Izakaya Sozai
Izakaya Sozai
Inner Sunset - San Francisco
$$
★★★☆☆
Ramen and yakitori are good, but not exceptional. A good choice if you live in the area, but not destination worthy. But I'm really picky with this stuff, y'know?
Smitten Ice Cream
Smitten uses their own magical liquid nitrogen ice cream machine, called "Brrr" (masters of comedy, no?). It allows them to make ultra smooth ice cream to order in seconds, which is a marvel. I tend to get sundaes, and I wasn't blown away by the "Dough My Goodness" or "Berry Crisp" sundaes on offer that day, but they certainly were as smooth as promised. I'll go back to see if their more inventive flavors can earn that last star.
Smitten Ice Cream
Hayes Valley - San Franscisco
$
★★★★☆
Zazie
Zazie
Cole Valley, San Francisco
$$
★★★★★
Brunch places can be a dime a dozen, and still lines will be out the door. I was pleasantly surprised with the amazing quality of the food at Zazie. Though the line is often an hour long, there's a helpful little guide by the door to let you know very accurately what your wait will be. You can also grab one of the first-come-first-served tables out front, but I prefer the garden in the back. Get there early to get the Miracle (ricotta) pancakes before they sell out. Also try the Poached Eggs La Mer (dungeness crab eggs benedict, basically). Fun Fact - Zazie pays its staff full wages and benefits, so tipping is not required. More restaurants should follow suit.
Mission Workshop
Mission Workshop
Mission District, San Fransisco
Retail Store - Accessories & Clothing
★★★★★
Mission Workshop's retail space is beautiful. It's dark and bright at the same time. Lots of exposed natural wood, and those skylights. It blew my mind how many places all over SF have skylights. New York talks about wanting natural light - but SF actually has it. I love it. MW sells lots of great modular and adaptable bags, and a collection of rugged clothing. They even have a little coffee setup in the corner from Bicycle Coffee.
Hello San Francisco!
I spent the last two weeks in San Francisco photographing for Nooklyn, working on these three objectives:
1. Update SF Neighborhood Card Images - How do you define a neighborhood in a single image? I try to avoid photos of rows of houses, since that is very typical. Having a landmark in the neighborhood helps.
2. Add content to our SF neighborhood guides - For me, this means restaurants, which is my primary interest when exploring. We're all foodies at Nooklyn, and that comes through in the content on our website and Instagram, which brings us to:
3. Instagram - Fortunately, a lot of Instagram content can be sourced from the photos I take for the guides.
Look forward to some posts on the specific places I visited!
