Biking, hiking, and boating...the seaside town of Sausalito is known for many outdoor pursuits.  Many people come to Sausalito to explore the picturesque Muir Woods, but for us, we did not have much time, so we chose to explore Sausalito's food scene instead.  (Food often wins out over working out!)  We hope you enjoy reading our final SF post, featuring our fresh seafood meals at Poggio, Fish, and Sushi Ran. 

After traveling for the month of June, it was nice to come home to a few lovely care packages in the mail.  There was a box from Portugal, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and while visiting my brother in Toronto, he gave us products from his recent trip to China.  Faithful readers of our site know that we love finding out what foodies eat around the world.  We have been lucky to exchange care packages with foodies from Australia, Italy, France, Britain, Montreal, and Arizona.  Our new packages were much anticipated because we have yet to visit China, Portugal, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  So we eagerly opened up the goods to see what sorts of treasures we got.

We're finally back in NYC!  For the past month, I've been on 7 planes, stayed in 6 hotels, gone through 6 different airports, 3 time zones, and visited 2 countries.  My hubby and I have attended 3 weddings and numerous business meetings, but have managed to have some great food adventures!  From San Francisco to (upcoming posts on) Toronto and the Midwest, we've sampled so many regional eats that we cannot wait to share with you!

With summer finally here, we love getting together with friends and family to enjoy the fresh produce of the season.  So we were very excited to be chosen to host a Buitoni Riserva Pasta & Salad Pairing Dinner.  With farmer market finds, summer produce, and fresh ingredients from our moms' gardens, we made four light and easy salads to pair with each of the Buitoni Riserva Pasta.

For much of our San Fran trip, you could have found us at the Ferry Plaza Marketplace.  From food trucks to fresh produce from the farmers market, it has been our go-to SF spot that we have visited again and again.  We hope you enjoy our look back on our favorite SF tourist attraction.

Thanks to everyone who entered our giveaway for 4 tickets to the Food Truck Drive-In on 06/26 as part of the NYC Food Film Festival.  It looks like people really love the Wafels n' Dinges truck !  We also loved your favorite movies - Ratatouille (how can you not love a movie that was advised by Thomas Keller?), Chocolat (France + chocolate + Johnny Depp!), and Like Water for Chocolate (don't we all sometimes taste the emotions and passions we put into our cooking?)

So many great entries, but only one can be the winner. We used Random.org to decide for us.  The winner is Christine (whose favorite food-related movie is Like Water for Chocolate).  Christine writes the beautifully photographed and sweetly-written blog Fresh, Local, and Best.  Christine, we will email you the tickets and cannot wait to see the event photos you send us!

As a reminder, we still have one more giveaway (ends 6/27) for $60 from CSN Stores. 

Through researching the food scene in SF, we came across the SF Underground Farmers Market.  These vendors are small, homegrown producers who are making or growing their goods in their kitchens, backyards, etc.  Because it is difficult to sell at farmers markets in SF (needing permits from the Health Department), this venture allows budding entrepreneurs easier access to the public.

How do you get in?  Become a (free) member and sign up for the mailing list (it's also a disclaimer saying you're aware that the space is not inspected by the health department - don't worry, we survived!).  They'll email you the date and location of the next event.  Arrive (hungry) on the specified day, pay your $2 entry fee, and peruse the numerous and various goods.  Enjoy our photos to see what we ate!

To celebrate me turning another year older, we made reservations at Gary Danko.  This French-American restaurant gives you the option of designing your own 3, 4, or 5 course tasting menu (priced $68, $85, and $102 respectively).  We could mix and match amongst the appetizers, entrees (seafood and meats), cheese, and dessert sections.  As our waiter explained, we could (and wouldn't be the first) to have all desserts as our entire tasting menu.

As tempting as that offer sounded, I couldn't bring myself to spend $102 on just desserts, so we both opted to choose a medley of dishes and make our own 4 course $85 meal.  As you'll soon see, I opted for a progression of courses, while my husband went full-on with a meat-lovers' dream menu.

As you can tell from our travels, we organize our trips around food!  Before we fly out, we research to find where the locals are eating (many of these bites were suggested on this list).  So far, most of our other posted San Fran adventures have been on the "high" side for HLFD.  But now, we look at the "low" or cheap eats side of SF and hope you enjoy our pictorial list of notable bites (with a miss or two).

During our research about dishes that everyone must try once in San Fran, items from Zuni Cafe's menu kept coming up.  The legendary Roast Chicken and Bread Salad was the #1 item we had to eat, the burger is considered one of the best in America, and the House-Cured anchovies were one of the Best of S.F. 2010 dishes.  So we took the streetcar away from the downtown core and entered this quiet oasis for a late lunch.

We have 4 tickets to giveaway to one lucky reader to The World's First Food Truck Drive-In Movie that's happening on Saturday, June 26, 2010.  This marquee event is part of the Fourth Annual NYC Food Film Festival whose proceeds are going towards the Food Bank.

From Noon to 10pm, the food trucks will drive in and the crowd will arrive on foot. A caravan of the region's best food trucks will assemble in Brooklyn, under the Brooklyn Bridge, offering authentic artisan fare from Waffles and Ice Cream to Pupusas and Cheeseburgers. Attendees can sample from this vast array of treats, and watch food films that celebrate the food truck tradition.  The schedule can be seen here. 

This SOLD-OUT event will feature vendors like Wafels N' Dinges, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, The Treats Truck, The Red Hook Ballfield Vendors, Rickshaw Dumplings, Street Sweets, and many more! 

For your chance to win all 4 tickets:

1. Leave one comment about your favorite street truck or food-related movie.

2. Come back on 06/19/10 when we announce the winner.

3. Email us a couple of photos from the event and let us know what you ate at the event.

Good Luck!

Along with Bibou, RN74, Frances, Locanda Verde, and Marea (the eventual winner), Flour + Water was nominated for a James Beard 2010 Best New Restaurant award.  With such great company, we knew we had to check out this charming restaurant.

Found on a quiet block in the Mission District, Flour + Water serves homemade pasta and Neopolitan pizzas that incorporate local, seasonal ingredients (hence the menu changes daily). With a cold pint of Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale ($8), we sat down for a flavorful rustic Italian dinner.  (One which we would happily return to California to enjoy!)

Creative, inventive, and decidedly Californian, COI Restaurant (pronounce "kwah") had been on my mind since researching for places to dine at in San Francisco.  I was on my own since my hubby had a business dinner to attend (at acclaimed pizzeria A16), so I decided to dine solo in the more casual lounge.

Walking from our hotel in the financial district, it was weird and surprising to find this high-end restaurant set amidst the gentlemen clubs in North Beach.  Once inside, I was welcomed into the small lounge that was decorated with furry pillows, felt coasters, and wood table-top.  Seeing the different textures, I was excited to try a few dishes.  Unlike the formal dining room where you have to order the complete 11-course tasting menu, in the lounge I could also choose from the casual lounge menu or order a la carte from the tasting menu.  I opted for a couple of dishes from the tasting menu and dessert from the lounge menu. 

Though my husband is not always keen on early bird specials (he thinks we're too young for them - I never pass up a deal!), I managed to convince him to try the menu out at Chapeau!, a well-received neighborhood French restaurant in San Francisco.  After all, we were still on NYC-time, so dinner at 5:30 PST would feel much later for us.  So we hopped on a bus and headed out for our $28 three course meal.

Have you ever had a nice dining experience made so much better by one exceptional server? Well, after a long plane ride from NYC and 2 hours to kill before we could check into our hotel, we wandered over to the Ferry Plaza Marketplace in San Francisco to search for some good food.

June is my favorite month.  The weather is beautiful, the farmer's markets (along with my mom's vegetable garden) are bountiful, and my birthday happens at the end of it (yes, to my husband's chagrin, I like celebrating my birthday for the whole month).  For us, we'll be celebrating through food/drink adventures while we travel for weddings, business, and catching up with friends and family (You'll see where, including the city pictured above, throughout the next few posts).  But for you, we have a great giveaway!  From a bathroom vanity to a DVF travel tote to even Le Creuset cookware, CSN Stores features these and many other items in its over 200 online stores.  We're giving one of our lucky readers a $60 gift certificate to use in any one of CSN Stores online sites.