Story: San Francisco’s Love Affair with Asia by Ruth and Rich Carlson/talkintravel.com

San Francisco’s Love Affair with Asia

By: Ruth and Rich Carlson/www.talkintravel.com

Asian influences are prominent in the cuisine, architecture and fashion of “the City by the Bay.” (Don’t call it Frisco unless you want everyone to know you’re a tourist!) San Francisco is compact and you can walk from one end to the other, which keeps the locals thin despite the city’s reputation for outstanding cuisine. To experience the eastern side of this international city, follow this guide.

Start your day with a yoga class on the rooftop deck of Vitale, a new hotel exuding a Zen-like calm. During the lotus pose, students gaze down on sailboats, joggers and bikers along the Embarcadero. A few years ago hotel guests would have stared at cars whizzing by their window but the 1989 earthquake caused this freeway to collapse. When city leaders realized what a treasure it had been hiding, they revitalized the waterfront and transformed the Ferry building into a temple of food. Each arcade has signs promoting the culinary contributions of Bay Area cities including Sonoma goat cheese, Berkeley olive bread, Napa chardonnay and Monterey Bay salmon. If you’re lucky enough to visit on a Tuesday or Saturday, the farmer’s market will be in full swing along the Embarcadero. Up to 15,000 people shop for the best organic produce here, including Alice Waters, creator of Chez Panisse and the California cuisine movement.

On the Bay side of the Ferry Building you’ll see a line trying to enter the Slanted Door, one of the city’s most popular restaurants. Both Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger extended recent trips to the Bay Area in order to dine here. The Vietnamese cooking technique, combined with local organic products, has been dubbed street food gone upscale. Consistently receiving high marks: the Imperial rolls and clay pots.

In between eating, locals manage to squeeze in some culture. Hop a vintage cable car up Market Street to the Civic Center and one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art. Gae Aulenit, the French architect who converted a train station into the Musee D’Orsey, has transformed San Francisco’s main public library into the Asian Art Museum. The building’s beaux art design, dating from 1916, complements the new vaulted ceilings, inverted skylights and glass curtain walls. The collection includes tiny jade jewelry, monumental sculptures, furniture, fashion, puppetry and ceramics.

An elaborate gate the color of green patina beckons visitors to the Grant Street entrance of Chinatown. Here your senses can be overwhelmed by the sights and sounds: drummers performing next to a human “dragon” costume slithering through an alleyway, school children in uniforms entering red roof pagodas, and elders practicing the ancient art of Tai Chi in a park. Tiny shops are packed with inexpensive treasures like rice paper wallets, Chinese slippers and posters of women in cheongsam dresses, replicas of 1940’s era ads.

This is also the neighborhood to find traditional teahouses. The world of artisan teas is similar to fine wine with tea masters resembling sommeliers. Experts in both fields speak a common language to describe their drinks: vintages, single estates, harvest time and method, acidity, tannin content, weight, fruit, earth aromas and mineral characteristics of the soil.

Guests at the Northern style Imperial Tea Court perch on classic Chinese chairs sipping rare teas fetching two hundred dollars a pound. Red Blossom has performance teas: flowers that open up as the water steeps and Ten Ren is open seven days a week from 9 to 9, because you never know when that tea craving will strike.

Just below Chinatown the ladies who lunch can be seen carrying bags from the new Barney’s store in Union Square. Skip the crowds entering Macy’s and staring at the building size poster of David Beckham outside the Emporio Armani store and head to SOMA, South of Market. Those in the know visit Colleen Quen’s atelier, located in a historic firehouse from the 1800s. She shares the space with her husband, internationally recognized furniture and set designer Rick Lee.

Socialites attending the San Francisco opera, ballet and symphony are frequently photographed wearing Quen’s ball gowns. If your budget and waist are tiny, snap up one of her samples for a fraction of the couture price. Her new sophisticated travel line uses high tech fabric for ensembles that won’t wrinkle but still look stylish. The outfits work together or independently to make sure you have that special San Francisco style, no matter where you live.

Deciding where to eat dinner is the toughest choice you’ll have to make all day. San Franciscans take their food seriously and can debate the best restaurants for hours. Ame is among the few that have remained at the top of critic’s lists for years. Located in the historic Williams Building section of the St. Regis Hotel, it’s rumored to be a favorite of Al and Tipper Gore who have taken up residence in the St. Regis penthouse.
Hero Sone and Lissa Doumani are behind this splashy Japanese-inspired restaurant known for cross-cultural cooking. Sit at the restaurant’s special “Red Table” and order one of the seven raw fish appetizers from several cultures or pull up a seat at the sashimi bar or sushi counter near the wall of fire. Red lacquered walls with jewel size cutouts give diners a view of the kitchen. A few popular items include the Japanese egg custard with lobster; sake-marinated black cod with shrimp dumplings; and the eel and foie gras on mushroom risotto. The menu is complemented by an impressive selection of limited release sakes.

If you have more time, visit the historic Japanese tea garden near Golden Gate Park, Gary Danko’s Asian fusion restaurant near Fisherman’s Wharf, and the boutiques of Japantown for Sanrio and Hello Kitty inspired fashion.

There’s no need to wait for the Chinese New Years parade in February to experience the Eastern culture in San Francisco. Asians are a proud part of the City’s history and a vital influence today. Like the edges of the skyline that peek out from the fog, the lines between East and West are blurry but beautiful in San Francisco.

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Details:
San Francisco Visitors and Convention bureau
www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com

Asian Art Museum
www.asianart.org

200 Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel: (415)581-3500
Colleen Quen Couture
www.colleenquencouture.com
7 Heron Street
San Francisco
(415) 551-0013

Ferry Building
www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111
Tel: (415) 693-0996

Slanted Door
www.slanteddoor.com
1 Ferry Building #3

San Francisco, CA 94111
Tel: (415) 861-8032

Imperial Tea Court
www.imperialteacourt.com
1411 Powell Street

San Francisco, CA 94133

Tel: 800-567-5898
 or (415) 788-6080

Red Blossom
831 Grant Ave.
San Francisco
Tel:(415) 395-0868

Ten Ren
www.tenren.com
949 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94108
Tel:(415) 362-0656

St Regis Hotel/Ame restaurant
www.starwoodhotels.com
125 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Tel:(415)284-4000

Vitale Hotel
www.vitalehotel.com
8 Mission Street

San Francisco, CA 94105
Tel:(415)278-3700