The Traveling Man: San Francisco

The Bay Area is booming. There’s the tech stuff, sure. The city is the undisputed capital of the digital universe, home to some of the biggest companies in the US, and a playground for their suitably large-pocketed employees. But the net result of all that disruption is more than just Google busses and outrageous real estate prices. It’s a city that’s thriving on a human level. There’s the natural beauty of the bay, the multi-ethnic influences in food and architecture, and the fact that you can’t walk five minutes without finding a perfect cup of coffee or a killer craft cocktail.

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COFFEE: Three Great Bay Area Bean Houses

When it comes to coffee on the west coast, Seattle and Vancouver might be the obvious front-runners. But a few hours south, San Francisco more than holds its own. Hell, Zuckerberg didn’t build Facebook into an empire without a little caffeine buzz now and then. Here’s where you’ll find the best brews in town.

Fourbarrel


The founders of Fourbarrel are coffee obsessed, and, frankly, they expect their customers to be, too. No Wi-Fi or plugs in the cafe means you’ll have to actually talk to the person in front of you—ideally about the coffee you’re currently drinking. And if you’re really into it, there’s a full schedule of evening classes designed to teach you about sourcing and brewing coffee.


Four Barrel Coffee

Blue Bottle


The biggest mini-chain in town, Blue Bottle’s reach has expanded from the west coast to include both the east coast (New York) and the Far East (Tokyo). Each location is unique, but the commitment to only serving coffee that has been roasted in the past 48 hours is the through-line—and the obvious reason their coffee is so damn popular.


Blue Bottle Coffee

Sightglass


Sightglass has two locations in San Francisco, but the flagship in SoMA is pretty much unparalleled. The large warehouse space functions as a combined roaster and coffee bar, so you can see the work that goes into every hyper-caffeinated sip.


Sight Glass Coffee

Bartlett Hall

Bartlett Hall may be a full-service restaurant, but you’ll go there for the beer. Along with a strong selection of craft brews from across the country, Bartlett Hall has its own small in-house brewery, helmed by Christopher Wike of the Golden Gate Brewing Company, that churns out spot-on beers like the earthy and hoppy red rye wheat ale.


Bartlett Hall

DRINK: Devil’s Acre

The Devil’s Acre is an apothecary-themed lounge with revivalist cocktails from the 19th century, like the Prospector (an ode to pisco) and the Bourbon Crusta (a twist on the traditionally brandy-based drink). Sounds like fun, right? But the best part is in the back, down the secret staircase, at Remedie, the hidden bar-within-a-bar, where you can stay long after most places in the neighbourhood close down.


Devil’s Acre

Mission Chinese

Mission Chinese started as a hip pop-up inside an existing Chinese food restaurant in the rapidly gentrifying Mission District. That was almost a decade ago. Since then, the pop-up has become permanent—and even expanded to New York. Chef Danny Bowien became famous for his Kung Pao Pastrami, and you should go out of your way to find out why.


Mission Chinese Food

Nihon Whisky Lounge

The wall of bottles behind Nihon’s bar is big. Like biggest-on-the-West-Coast big, boasting more than 500 bottles of liquid gold. Almost the entire stock is available by the taste, glass or even the whole bottle. For those who don’t like their drinks neat, there are plenty of whisky-based cocktails to indulge in. And if you’re only in town for a few days (and you value consistency above all else), Nihon offers private storage lockers to keep your bottle(s) safe and set aside for next time.


Nihon Whisky Lounge

NOPA

Nopa is San Francisco’s very Californian take on the traditional greasy spoon. The menu is all locavore, updated by season and availability. Some standards include slow-braised pork shoulder with chickpeas and collard greens and soft scrambled eggs with croutons and avocado. Yeah, avocado. You’re in northern California. Get avocado on everything.


NOPA

SHOP: Self Edge

As the name suggests, this store is all about denim. The staff is rigorously trained to help you find the perfect fit and teach you the proper way to care for your new jeans. Once you get hooked on the meticulously curated stock, take comfort in the fact that you can also get your fix in New York, LA, Portland and, of course, online (thankfully, this store even ships to Canada).


Self Edge

EAT: SPQR

In a city littered with well-reviewed, upscale restaurants, SPQR stands out for its totally clever, totally unexpected use of local ingredients. Chef Matthew Accarrino transforms traditional Italian cooking with dishes like red beet and beef cheek farrotto and nettle and mushroom cannelloni. And, thanks to owner (and sommelier) Shelley Lindgren, SPQR consistently has one of the best wine lists in the city, focusing on smaller vineyards and lesser-known grapes from across Italy.


SPQR

SPQR_PigEars

Tadich Grill

Tadich Grill has been a San Francisco institution for more than 160 years, and the whole operation is suitably old-school: white tablecloths, white-coated waiters, huge portions of local food. Head straight for the counter, sit down and dive into one of their signature seafood dishes, like the steamed clams or the Seafood Cioppino.


Tadich Grill

Stay: The Battery

After Michael and Xochi Birch made a fortune with their social networking site, Bebo, in the early 2000s, they took the next logical step: opening a members’ only club and hotel—think of it like a social network, in real life.

The Battery, which opened two years ago, is at the epicentre of cool in the city, nestled among the financial district, the piers and Chinatown. Membership is by invitation only, but booking one of the hotel’s suites as a guest is a kind of loophole. You can take advantage of otherwise private privileges, including access to the restaurant and bar (all local, sustainable California cooking), and the club’s jam-packed event schedule, featuring wine tastings, art talks, live music and all kinds of pop-ups.

thebatterysf.com

Tosca Cafe

Once a gathering place for beat poets and, later, pseudo-beat Hollywood-types like Sean Penn and Johnny Depp, the Tosca was completey revamped last year. It reopened as one of the best restaurants in the city under the care of April Bloomfield, the much-celebrated New York chef. Now, you’ll find a menu of light and fresh Italian-American dishes, like a stellar roast chicken for two, alongside a menu of strong, retro gin cocktails like the Casino Bar Negroni and Tosca Pink Gin.


Tosca Cafe

Welcome Stranger

Just north of the trendy Mission and Castro neighbourhoods, Welcome Stranger is the outfitter of laid-back techy cool. The store offers a strong mix of European (Barbour, A.P.C.) and American (Saturdays NYC, Rag & Bone) designers alongside its own eponymous line of unbranded casual staples. You’ll also find the requisite selection of books, home décor, grooming products and perfect, unexpected accessories.


Welcome Stranger