Flowers in San Francisco

I recently visited San Francisco on a business trip. New England is entering fall and the summer flowers are dying away. I am always amazed when I go to the Bay Area and see the flowers.

I saw this small planting and really liked the blue flowers.

The other bridge

When I was looking at the neighborhood garden in San Francisco, I took this picture of the Bay Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge gets most of the tourist attention in San Francisco, but the Bay Bridge looked pretty impressive to me from this vantage point.

North Beach Pizza

I found a great place for pizza in San Francisco. North Beach Pizza is on the corner of Union and Grant in the middle of North Beach. Even though it was hot outside, I ventured in and tried the pizza.

I picked out a personal sized pie and loaded it up with pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms. The crust was crusty with just the right amount of chewiness. It was fantastic.

San Francisco Garden

I got on a plane yesterday and flew to San Francisco. When I left, it was cloudy and cool. The phrase "April showers brings May flowers" must have come from New England; we've had lots of rain and are waiting for our flowers.

Here in San Francisco, it is a different story. After work, I drove to a small neighborhood to see a garden.


I seemed like I had landed in an alternative universe. The sun was bright and hot, and the flowers were in full bloom. It was great to look around and think about summer.

A tale of two Decembers

Last week, I started off in warm San Francisco and ended up in an ice storm in Boston.

In between meetings, I was driving in Palo Alto and took the picture above. I couldn't believe that the flowers were still blooming.

By the end of the week, I was back home and hunkering down through the ice storm. It started with just rain, but overnight the freezing rain coated everything with a 1/4 inch of ice.


We lost power for a short while, but didn't have any major problems. We have a wood burning stove which kept the house warm while the electricity was out. Some friends of ours are starting their 4th day without power.

The ice was beautiful, but it is causing a lot of problems here in Mass.

Hobee's Breakfast

I was in San Francisco Monday and Tuesday for some meetings.

Yesterday, I got a chance to go to Hobee's for breakfast. It is a popular place in the Bay Area and after eating there, I can see why. The food was amazing.

I decided to get Huevos Rancheros which, as you can imagine, is not frequently on the menu in New England. The dish is a made by putting black beans, cheese, eggs, sour cream, and chorizo in a tortilla. After I finished, I was full until dinner-time.

Needing Dinner in North Beach

I was in San Francisco this week and found myself at dusk with no idea where to eat.

I have this little handicap that is endearing to my wife (OK, to be honest, it drives her crazy). At a certain point, hunger overrides the decision making ability in my brain. I tend to wander around wondering what to eat without the capacity to make a decision that would lead to food actually entering my body.

I was in this state when I found myself driving around North Beach wondering if Italian food would be good, or maybe Chinese, or Thai, or California...you get the idea.

I called my wife, and she told me to park the car and just find anything. So, I did.

I parked the car and walked into Bocce Cafe on 478 Grant Street.


The entrance is off the street and down a quiet arbor way. I sat out on the patio and ate lasagna. It was simple, and very "homey".

I would recommend Bocce to anyone who wants to have "family style" Italian meal away from the tourists.

Palo Alto

My mom always says that the air in Bay Area is soft. She means that it isn't too humid, and it isn't too dry. She should know; she grew up there.

I drove from my hotel to Stanford University where I am participating in a conference. On the way there, I decided to take a little detour around Palo Alto. When I was young, we would go to my grandparent's house here. It was a typical 50s home on a street lined with magnolia trees and not too far from Stanford.

The neighborhoods in Palo Alto have the most beautiful flowers. No doubt the moderate weather makes it easy for gardening. I saw the rose garden above and had to take a picture.

After driving into the Stanford campus, I parked my car and was overwhelmed by the wonderful smell of eucalyptus trees. The eucalyptus and magnolia trees make the whole town very fragrant. It always brings me back to visiting here as a child.


When I needed a break from the conference, I walked outside, took a look at the campus, and enjoyed the sun.

Goin' to Gochi

Tucked away in a small strip mall in Cupertino, CA is a Japanese restaurant called Gochi.

A typical Japanese dinner consists of several appetizer type dishes that everyone shares. These are served over an extended period of time so that people can talk at their leisure. As you would expect, the pace is slower than a typical American restaurant, and most meals last 2-3 hours.

I took a picture of the sashimi (raw fish) that we ate with gusto. At the top of the picture, you can see what is left after a fish has all the meat cut off. Down below, to the left, and behind the leaf, is that fish's head. I kept staring at it all night. To tell you the truth, I didn't like the way it looked back at me.

Coast to Coast

It was one of those weeks. I started in San Francisco and ended in Washington, D.C. After looking through my pictures from the week, I came across these three that I really liked.

While I was in San Francisco, I got a chance to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, stop the car, and walk onto the bridge. It was windy, and the further I got out on the bridge, the more uncomfortable I got. I know that it would take a strong blast of wind to pick me up and over the railing, but somehow my nerves didn't get the message.


At the end of the week, I drove through Washington, D.C. to get to National Airport and my flight back to Boston. I was a little early, so I stopped on the National Mall to look around. At 9am in the morning, it was already sweltering hot. I don't know how I survived living in the D.C. area in the summers. But, the sky was blue and the Smithsonian Museums looked as grand as always.

Near the Smithsonian Castle is an old carousel. We used to take our children there when they were small. No surprise, but they always liked going on the carousel more than the Art Museum.

U Lee

Almost 15 years ago, I was working in New York City, and a co-worker’s sister moved to San Francisco. She was living near Russian Hill and discovered a great, family run Chinese Restaurant called U Lee.

Within a short period of time, U Lee (Corner of Jackson and Hyde Streets) became known for their amazing Pot Stickers. At the time (again this is almost 15 years ago), I was traveling to San Francisco for business. I decided to try and find this place that my co-worker’s sister was talking about.

As you could see from my post on Ohshos, I really like gyoza/pot stickers/dumplings. But, I am most used to the kind you get in Japan. One order in Japan usually means 6 pieces and can easily be eaten with a meal.

I got to U Lee and was starving. So, I tried to get 2 orders of pot stickers. The kind people at U Lee convinced me I only needed 1 order. When they came, I was shocked to see that these pot stickers are the size of your fist. But more importantly, they are fantastic. I’ve been hooked ever since. Every time I go to San Francisco, I make time to go to U Lee. This is my regular order – Shrimp with Tender Greens and Pot Stickers.

Strolling in Sausalito

I've been in San Francisco for meetings the past 2 days. On Monday, one of my colleagues suggested that we go to Sausalito for dinner. That sounded good to me since I’ve never really spent much time on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

As you cross over the Bridge, there are golden hills and beautiful water. It was surprising because on the San Francisco side there was nothing but fog and cold. Just a few miles to the north in Sausalito, the sun was shining and the air was warm.

I parked my car and went for a walk around the town. A few blocks down the road, I found a nice park with an interesting fountain.

Surrounding the fountain were flower beds with plants that seemed to me to fit the California landscape.

I returned to The Spinnaker just in time to meet the others for dinner.

The Spinnaker overlooks the bay and has floor to ceiling windows so you can enjoy the view of the water and the San Francisco skyline in the distance. The menu has a variety of seafood dishes. I opted for Paella, but actually enjoyed the appetizers more. The oysters were fantastic.