I am delighted that I launched the USA Food Tour series when I did. A little over a week after I started, I had a preplanned trip with my friend Theresa to San Francisco! This worked out perfectly because honestly, how often does one travel to the other side of the country?
I did a lot of research on California. The state is so big with so many different traditions. Overall though, I have found that California is known for using fresh, local ingredients in fusion cuisine. Fusion cuisine, according to Wikipedia, is “cuisine that combines elements of different culinary traditions.” Of course I compiled loads of information to figure out the best place to include in my food tour. The Slanted Door showed up several times in different restaurant articles naming it one of the top restaurants in the country. So about a month before our trip, I booked a reservation. Good thing I did, the place was packed!
The Slanted Door is a Modern Vietnamese fusion restaurant. There was definitely a modern feel as soon as you walked in. The atmosphere was crisp and clean with pops of blue throughout. The decor was what we found most fun yet interesting. There were numerous dog portraits displayed throughout the entire restaurant. Of course, that alone made us love the place. Back to the food; we enjoyed a four course, family style meal. To start, while waiting for our table we ordered The Slanted Door Spring Rolls; crab meat, pork, mint with a peanut dipping sauce. These were delicious!
After being seated, we each ordered a bowl of the white corn and crab soup. This was almost like a bisque but not as thick. We left our bowls clean.
For our main course we shared Pan-Seared Scallops in a pineapple-coconut sauce, stir fried chicken with cashews, dates, and raisins, and a vegetable medley. I can not rave more about each of these dishes. They were all full of flavor. We literally savored every bite.
Dessert, of course, was one of my favorite parts. There were so many delicious options however we were both almost stuffed to the brim. We decided to share the churros with a Mexican chocolate dipping sauce. MmmmMmmmmMmmm!
California is also world renowned for it’s wine country. People travel from all over to explore the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma counties. I was extremely lucky to be able to make a trip North to this region during my quick trip to San Francisco. Our group explored two different vineyards, one in each region. I was very impressed with all of the wine we tasted. After exploring two different vineyards, I quickly decided that I will definitely be making a trip back some day to explore more of wine country. Until next time California!
