The Hills Are Alive in San Francisco
Hellloooo San Francisco!!
One 4am wake up call, two flights & 6 and 1/2 hours air time, and one trek to the hotel by foot and public transportation, I made it to the west coast!
It was too early to check into my hotel, so I dropped my luggage off and managed to find Allie, Diana, and Susan for a venture into Chinatown.
Just a small hike up a hill mountain or two, and we were surrounded by Dim Sum options. A lady on the street behind us steered us towards a little whole in the wall counter-style Chinese bakery were I was immediately overwhelmed by Dim Sum choices. I didn’t even know what Dim Sum was until the walk over. (The consensus was Chinese tapas/brunch-ish.)
Selecting an option was like playing Chinese roulette- I absently pointed to one that I thought was filled with shrimp. (It was.)
It was good! Next time I’ll know to get more. 
After our journey into Chinatown it was time for dinner on the town. Destination: Millenium, an upscale-ish vegetarian restaurant near Union Square.
I’m used to the fairly boring food choices in my neck of NC. I go to the same restaurants, and order the same thing, and the options don’t tend to get too adventures. One look at the menu and I was overwhelmed all over again. But overwhelmed in a good way.
So many good choices, so little time.
Finally, a decision was made:
First up, the Wilted Bloomsdale Spinach Salad: caramelized pears with thyme and vanilla, smoked tofu, red onion, creamy pear & Witte beer dressing, & toasted hazelnuts.
Then I shared the Black Bean Torte with Allie, which I had my eye on the second I saw it on the menu. Whole wheat tortilla, caramelized plantain, smoky black bean puree, pumpkin-habanero papazul, cashew “sour cream”, & strawberry salsa.
I was worried I’d be starving afterwards since fancier places = smaller portions, but I was saved by the outpouring of pre-dinner snacks from the kitchen.
Bread with lentil spread, pickled veggies, roasted brassicas, and crusted oyster mushrooms.
The mushrooms were battered in chickpea flour & spices and were to die for. Not sure you can tell from the picture but they disturbingly reminded me of a somewhat recent Grey’s Anatomy episode…. I’ll leave it at that so you don’t gag if you don’t know what I’m talking about. But they were good. 
And with that, 23 hours after leaving NC, I hit the hay in beautiful San Francisco.
