t you want to be able to communicate with the world’s next big superpower? City College of San Francisco holds cheap language class or try the well-recommended Chinese Cultural Center. Jonesing for an adventure? Take BART over to authentic (and way less touristy) Oakland Chinatown midday where you can sit elbow to elbow and drink cha at Legendary Palace, or the hole in the wall Yo-Ho’s, for a bona fide dim sum experience for around $5/person (possibly even less if you share with your other unemployed friends). Can’t move off the couch? Devote an hour a day to podcasts – ChinesePod is free and is a good place to start.

Eager to speak a different tongue and bored of the non-stop SF rain? If you have the smallest reserve of cash and a sublet for your room, the world is on sale – flights haven’t been this cheap since post-9/11. For the Spanish entrepreneur, Cancun, Cabo, even Costa Rica are hovering around $300 or under. For Chinese, head to Beijing, Shanghai, or Taipei for around $700. SFO has endless flights to Asia and plenty of demand – Chinese New Year just finished; it really is the time for a deal! And the exchange rate isn’t too shabby either.

On the flip side, there are billions of people on this planet who want to learn English. Astoundingly, many of them desire the “American” accent, because it’s totally way more hella cool than that proper British tongue yo. Teaching certification is often not necessary. Check out Dave’s ESL Café for hundreds of jobs. Often the organization will cover the cost of an overseas flight and work visa.

Weotta learn something new!

A Night in the Marina

Last Saturday night I decided to hang out with several friends in one of San Francisco’s most picturesque neighborhoods, the Marina.   Nestled between Russian Hill and Pacific Heights,  with beautiful bay views and the Golden Gate Bridge within walking distance, this small neighborhood transcends trendy. It is one of my favorite neighborhoods in all of SF and for good reason: it is full of attractive men and women, stylishly dressed patrons,  lots of fun intimate bars, exclusive boutiques,  and one-of-a-kind restaurants close enough to each other that a girl in the highest of heels has no prob hopping around. It truly is an experience for the uninitiated.

A proper night out in the Marina can take many turns, from trendy and hip, to downright divey.  Let’s take a look at one of the bars that dots Fillmore Street, a staple in the Marina pub crawl, the Matrix at Fillmore.

For those of you who don’t know, the Matrix has been a part of the Marina district since the mid-60’s. It was opened by Marty Balin, the lead singer of Jefferson Airplane, and has hosted music legends such as the Doors and the Grateful Dead.

Today, the Matrix is a cluster of lounge seats, dark lighting, inconspicuous “S-E-X” letter tables and sexy patrons. In the middle is a chic fireplace with comfortable lounge seating. On any weeknight the Matrix would be a perfect date venue, but on Friday or Saturday nights it’s a cluster of single men and women conversing, mingling, and of course checking out the procession of candidates who glide in through the doors.

Once you have your drinks, find a seat on the wall and watch the scene unfold before your eyes.  Better yet, for a little more privacy head through the short, dark hallway to the back room where a venerable playground of cushions, ottomans, and comfortable plush seating awaits.

After a warm-up drink at the Matrix, make a beeline for the Balboa Café across the street. This corner bar, with its brightly lit interior, is a stark contrast to the lounge feel of the Matrix.  Saddle up to the bar and order any one of the traditional cocktails that the attentive bartenders can muster up… a Manhattan, a gin and tonic, bourbon on the rocks. The venue oozes old school, where drinks are stiff, and the furniture and interior harkens back to a time and place when a bar was for drinking with your friends, not a game of beer pong.

If the night calls for another venue change, walk down Fillmore towards the bay, and at the corner of Chestnut and Fillmore sits one of the trendiest and coolest hot spots in the area, Circa.  Once you get past the bouncer and the tall, thin, impeccably dressed female patrons, you’re immersed in an expansive room with a large, almost circular bar. Here the libations have a tendency to run towards beer, mixed drinks and shots.  Don’t let the Banana Republic shirts and jackets donned by the young men scare you away, or the short Bebe skirts and dresses intimidate you.  Yes, the post-college crowd can dominate the scene; but if that doesn’t deter you, then by all means, come in and mingle with the stylish and hip 20 and 30-somethings.

For a late night bite, you can’t go wrong with Pizza Orgasmica right next to the Balboa Café.  Wait, you’re a little short on cash?  You’ve only got $6 in your wallet because you’ve been buying rounds of Patron instead of Jose Cuervo?   If your expensive tequila habit drains your wallet have no fear.  At Pizza Orgasmica you can get 2 slices for the lonely Lincoln and Washington inhabiting your wallet… make one a pepperoni, and the other a sausage with cheese.

If your palate requires a more “sophisticated fare”, i.e. a 24-hour joint, you have 2 options right around the corner on Lombard Street.  The International House of Pancakes, affectionately known as IHOP, serves up a cornucopia of delightful pancake pairings to curb your late-night hunger.  Feel free to top off the pancakes or Belgian waffles with strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream and/or 4 different types of syrup.  If you’re craving more of the mom & pop feel of a good old-fashioned 50’s establishment, head a couple of blocks down Lombard to Mel’s Diner. This long-standing San Francisco institution has burgers, fries, shakes, and an extensive menu of late night grub to help you forget how inebriated you are.

Enjoy your night out in the Marina, and stay tuned for more about one of my favorite neighbourhoods in SF…

3 Activities for a Cold & Wet 3 Day Weekend

Cold wet weekends in San Francisco are never fun… especially a three day one and on-top of that one with the big “L word” day smack in the middle of it. So what are you going to do this weekend? Do you have your Valentine’s Day plan together? Perhaps Weotta can help…

Museum hopping with a bit of Burmese

We have some pretty fantastic museums in SF and rainy weekends are the perfect time to do some museum hopping. One of our favorite combos is to start out with the DeYoung and end up at the Legion of Honor. Not only because one ticket gets you into both, but because they really are an ideal pairing of taste and style. Plus, if you go to the Legion of Honor right before closing on Saturday, you may get to hear them playing the organ; it fills every hall, bringing the artwork to life in an amazing way. Afterwards, continue your day of art and culture with a bite of Burmese food at nearby Mandalay or Burma Superstar. For those that haven’t had Burmese, it is like a combo of Indian and Thai, but with its own unique flavor. Some of our favorite dishes are fermented tea leaf salad, samusas soup and curry lamb. Both restaurants do a nice job, aren’t expensive, and are pretty much on the same level, but they are almost always packed. Don’t know what it is about SF residents, but we love our Burmese food. If you still have energy afterwards and it isn’t raining too hard head over to Sutro’s at the Cliff House to watch the rough seas . Last minute V-day addition: Get some flowers in there, dress a little nicer, and go to B-star (slightly upscale Burmese place). After dinner head to Nopa for cocktails and dessert, a 5 min cab ride away. They do amazing mixed drinks, always have great wines by the glass and fantastic unique deserts. Get a gin drink with caprock gin and checkout their sopaipillas (kind of a fancy donut… perfect for cold weather) .

Tahoe

Cold rain in SF usually means lots of snow in Tahoe… so you could get out of town, fight the crowds and the weather, and hit the slopes at Heavenly, Squaw Valley or Kirkwood. Last minute V-day addition: Get a nice bottle of red wine, some fine dark chocolate and a fire can go a long way after an exhausting day in the snow.

Takeout extravaganza

Hunker down (ever wonder what Hunker means?) and have a different type of takeout… pizza, Thai, Chinese, and perhaps sushi each night of the three day weekend. At least do Thai… both Basil Thai and Chai-Yo are good choices. This is the perfect opportunity to snuggle up in front of the tube for some mind-numbing entertainment. Try not to spend the whole day indoors… at least walk out to the restaurant.  Last minute V-day addition: Forget about takeout and cook together Saturday night… experiment and try something new. Perhaps wild mushroom and asparagus risotto or French onion soup with sourdough… both good, cold weather classy foods. Top this off with a nice Syrah and you are good to go. If you want to add a little something sweet touch to the evening with some adult hot cocoa.

Hope this helps you get through this long perhaps quite rainy weekend with a smile

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Weotta team!

Party Weotta Style (Part3) "Let there be food"

Now that you have your drinks covered and you know about the most important food to have at parties, cheese, lets step back for a minute and discuss the rest of the food.

Food at parties is a must have. No, not just because without it everyone gets too wasted, but because food can really make an affair. As we wrote about a few weeks back, we love good eats and when we throw parties the food is always a highlight. For those of you who have come to our parties you know what we mean. Here are our rules: Yes they are boring and slightly scientific, but they all taste great.

1. Always have something fatty, like cheese, because fat is filling and slows down alcohol absorption
2. Drinking sucks electrolytes out of your system so have something salty, like cashews
3. Have a little something sweet, like chocolate, everyone loves it and it is actually really good for you
4. Presentation matters… when things look better they taste better… so don’t be the host that serves the hummus in the handy container it comes in
5. No forks or spoons for us… it is all about finger food because it is easy to enjoy while carrying a tasty beverage

The Sweet stuff: Follow Rule #3… as we said before we love chocolate, and one of our favorite things to do is to get big bars of dark chocolate, break them up and put a little coarse sea-salt on them. We often do this in combination with fruit. The large bars from Scharffen Berger Chocolate of Berkeley or the Belgian ones from Trader Joes are perfect for this. On a side note, Scharffen Berger is sadly closing their Berkeley factory where they had quite the entertaining chocolate tour.

Fruit: Berries are always good. We love doing balsamic strawberries or fresh raspberries… both go great with chocolate. Sometimes we will cut up a melon or two and wrap pieces in prosciutto… it just really depends on what is in season. If we do apples or pears we’ll often pair them with blue cheese or a soft brie like cheese (there we go with the cheese again, can never get enough).

Chips and salsa: We don’t usually do chips but when we do we like getting fresh salsa (look  in the refrigerated section) and good all natural crispy chips like Casa Sanchez. O yes, try not to do the Doritos. They are so unclassy, unhealthy and actually are quite expensive for what they are.

Crackers and bread: Bread is always better than crackers… fills the stomach a bit more and is so much more fun to eat. Here in SF we have some of the best bread in the country, so get a nice loaf of acme or beckmans and enjoy it with your cheese and dips. If you need crackers, get basic water crackers or go for pita chips… both are easy to pair with just about anything.

Meat: Deli meats are made for sandwiches and parties, especially cured and force meats. Some of our favorites are Fra’Mani Salumi and prosciutto di-parma. If you have a Crockpot, homemade meatballs can be a fun addition as well.

Seafood:  Usually skip seafood unless you really enjoy cooking like we do. In that case try your hand at a scallop, salmon or tuna ceviche. Here is an easy scallop ceviche recipe… we made something similar at our last dinner party. There is also the standard shrimp cocktail… everyone loves it and it is really easy. Lox is another thing people love, but it always goes too fast and there is never enough. We served it at our New Year’s Party and it felt like it was gone before the party started.

Veggies: Eat your greens, they can be fun too.  When we say greens, we really mean cucumbers; we love serving them with dips. And who can do without baby carrots? Seems like they have to be at every party these days… if you have the time, carrot sticks are a nicer way to go. But if you don’t have the time (and who does?) just serve the baby carrots… they are good for your guests.

Nuts: We prefer cashews because they are something most people really enjoy and they are classy and quite filling, unlike peanuts. Plus, salted ones are a great way to fulfill Rule #1 and #2. They go fast, mostly because people just eat them without noticing. Often times it is good to mix things up with some fancy mixed nuts or rice crackers. If you want to get really adventurous you can roast your own, but that is another post.

Dips: Hummus is always a good one to do with veggies, bread, chips and/or crackers. Often times we will get or make fresh pesto… it goes great with fresh bread. We will also usually do a dipping oil of (olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed garlic, parmesan, and balsamic vinegar).

Cooked dishes: If you want to do any cooked appetizers you will want to prepare them before the party so you can enjoy the company of your guests.  Trust me, I know how this feels… I am usually in the kitchen… lucky for me people always love hanging out in the kitchen

So now you know your drinks and your food, what could be next?

Weotta Get Away From It All

by- Divya

City feeling a bit small? Get perspective by jetting out of town.

After long periods of time at home, the walls can begin to feel like they are caving in. Not that we mind being close to our surroundings, but at times, we unintentionally lose appreciation for what is within reach. One way to get back that loving feeling is to walk away for awhile, change surroundings and essentially, get out of town.

Where to go? Well, we already covered local retreats on a budget… but what if local is too close, a budget is not a factor, and you are being offered volunteer vacation days from your boss during these hard economic times? Help stimulate the global economy by taking a trip abroad. Start the process by contacting friends/family living overseas, or consider going solo.

If you know your destination, check fares on Travelocity. If your plans are more flexible, try SmarterTravel to see specials on flights or vacation packages to locations around the world.

Traveling great distances,  for pleasure, is all about the journey… an encounter with a new person, a visit to a local gem or a taste of a signature dish is an opportunity to discover the world around you in a new way. These experiences help shed the stress, responsibilities and annoyances of home and transport you on a spiritual, historical and often times emotional voyage.

For a truly reflective experience, focus your eyes on Asia. Several friends, including myself, are venturing to the Far East and starting 2009 with a fresh perspective. Cambodia, Hong Kong and India are all dynamic and vibrant options to give you the distance and change you may be looking for. The sights, sounds and smells of these countries provide an opportunity to immerse yourself in the moment.

So, Weotta take the steps toward rejuvenation, get out of our comfort zone  and get a fresh perspective on life.  As for me, I am off to India… look forward to sharing my experiences with you when I return.