Tadich Grill

My hunt for a traditional, authentic San Francisco restaurant ended at the Tadich Grill.  Recently made famous by Anthony Bourdain when he toured this city, Tadich Grill set up shop during the California Gold Rush. This area, now full of gleaming towers of glass and steel, was back then swamp land; this eating place a tent with a sign that said Coffee Stand.  However, its Croatian owners soon reinvented the increasingly popular place into a seafood restaurant.  And that it has remained during the last 160 years.

Parcel 104. Again.

Here I was again, at one of my favourite restaurants of Silicon Valley.  I am glad to report that Parcel 104 at the Marriott Santa Clara continues to delight.  From my two visits recently, I can see they have other fans too, especially from the large tech community who gather in this Silicon Valley hotspot for  conferences and meetings.

Bradley Ogden's restaurant boasts of fresh ingredients always.  In fact, they say they do not have an in-house freezer!  So, everything here tends to be seasonal, from local farmers' markets.  In short, a very Californian experience.

More M.Y.China & Hakkasan

While M.Y.China by no means tries to be authentic, I like their cocktails, dim sums and hand-made noodles.  Given the always chilly and windy San Francisco weather, I pop in here fairly frequently during my monthly business trips to this lovely city.

It was here, under the great bronze bell they carted all the way from a monastery in China, that I tasted my spiciest cocktail.  Called Fire in the Wok, this one is tequila spiced up and garnished with a red pepper!