We walked through Noe Valley to Zuni Cafe, something of a San Francisco institution that I had wanted to go to for a while. The vibe is very laidback, partly due to the clientele, partly to the airy interior with exposed brick and beams, and partly to the spaced out staff who were incredibly slow and rarely got orders correct. Zuni is a casual restaurant that tries to go upmarket gourmet by stressing locally farmed produce. Somchai loved the oysters, among the best he'd ever had. But mostly the menu is of the burgers/pizza/sandwich variety with a twist. Food was good but not great, in particular, the shoestring fries which are supposed to be famous I found to be almost inedible. (Food-12, Decor-15, Service-8)

We had a great dinner at Masa's, which unfortunately was the best we had in San Francisco. I say unfortunately because it's never a good idea to start at the top and work down. It's an intimate room, stylishly decorated and centered on a modern work of sculpture. The place was packed, and had a great buzz about it, chiefly because the maitre'd and staff did a great job animating what could be a stuffy experience due to the seriousness of the menu. We opted for the tasting menu, which included a great foie gras course, and the best squab I've ever had, which is impressive because I usually don't care for it. The Harlan Estate wine we had with it was stellar as well, and in fact we ended up buying a couple bottles later while in Napa. (Food-19, Decor-16, Service-20).

The hotel's star attraction is the Redwood Room, a holdover from the old hotel. It's now a trendy bar and the Asia de Cuba restaurant. Actually I'm not sure if it's all that trendy since it didn't seem to have much of a crowd, but in any event it's a great looking space. We had lunch at Asia de Cuba while we were waiting for our room to be ready. The whole room is supposedly panelled with the wood from one redwood tree, and it makes quite a stately impression, especially when combined with the lofty ceiling heights. It was even more stately because we were the only customers.



As astute readers will remeber, we've eaten at this restaurant in New York and London, and as usual enjoyed the food. We shared a great plate of dumplings, for the Asia part of the name, then I followed with the Cuba part in the form of a big greasy Cubano sandwich wth some nasty yucca chips. Very filling, but the room is the real show stealer here. (Food-15, Decor-20, Service-15)