WHEN I was 18 and my friends were going to loud parties in crowded garages, my best friend Dennis and I would dress in fancy clothes and head to San Francisco's finest restaurants where we pretended we were grown up and could afford the meal we were eating. Usually, we went to restaurants with fabulous views for San Francisco was — and is — the most beautiful city in the world, and I say this in the most objective way possible. When dinner was over, we'd typically spend hours walking through the city's colourful neighbourhoods and contemplating what life had in store.
Today, 25 years later, I no longer live in California but if I have a free weekend, San Francisco is still my top choice for spectacular meals, panoramic views and walking tours that inspire introspection.
If I were to plan the perfect weekend in San Francisco for a visitor with limited time, the weekend would begin with a Friday night check-in at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, San Francisco's only five-star hotel and the only one with jaw-dropping bay views that make you want to sit down and write poetry, or a best-selling novel.
(On a recent stay there, my sunny room on the 46th floor had a view of several San Francisco landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica Pyramid, Coit Tower, Alcatrez Island and the San Francisco Bay, which was filled that weekend with sailboats drifting silently in the sunshine. Even the bathtub had a gorgeous view.)
After a good night's sleep, start your perfect weekend with a self-guided walking tour along the Barbary Coast Trail, an easy 3.8 mile walk through several historic districts, including ritzy Nob Hill, colourful Chinatown and the Italian district known as North Beach. (Maps to the Barbary Coast Trail are available at the S.F. Visitors and Convention Bureau.) The tour, which is marked by markers on the sidewalk, connects 20 historic sites, six history museums and the three oldest public squares in the city.
Along the trail you can find whatever lunch cuisine you're in the mood for. Italian, Chinese, Thai, Indian, French, seafood, fast-food — in San Francisco, finding good eats is never a problem. My suggestion would be to head to Yank Sing, located within walking distance of the Mandarin, and easily the best deem sum restaurant in North America. Here, trays of dumplings, pork buns and Peking Duck by the slice will begin arriving at your table before you get your coat off, and the impeccable service and perfectly seasoned food will have you wishing for a larger appetite.
After lunch, head to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, one of the most dramatic museums in the country. Located on a headland where the Pacific Ocean enters the San Francisco Bay, the museum is a replica of the Palais de la Legion d'Honneur in Paris where Napoleon first established his civil and military order.
The museum features 4,000 years of ancient and European art, including works by El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt, Rodin, Degas and Picasso. The collection is stunning, and so are the views from the hilltop museum toward the Golden Gate Bridge. If you have time, walk along the nearby Coastal Trail, a clifftop walk that provides spectacular opportunities for photos of the ocean, the mouth of San Francisco Bay, the Marin Headlands and, of course, the infamous orange bridge.
Back at your hotel room, watch the sun set over the ocean and the twinkling city lights rise below you. Then, ask for the hotel limo, which is free, to take you to dinner at Bacar.
This is a city that loves its food and wine, and Bacar, with a wine list of over 1,000 bottles — many of which are displayed inside a three-storey glass wall — offers the best of both. The menu here is diverse and includes albacore ceviche, crispy pizza with chorizo sausage, and Muscovy duck confit with white beans. It's the best of California, French and Italian cuisine rolled into one.
The best way to experience a meal at Bacar is to ask the sommelier (check to see if Oscar Val Verde is on duty) to pair a different California wine with each course. This will allow you to sample some of the state's best wines and provide an opportunity for Oscar to share with you his endless knowledge about wines, wineries and why a pinot noir´ goes well with chorizo. Even the most pretentious of wine snobs, not that I know any, can expect to be amazed at Bacar.
On Sunday morning, work off your meal from the night before by walking on the Golden Gate Promenade, a 1.5-mile scenic walk along the bay, located at Crissy Field on the Presidio of San Francisco. Here, you'll pass old men and boys fishing from the rocks, people running with their dogs, and seagulls splashing in the water. The walk ends directly underneath the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point, which was the only U.S. military fort built on the West Coast prior to the Civil War. If it's cold and foggy outside — and that's likely — stop by "The Warming Hut" for a cup of hot chocolate, and be sure to ask for it in a commemorative mug with an illustration of the bridge on it.
San Franciscans love leisurely Sunday brunches and one of the best places for visitors to experience an ocean-side brunch is the Cliff House, located a few minutes from Crissy Field on a rocky point known as Fort Lobos.
While waiting for your table you can watch the sea lions on nearby Seal Rock, and view the ruins of Sutro Baths, an elegant public swimming area built for San Franciscans in 1886. There are several restaurants inside the Cliff House, and all have views of the ocean and coastline.
Then, for something truly out of the ordinary — and a visit to this city known for its quirkiness wouldn't be complete without something unusual — visit The Cartoon Art Museum, the only museum in the United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of cartoon art in all its forms. This unique museum houses approximately 6,000 original pieces in its permanent collection, including art from Charles M. Shulz's Peanuts collection and animation cells from Disney cartoons.
Afterwards, while packing your suitcase for the airport, you may feel sad and already a bit nostalgic for the fabulous weekend you've just experienced.
That's natural. As Walter Cronkite, a former network newscaster once said: "Leaving San Francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart. You want to linger as long as possible."
If time doesn't permit you to linger, do as I do and plan more frequent trips to the city by the bay. As I learned a long time ago, it's the kind of city that can make a young person feel sophisticated, and as I'm learning now, an older person feel more youthful.