Thursday the 7th: San Francisco, California
Left Napa Valley early to have a good part of the day in San Francisco. It's becoming more and more challenging to see major cities in a day and a half.

Arrived to a very foggy Golden Gate. Not really a disappointment as the view is still amazing. Paid the $5 toll and headed into town.

After getting situated, it was a full out march to hit the major sites before our dinner reservation. It was fun to see some things that were new to us as well as visit places we remembered from our last visit.

Coit Tower:

Stayed off the cable car this time and streched our legs on the hillsides.

The Transamerica Pyramid:

Windy Lombard Street:

Came across the store Dream of Cake on our way to the Wharf. We couldn't actually enter because it was by appointment only but, the cakes in the storefront window kept our attention for quite a while.

I know, all we do is visit the major tourist areas (Pier 39) but, how could you deny a visit to the oh so entertaining sea lions! Yes, they are wild and feed nearby. Some of them are full time residents too.

Our final destination for the day was Millennium. The first high end, fully vegan reasturant we've ever been to. It was hard not to try the five course tasting menu but we managed just fine with three solid courses.

For those interested...

Started with the Zucchini Napoleon (layers of corn-orange cauliflower salad and lemon-macadamia nut "cheese," basil-garlic oil, and sweet pepper "cream") and the Sesame Cornmeal Crusted Oyster Mushrooms (with cucumber mint salad and sweet and spicy apple-habanero jam)

The main dishes were a Seared Corn, Edamame and Hijiki Cake (sauté of blue oyster mushrooms, neon eggplant, asian vegetables, kaffir lime-apple-pineapple sambal, and Indonesian spiced coconut curry) and the Grilled Rosa Bianca Eggplant Napoleon (sage scented flageolet bean ragu seared garlic polenta cake, summer vegetable ratatouille, arugula and greek basil salad, and smoky romesco sauce).

Finished with the Chocolate Almond Midnight (almond cashew crust, mocha chocolate filling, raspberry sauce, and white chocolate mousse) and the White Wine Poached Peach (fresh berries and nectarines, and lemon verbena granite).

As for spirits, the wine list was organic, biodynamic, or grown in a sustainable environment and pretty unique. We decided on a half bottle of the Calera pinot noir from the central coast of California.

The desserts were paired with a delicious ten year tawny and chianti.

We're not food snobs, honest. Just thought you might be interested in what was served/eaten considering we made such a big deal of the place. The food was good and the presentation was strong. Fid in Nova Scotia was a close second and Oleana in Boston is probably still our favorite but, we don't know of any other restaurant where the whole menu (even the wine, with the exception of a few that have honey) is completely vegan and high end.

Tomorrow should be a rude awakening as we'll be back in the tent for a while, cooking over an open flame. The environment will keep our spirits up though as we'll be in Yosemite!