Vivande is an Italian trattoria on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights. It’s my favorite Italian place in this part of town. It is not pretentious, the food is what I am used to eating in Italy, and the prices are reasonable.

What to order: the menu changes often and they have daily specials. If they have fagioli alla toscana (cannellini beans with pancetta, garlic and sage), you must get it. They make their own pasta and the cannelloni di pollo is wonderful. All of the desserts are divine. The pasta dishes are huge (I have not been able to finish any of them). They have a small but good wine list.

The scene: Pacific Heights crowd, very mellow

Vivande Porta Via
2125 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: +1 (415) 341 4430

Slanted Door is a “Vietnamese” restaurant located in the Ferry Building in San Francisco on the water with floor-to-ceiling windows and the best views across the Bay. I put “Vietnamese” in quotes because it’s nothing like the Vietnamese food at restaurants where Vietnamese people cook and eat. It’s fancy, dolled-up Asian-fusion food with hints of Indochina and although it is touristy, it’s actually very good. Portions are reasonable (normal by world standards, small by US standards). Reservations are a must.

What to order: shaking beef, fresh spring rolls, whole fish in ginger sauce, lemongrass tofu in chili sauce, Japanese eggplant, bittersweet chocolate bread pudding, fig and walnut goat cheese pound cake, black and white sticky rice

The scene: Embarcadero creative types, birthday party celebrants and tourists

Where to go for pre-dinner drinks: Hotel Vitale across street has a large outdoor patio with heaters and lounge furniture. Very busy on Friday afternoons, lots of fashion people in the trendy outfits, great for people-watching

Slanted Door
1 Ferry Building # 3
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: +1 (415) 861 8032

Last week, Claire and I had dinner in downtown San Francisco, not the most logical place to go for a good meal in this town. Far too many establishments cater to tourists, i.e. people who will probably never return, and that means “kid-friendly” meals as well: greasy fries, overcooked meats, sweet mushy things prepared under the rubric of fast food.

So it’s a relief to find Belden Place, a narrow alley off Bush Street in downtown San Francisco, which is now home to several good restaurants.

Plouf is one of them and if the weather permits, you should eat outside (there are outdoor heaters). This alley gets very crowded with the office lunchtime crowd, but for dinner, it’s not crazy. One has to make reservations or show up a bit early to get a table.

What I liked: the steamed clams and mussels which come in a variety of preparations. There are traditional mussels with white wine, but they also have them in a light broth of coconut milk or pastis. The broth is not overpowering at all and the clams and mussels are very fresh. Most of the dishes are French-Mediterranean with an emphasis on seafood. The pommes frites (french fries) are excellent: thin, flavorful and not at all greasy. I am not a fan of pommes frites and rarely eat them (because I don’t like potatoes) but the Plouf version is fine by me.

The crowd: eclectic mix of fashion people and downtown creative types

Other restaurants on Belden that I like: B44 (a Catalan tapas restaurant owned by the Plouf folks) and Belden Taverna. Click here to see the Belden Place restaurants.

Plouf
40 Belden Place
San Francisco
Phone: +1 415 986 6491

This restaurant just made it to my top ten favorite places to eat out in the San Francisco Bay Area. I went last night with Mary Hodder, founder of Dabble.com, and all I can say is that it blows away just about every Mediterranean restaurant in these parts.

What did I like about it? The food was simple and delicious, portions were reasonable (i.e. small by American standards). That means no ugly heaping plates of food that cause you to lose your appetite the minute they are placed on the table. The service was also very good – attentive but not pushy. Don’t you hate it when you feel as if the staff are trying to get you out as quickly as possible? Not here.

What did we have last night? Stuffed squash blossoms with ricotta and pesto; paella with prawns, clams and chorizo; fig and pancetta flatbread with crescenza (this is a small pizza with a very thin crunchy crust); a side dish of corn, squash and chanterelles; and for dessert, we split a double cream shortcake with wild blackberries and black-currant-lemon verbena cream.

Drinks: the cocktails were divine! Mary had the Martini Normandie (Daron Pays d’Auge, Calvados, Coeur de Lion Pommeau Normandie, and a squeeze of lime) and I had Mike’s Negroni (Junipero Gin, Campari, Carpano Antica Formula, and a squeeze of orange). For wine, we decided upon the Pinot Noir Rosé, Château de Puligny Montrachet (Burgundy 2005).

The crowd: East Bay bohemian chic and Berkeley math professors

À Côté
5478 College Avenue, Oakland
Phone: (510) 655.6469
Website: http://www.acoterestaurant.com/

You can also reserve via OpenTable.com.