Nice report so far!

The Blue Smoke jazz venue sounds great, as does the Diego Rivera exhibition. I love his work - and saw a show in La Jolla Museum of Contemp Art years ago with Freda Kahlo's work.

I was recently in San Jose del Cabo - looking forward to your trip experiences there.

Thank you for reporting back. I remember your questions while planning this trip. Looking forward to more!

t

San Francisco
Flew from NY with United Airlines – uneventful flight arrived at our hotel in Union Square just in time for dinner. We stayed at the Monaco highly recommended on Trip Advisor. The hotel has some character (though in dubious taste) and the rooms are “nice” and comfortable. We had booked a large suite for the 4 of us but decided it was not going to work. The staff were very quick and straightforward about transferring us to 2 rooms with the same tariff. We were comfortable there and would probably return. The neighbourhood is pretty weird though, as soon as you turn left into O’Geary – the number of homeless people, quite a few aggressive ones too, staggered us. Worst than Vancouver! We actually preferred not to leave our rental car at the Hertz office so we wouldn’t have to walk through there at night. However if you turn right everything is fine and the location is very central to everything.
Over the next few days we went to the Pier, the Mission, Height Ashbury, we went up Coit Tower for the view and to admire the frescoes (highly recommended!), we visited the Academy of Sciences, Stanford and Palo Alto. Most places we walked or taxied to, except for our trip south where we used the car. Parking is expensive but easy to find by European standards.
In SF we ate in some excellent restaurants: Gitane, very atmospheric, interesting latino fusion cuisine , La Mar, Peruvian chic – delicious food, minimalist décor, Slanted Door – sophisticated Vietnamese, Le Bar Agricole – very chic Californian cuisine, beautiful ambience but limited menu. One night we went to the speakeasy “Bourbon and Branch” which was fun. In all these places we were shocked by the prices of the Californian wines usually no less than $100 per bottle. We therefore drank non Cal wines in SF reserving that experience for later.
The kids enjoyed investigating the breweries and night clubs but that's another story....

After 4 nights in SF we drove up to Sonoma valley for our one night 2 day tour of the wine country. For us this proved to be too short. We should have spent at least an extra night or two. We come from a family of wine makers and our sons will soon be taking over the business so they were particularly keen to taste and see as many wines and wineries as possible. Without giving a full account of all our tastings which would take pages and pages I can summarize our experience by saying that we encountered incredible hospitality, friendliness and professionality wherever we went. For some reason we expected a certain snobbishness and commercial coldness from the wineries especially in Napa. Nothing could be further from the truth. Everywhere we went we were greeted with enthusiasm and friendliness, each time we mentioned our own winery we were treated as VIP’s with tours and particular bottles uncorked especially for us. This was the case everywhere from the tiniest family wineries to the big Mondavi and Opus One. We never once had to pay a tasting fee, even! Our kids were over the moon and I am sure they learnt a lot which will come in useful when setting up their own place. Of course we also tasted some amazing wines though it has to be said that, as far as value for money goes, European wines have the advantage.
We spent the night at the convenient and comfortable Inn at Sonoma and ate at the very nice Girl and Fig on the pretty town square. Also recommended : Farmstead restaurant in St. Helena. Little wineries we particularly enjoyed : Martinelli in Russian River, Mazzocco, Andretti, Cohen….

Enjoying your trip report!

Thanks!

At about 6pm we left Napa and drove across SF to Davenport our stop for the night so we would be ready to head South in the morning. This seemed a good plan but we hadn’t considered the traffic on a weekday evening to cross the bridge. It took forever and our designated driver for the day (me) was exhausted by the time we reached the fantastic Davenport Roadhouse just in time before the kitchen closed. This inn is an excellent place to stay if you need a stopover in the Santa Cruz area. It is right on the ocean with a clean smell of sea air in all the charming rooms upstairs . The food is very good, wholesome and local.Good beers. Prices honest and staff very friendly and helpful.

Enjoying your report. Here in NY, I find New Zealand whites and Italian reds decently priced and more value than Californian wines. And I like them!

>>^The Californian wines usually no less than $100 per bottle.<<

Oh - come on!!! We've dined at hundreds & hundreds - perhaps thousands of restaurants in SF over the past 37 years & we've never paid more than $50 for a wine at a "normal" restaurant. Perhaps if you absolutely have to order a "designer" Cab at a ***** restaurant, you can approach $100 or more. We've dined at Gitane, La Mar, and Slanted Door many times, and our wines have been around $40.

http://www.lamarcebicheria.com/archivo/lacarta/files/wine%20main%2001_17_12.pdf

Stu Dudley

What are the price of NZ wines in NYC Centralparkgirl? There is a wine glut here at the moment we can get really good wines for between $ 10-$ 15NZ per bottle.

Just one more reason for me to go back to New Zealand nelsonian...

Very much enjoying your report carrom, I was just momentarily distracted by the talk of NZ wine, of which I'm a BIG fan.

Plenty of wines at $40 a bottle Stu - just not the California wines! OK maybe I exaggerated a bit but it's always a shock to see a Vermentino at anything over $20 for an Italian! And of course, you are absolutely right that it's the restaurant that makes the difference.
We found the wines in NZ to be much better value for money than in Australia and Canada where local wines in restaurants had very high mark ups.
To go on with my story.......
The next day we made a quick stopover in Santa Cruz which on a weekday morning in winter was not very exciting. We then started our drive South along the 101 stopping first in Monterey. I had been there many years ago and liked it but this time I was disappointed, probably from having just read Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat again I found the new Cannery Row about as far away from the spirit of Steinbeck’s novels as could be. His name is exploited in such commercial and trashy fashion and it seems ironic and rather sad. We then proceeded on to Carmel which seemed unchanged since we were there 25 years ago and still charming despite its classy- ghetto atmosphere. Here we picked up some outrageously expensive and complicated sandwiches (and a fine because our front wheel slightly touched the white line!) and headed for Point Lobos National Park for a walk and pic nic. This park is very pleasant though there is not a lot to see in terms of wildlife. The coast is beautiful and anticipated the views on our drive through Big Sur and down to our final stop for the day in Cambria. It's a long drive but worth it.
We were quite excited about our accommodation in Cambria as we had chosen these tiny “Moonstone Cottages” which looked amazing on the web. They are in fact right on the sea front and very well appointed though the décor is slightly kitsch (teddy bears and flowery tea pots). Totally private with breakfast delivered in the mornings and the sound of the ocean at night - we did enjoy them. The location is very convenient for walking along the beach and walking distance to the small town and restaurants. On our first night we ate at the Sea Chest which had good seafood. The manager spent lots of time discussing wines and local wineries to visit with our son and gave us some good tips for the next few days.

Did you stop to see the elephant seals near San Simeon? Not sure what kind of wildlife, besides birds and sea otters to see near Monterey.

Enjoying your report.

Just loving this report. Please keep it up. Too bad about wasting a day in Santa Cruz - which I think has little appeal - other than the roller coaster.

A friend of mine just landed in Venice - and he said he is enjoying the good food/time at a reasonable price. And heis a foodie - originally from NYC. (You know - the "There is no Pizza in SD" refrain. )

Surprised me as I always thought Venice was tres expensive, but I guess the economic situation in Europe has at least one good side effect for Yanks?

Nice report! Especially the wonderful description of your time in Sonoma.

From your time in NYC, you say you went to Blue Smoke in Harlem. Blue Smoke is not in Harlem; it has two locations in lower Manhattan. There is a jazz/supper club called simply Smoke. It's not in Harlem either, but close enough (Morningside Heights) that you might think it is. (And their website says "located off the southern edge of Harlem" even though it's 20 blocks away!). Was your dinner at either of these?
http://www.bluesmoke.com/
http://www.smokejazz.com/

On the La Mar (where you dined) wine list I provided the link to, there are:

36 Calif wines offered.

19 wines are $49 or lower

Price distribution details are:
7 wines in the $30s
12 wines in the $40s
4 wines in the $50s
4 wines in the $60s
1 wine in the $70s
2 wines in the $80s
2 wines in the $90
4 wines are above $100

Stu Dudley

Oops sorry it was Smoke Supper Club. We have been to Blue Smoke as well in the past but this place had a completely different vibe, Different food too. We went with some friends from NY and they loved it too.

Yes - the elephant seals! I am coming to them:

Early next morning we drove to Hearst Castle where we had pre-booked a tour. What to say? It is an amazing place and worth visiting when you are in the area but we were a little stressed out by the palaver of the visitor centre, the bus, the guides who all repeat the same things over and over again – which are exactly the same things you can read on the pamphlets anyway. The whole thing should have taken an hour but it took more like three and in the end we disn't feel as if we'd really seen enough of the property.
The real highlight of the drive was seeing the literally thousands of sea elephants along the coast at St Simeon. We went back twice to see them at different times of day and they are a grotesque and fascinating spectacle!
The next couple of days were spent around Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo where we did more wine tastings and winery visits. Once again it was a really interesting experience and we were always made really welcome and fussed over. It seems being Italian is a big advantage in these parts!
Food we particularly enjoyed in this leg of our trip were the fish n’ chips in Morro Bay and our meal at the Sow’s Ear in Cambria.

If I remember correctly, aren't the big daddys on the beach in February along with the mothers and babies? Pretty interesting. Hearst Castle: a way to get you to spend more $for another tour perhaps? Still, a unique place to visit.

Gesh Stu, leave her alone.

Thanks Michelle : )
There were certainly big daddies and a lot of mating going on as well as babies. The numbers were quite staggering. We took loads of photos and videos!

We then moved on to our next stop Santa Barbara. What a lovely town with nice shops, pretty streets and a nice B&B (the only one who would have us for a one night stay!) The orchid Inn. The only thing we didn’t enjoy too much was our meal at Bouchon – highly rated but expensive and average but maybe we were unlucky. The kids managed to find a good party to go to which is always a good sign of a lively town.
Next stop was L.A. where we had booked a large suite for 4 at the Redbury on Hollywood & Vine. The evening we arrived the Grammy Awards were being held and the place was buzzing! The hotel was superfun – our room enormous and really in the Hollywood spirit with massive sofas, huge kitchen, vinyl record player and lots of gold trimmings! We found the whole neighbourhood to be less seedy than we remembered and a lot of fun to walk around. Right next door , in front of the Capitol Records tower, we ran into a really good club where they had 4 different bands playing live music and a really good ambience. We must have been the oldest people there but had a great time and for once got to bed later than the boys!
We were also close to Katsuya the elegant Japanese restaurant where we had our first LA dinner. An interesting experience though not my favourite. We also tried Beso which was highly recommended but turned out to be a disaster with poorly cooked food, incredibly slow service ,obviously too fashionable for its own good. We ate better at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles – apparently an LA institution !

>>Gesh Stu, leave her alone.<<

Readers gather a lot of info from trip reports like carrom's. Then they often make plans based on what they read.

She twice mis-represented the "normal" cost of a Calif wine - the second time after I posted a link to the wine list of a restaurant where she actually dined at. The list clearly indicated that Calif wine prices in SF hover around the $40 range - not the $100 range. That's a pretty significant difference, IMO. I don't want others to think restaurants here gouge visitors with the price of Calif wines.

Stu Dudley

Ok I exaggerated - sorry. I checked, at Bar Agricole the price of the California wines averaged $87, nowhere near $100. I do apologise and sincerely hope I haven't put anyone off drinking Cal wines in SF!!

We spent the next few days visiting the various neighbourhoods, Beverley Hills, the Walt Disney Concert hall, the historic district etc. All in all we enjoyed the city and found it more friendly than 25 years ago. On our last night we moved to Santa Monica so as to be closer to the airport for our early morning flight to Mexico. In fact we stayed at the Custom Airport Hotel – a fine boutique hotel ideal if you have an early flight. We made the mistake of going to Venice Beach at night in winter – not a lot to be said for it and in fact couldn’t really find anywhere nice to eat in Venice at all. Opted for a gourmet fast food Umami Burgher in Santa Monica which we enjoyed. Santa Monica is pretty and fun especially if you like shopping.
This was the end of the US part of our trip as the next morning we flew to San Josè del Cabo for what we hoped was going to be some hot weather.In fact we were luckier in California , with only one exception we had lovely sunny days throughout our stay. We loved the scenery, the cities the food and the people - just wish it was not so far away and we could come visit more often.

carrom, thanks for clarifying so others will know.

Smoke and Blue Smoke definitely do have very different vibes. I love the food at Blue Smoke but not necessarily the ambiance. However, they serve Blue Smoke food downstairs at the appropriately appointed Jazz Standard - and that I love! Some really good cocktails there, too; both food and drink are IME much better than at Birdland. (Not that it's on your report, but I happened to catch a show there recently-!)

Smoke is wonderful if one is uptown (Columbia U vicinity). A gem in an otherwise nondescript stretch of shops, and you can catch some great shows there.

Will you be posting the Cabo part of your trip on the Mexico forum? I would like to hear about that part of the trip as we were just in SJdC in December and going back this year. We had cool weather there also and have heard it has been unusually cool all this winter and spring.

Thanks for the report.

Thanks Michelle I will post it on the Mexico Forum.

Again, love your trip reports. And what I liked when the big boys - the 5,000 lb behemoths - were in at Elephant Seal Beach - was the incredible fights between the Alpha and Alpha wannabe males. These two guys I saw were dang serious - and holy gash me on the neck, and other places on the big body.

As for the wines - my guess is you have a very refined palatte - which is hard to satisfy sometimes with the mid-priced wines. Oh for the good old days - when big Reds were easier to find at "reasonable" prices.

I can still find a decent Chard for evening "cocktail" hour et al - but a truly fine Red is much more expensive.

Thanks Tomsd! too true about the reds. Wonder if you can find Teroldego where you are... it-s a wine from the Trentino area small DOC but very delicious, the best are Foradori, Endrizzi and De Vescovi but the local cantina of Mezzacorona does a reasonable one for around 8 euros

I would be the first to admit that reds are overpriced at SF restaurants. But, there are other options. Here is what we do:

- If there are only 2 of us dining, I'll order a white from the restaurant's wine list. Last Sat at Zuni, we had an Alsace Pinot Blanc for around $34. Then for my main course, I will order a glass of Red. My wife is usually satisfied to continue with the white.

- If there are 4 of us dining, we (or the other couple) will bring a red from our cellar to the restaurant, & then order a white off the restaurant's wine list. There is almost always a corkage, but about half the time the corkage is waived because we purchased a wine off the restaurant's list. The corkage is usually around $20-$25 - but higher at places like Gary Danko & French Laundry and lower at restaurants similar to Sam's Grill (where I think it was $10 the last time we were there - and they waived the corkage when there were 4 of us).

In Calif, if there is any wine remaining in the bottle - you are allowed to take it home. At least that was the way it was 20 years ago - but we never have leftover wine.

Stu Dudley

$20-25 corkage? That's nuts. We pay $5 here in Perth. I guess in SF they try to discourage you from BYO?

Thanks for the lovely report, carrom!

OT - Nelsonian - I think Kim Crawford in a wine store is not more than $15. In restaurants, we pay about $40 for a NZ Sauvignon Blanc. It has replaced my beloved Sancerre which has gone up a lot in price. A neighborhood restaurant that we frequent now charges $16 for a small glass of Sancerre. With tax and tip, that's over $20 for a glass. I have never had a NZ SB that I didn't like.

Continuing the OT... CPG, that's a great tip! I love Sancerre, but as you say it's now sooo expensive. I see a new adventure forming: taste-testing NZ SB's!