A Quickie in San Francisco

Last summer, United Airlines screwed me over and left a $200 credit on the dresser, and it was about to expire, so off to San Francisco we went. My husband, Adam, has always loved the city, but it took me a while to discover that the charm is in the outer neighborhoods, not downtown. That has long been the case, but it’s exponentially so now: the homeless/drug abuse problem remains a sad blight on the city center. (The mayor recently announced a plan to take action.)

We were only in town for two days, and we’ve both been to San Francisco many times over the years. As a result, we focused on areas we didn’t know: Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Golden Gate Heights, Inner Sunset, Cole Valley, Noe Valley, and Ashbury Heights. An unpleasant encounter isn’t out of the question beyond downtown, of course, but we found the neighborhoods felt like pre-pandemic San Francisco. The city is still ravishing. I don’t think there was a single street where we didn’t stop and marvel at something‚ although that includes how much deferred maintenance there is.

I mean, come on!

A friend had recommended the Crosstown Trails: “Connecting the four corners of San Francisco, the Crosstown Trails run through hidden trails, public parks, shopping corridors, tiled stairways, and community gardens along the way,” says the website. We didn’t end up attempting any of the trail, but researching it did lead us to the hills and stairs south of Golden Gate Park. (2024 is the Year of the Stairs. First, Silver Lake. Next, Calabasas?) We started our lone full day at the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps that go to Grandview Park, where the view was far from grand, thanks to a light rain.

We exited the park via the elegant Moraga Stairs.

We had planned on tackling the Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve next, but the weather looked even grimmer up there. Instead, we skirted the reserve and passed through UCSF Parnassus Campus, and by the time we got to Buena Vista Park, the weather had improved enough to make an ascent worthwhile. The park is a beaut, and the houses on the perimeter had us daydreaming about moving there one day.

We were particularly intrigued by 701 Buena Vista Avenue West (seen below on Google Maps), which has a fabulous topper with 360-degree views. It sold for $6.1 million in November 2020.

Due to an unspecified equipment issue, United robbed us of a lunch opportunity in San Francisco. Luckily, the one lunch we did have—at Beit Rima‘s Cole Valley outpost—was the best meal of the trip: an excellent mezze plate, a super-lemony fattoush salad with fried dates, and halloumi with jalapeño and mint that came to the table sizzling in a cast-iron pan. (Pedestrian pita was the only demerit.) Having been discouraged from over-ordering, I quietly navigated us by a Salt & Straw, where there was a fantastic coffee ice cream with chocolate-covered candied pecans.

We’re trying to avoid frequenting the same restaurants when we go to certain cities, which meant no Cotogna, Mister Jiu’s, or Rintaro. Our two dinners—at Penny Roma in the Mission and Piccino in Dogpatch—were both tasty enough but not all that memorable, with one exception: at both establishments, the servers nailed it. (Below: Penny Roma’s corn arancini with garlic aioli, ricotta salata, and Aleppo pepper.)

The Battery is a very good hotel, but we wanted to stay in a different part of town. We’ve had so-so experiences at the Four Seasons in the Financial District and the Ritz-Carlton, so we were willing to roll the dice a bit. A friend had heard good things about the Hotel Nikko, and we thought a Japanese brand might be more reliable. Plus, we’ve always believed there’s merit to the strategy of booking a better room at a lesser hotel.

The Nikko’s location off Union Square is not ideal, for reasons described at the start of this post, and the lobby had us questioning our decision. The hotel was renovated in 2016-2017, possibly by someone who had been asleep since the 1980s.

We arrived a half hour before check-in, and instead of making us wait, the staffer upgraded us from a junior suite to an executive suite. The decor was a little TJ Maxx, and the designer and I have different ideas about which shades of blue belong together, but overall, we couldn’t have been happier with the room. (TripAdvisor reviews bear our opinion out.) It was clean, well-maintained, and quiet. And while we didn’t make much use of the amenities, the staff delivered when it counted: at checkout, the employees didn’t know how to apply our $50 iPrefer credit, so they suggested we leave for the airport and they’d credit our account once they sorted it out. A half hour later, it was done.

There were some terrific old-school things about the hotel: turndown service, for one, which is rapidly disappearing from all but the high end. And butter balls at the club-level breakfast buffet! When was the last time you saw those?

The hotel lost points for the in-room Keurig machines, though. (We relied on Caffé Central two blocks away.) I’m not one of those people who bring a water bottle everywhere I go, so I appreciated the complimentary (and refillable) cans of water and the bottle filling station next to the hallway ice machine.

While we’re on the subject of technology, Toto should be much clearer about how you stop its Washlet toilets from doing whatever it is you’ve asked them to do. Look at the remote below and tell me where the off button is. The lack of clarity led to one of us yelling, with increasing urgency, “How do you turn it off?!” (By touching the square sensor at the top.)

One day, perhaps toilets will simply know what to do, like the self-driving Waymo taxis that are all over San Francisco. It works like Uber: download the app, tell the robocar where you want to go, and voilà.

The experience is eerie, but you get used to it. We felt entirely safe—the driving is more tentative than that of most human drivers, and you never go fast, because the cars won’t venture onto the freeway. (We got a kick out of how, after our car would stop to let someone pass in front, people waved thanks—and then do a double take once they realized no one was driving.) And we liked Waymo even more when we compared it to the Uber driver who forced us to listen to sports radio on the ride to the airport.

The cars are a triumph of technology, and it’s impossible not to be wowed. But the disconnect between our giddiness inside the vehicle and the desperation outside was as dystopian an experience as I can remember. I’ve seen the future, and it’s not pretty.

P.S. For our next trip: “The Woods Division Carpentry Shop is always buzzing with the responsibility of restoring San Francisco’s fleet of iconic cable cars,” wrote Secret San Francisco. “You can actually watch the expert carpenters carry out their craft in a bus yard at1040 Minnesota Street in the Dogpatch district. Take a peek through the windows or wire fencing sometime before 2:30pm to see these historic cars being restored.”

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Previous travel coverage:
••• Dipping a Toe Into Southern Corsica
↓↓↓ The Exquisite Luxury of Taking Paris for Granted
••• Santa Rosa Island in One Day
••• Soaking Up History at Castle Hot Springs
••• Driving Through the Heart of Hokkaido
••• Tokyo Is a World Unto Itself
••• Paso Robles, Pinnacles National Park, and Beyond
••• A Review of the Inn at Mattei’s Tavern
••• Another Quickie in L.A.
••• Sitting Pretty at the One & Only Mandarina
••• The Mysteries of Istanbul
••• Palm Springs: Midweek at the Oasis
••• Exploring the Sea Caves of Santa Cruz Island
••• A Summer Swing Through the Northeast
••• Why Is Everyone Going to Portugal?
••• Patagonia Made Easy
••• A Quickie in L.A.
••• From Penthouse to Pavement in Mexico City
••• Do Greek Islands Live Up to the Fantasy?
••• Splendid Isolation at Utah’s Lodge at Blue Sky
••• Three Reasons to Visit Paso Robles Now
••• The Rebirth of the Cuyama Buckhorn

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