Saturday, July 7, 2012

San Francisco Day 7: Total Bliss

We woke up on Saturday and ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Trace. It was good, albeit over $50 for just Ben and me. We left Nick to his own devices as Ben and I had massages scheduled at Bliss spa at the W. I absolutely was counting the seconds to this massage and it did not disappoint. My therapist, Dennis was great. The spa has cheese, brownies, tea and spa water in the lounge.

After our treatments, we checked out the pool and hot tub area which is outside of the spa and is a common area for all guests. Unfortunately, it was full of small kids and the acoustics were terrible, with every child's scream at ear-piercing decibels. I was determined to get in the hot tub, kids or no, but when we turned on the jets, nothing happened. We were basically left sitting in a tub of hot water. With splashing, screaming kids. Needless to say, we left.

We decided to find Nick and go ahead and do a little walking as it was a gorgeous day, the warmest we had in San Francisco. The W isn't located in the most happening area of the city and we had to walk quite a ways to find anything, finally stopping at an Irish Pub for a light lunch. We walked back to the W to change for our dinner at Gary Danko.


This was our last dinner of the trip and we definitely ended on a high note. The service and atmosphere was excellent and the food very good. I chose the 3 course meal and Ben the 4 course so that we could split the seafood course. I started with the lobster salad and Ben got the ahi tuna. I loved my salad and Ben said the tuna was good, but drenched in an acidic sauce.



The second course was the scallops which we split, and they were huge and buttery, melt in your mouth.


For the main course we both got the filet which came with duck confit potatoes which Ben didn't care for but I loved. The steak was good--cooked perfectly to medium and very enjoyable.


For dessert, I got the chocolate souffle which was heaven and Ben got the cherry flambe dessert that they prepare tableside, very dramatic and also delicious.





Our bar that night was a total surprise from Nick. We took a cab to the Tenderloin to a speakeasy called Bourbon and Branch. Nick had to give the girl at the door a password to get in. Since I was carrying my dainty dinner purse, I had not carried my ID but thankfully she let us in anyway. No cameras were allowed so I have no pictures but it is apparently a place which was a true speakeasy back in the days of prohibition. Pretty cool! The drinks were strong and we were tired so after one round we called it a night and thus ended our wonderful trip.

We loved San Francisco and everything we did and saw there.  One day we would like to drive up Highway One along the southern California coast and end that trip with a couple of nights in San Francisco.  It will be great to be back.  Goodbye for now San Francisco!