What I Ate in San Francisco

I like to consider myself a little bit of a foodie in that I am curious about different foods and often will try something new rather than stick to what’s safe. That’s why I was happy to be a little adventurous during my recent trip to San Francisco.

The first thrill for my taste buds was the Almond Rose Latte (Almond Rose Latte - featuring illy espresso, almond & milk with the scent of roses.) I had for breakfast from an Illy coffee shop. The runner-up choices were Lavender Mint or Salted Caramel. I only wish we could trade in half our Starbuck stores in Columbus for an Illy branch!

The first night my uncle and I spent on our own while my husband was at his Google Cloud conference, we decided to visit the trendy place in town (Walnut Creek), True Food Kitchen. I would describe it as organic food for hipsters and yuppies – perfect for us! (I say that tongue-in-cheek as we are neither). As Hilliard, where I live, is hardly a haven for anything trendy, it’s safe to say I had never heard of this restaurant, but apparently Columbus will be getting one next spring in our fancy shopping district of Easton Town Center.

Anyway, my uncle had mentioned this place to me and advised me to have a look at their menu online https://www.truefoodkitchen.com/ to see if there was anything I liked. I skimmed it, and most everything looked good, so I knew I’d be able to find something.

For our starter we ordered the Green Asparagus which I normally wouldn’t have been too bothered about, but when we read the description, we just had to try it: lemon almond ricotta, pickled strawberry, arugula, radish. I was curious what pickled strawberry would taste like, but it kind of got buried in between the arugula and ricotta cheese.

Though I don’t normally order cocktails (usually preferring to stick to wine or water), I decided to try a Strawberry Rhubarb Margarita, which was pretty good.

I was torn between the Cauliflower Polenta Bowl and the Spaghetti Squash Casserole, but as we had had Italian on Sunday, and I rarely ever have polenta, I went with that. According to the menu, the meal consisted of asparagus, snow pea, edamame, snap pea, yellow squash, watermelon radish, chili thread. I believe my uncle had one of the other bowls, though not sure which one (but his had shrimp).

I cleaned my bowl, so I was rewarded with dessert. We split a small round flourless chocolate cake that was a perfect end to the meal.

The other new thing I tried while visiting my uncle was a Poke bowl (pronounced Pokey – like Pokemon!) from a restaurant called Lemonade (though I kind of wish we could have visited Oke Poke because they have the best name : )  https://www.lemonadela.com/seasonal-menu

I had heard of Poke bowls, but they’re somewhat slow to catch on here in Hilliard, though my sister told me you can apparently purchase them from Target in the produce and meat department. I didn’t realize it’s like ordering sushi in a bowl.

I ordered the Chef’s Favorite Salmon Thai Breaker (sweet soy ginger salmon poke with Thai Peanut Noodles). It was pretty good and I was able to finish it all, and was definitely pretty full afterwards! Since the place was named ‘Lemonade,’

I felt obligated to order one of the many flavors to wash down my lunch, so I went with the Blood Orange, but only finished about half before tossing it to go shopping. 

In addition to the above, I also ate plenty of sour dough, which is apparently a thing in San Francisco, though I don’t ever remember observing that on my previous three trips to the city over the years.

My uncle took me (and later my husband) to a crepes place in downtown Walnut Creek called Crepes Ooh La La which is actually owned / managed by a Frenchman. I’m not sure if my uncle had ever been there, but now, thanks to me, he has been there twice in one week!

Although I’ve had both savory and sweet crepes, I opted for sweet on both visits. The first time I tried the ricotta, applesauce & cinnamon crepe.

The second time I opted for something a bit more Moorish, so I ordered the Peanut Butter, Nutella, Bananas & whipped cream (what can I say? I have the taste buds of a 10 year-old). Both were excellent, but the second one was definitely a lot more filling. I think it was a good suggestion by my uncle that we take a long walk around the downtown after.

Thus concludes my food adventure in the city.