San Francisco: The Plant, Ferry Market, & more
Guess what? Matt and I are in San Francisco! Yup, we’re on the west coast this week. Matt had to come here for a work conference, and I decided to tag along, just like last year (read parts one, two, three, and four of our San Francisco 2011 trip if you haven’t already). We got in yesterday afternoon, and have already had a fun first 24 hours here.
This morning, with our bodies still on Central standard time, we woke up early and walked to get breakfast at The Plant in downtown SF.
Although they’re not a solely-veg restaurant, The Plant has TONS of vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and even raw options. See those two glass cases? They’re filled with almost all vegan (and many gluten-free) pastries!
I started out with a shot of wheatgrass while Matt sipped an Açaí Berry Protein smoothie: açaí berries blended with mango, strawberries, banana, vanilla, a double shot of hemp protein, and apple and orange juices.
For breakfast, Matt got the House-Made Granola & Seasonal Fruit with soymilk.
The gluten-free granola was sweet and crunchy, and we both loved the selection of fruit they put on top.
I ordered the Plant Breakfast Bowl: young coconut meat blended with apple and pecans, topped with cinnamon and organic maple syrup (which I asked for on the side).
SO. GOOD. I am definitely recreating this nutty and delicious raw fruit porridge when I get home.
After breakfast, we walked down Market Street to the Ferry Building Marketplace. There was so much raw, vegan, and gluten-free goodness going on there that I couldn’t possibly have taken photos of it all. The highlight for us was the farmers market happening in front of the building, particularly the Alfieri Farms booth, selling all manner of nuts and dried fruits.
I was excited to encounter a rare find: unpasteurized almonds! Even though I don’t really have the room in my luggage for them, I HAD to buy a pound.
I was also so fascinated by these naturally-red Livermore walnuts that I bought a small bag of them as well.
Inside the building, we picked up a gluten-free vegan treat from Mariposa Baking Company.
This cream-filled “penguino” reminded us of a Hostess cupcake.
Matt grabbed a soy latte after that, while I nabbed a locally-made and very uniquely flavored (Vanilla Orchid Root!) House Kombucha. I was surprised to find it tastes completely unsweetened, unlike most kombuchas I’ve tried. They must have used very little sugar to ferment it. It was SO not-sweet that it actually smelled and tasted very much like beer. I may even have gotten a little buzzed off it. Just kidding. Maybe. Nah! But really. A little bit.
It was about time to head back to our hotel then, so Matt could get ready for his work event. On the way, we stopped back by…The Plant! Matt ate a Plant Burger (a made-in-house veggie patty consisting of lentils, mushrooms, beets, cashews, and bulgur wheat, served on a sourdough bun with tomatoes, grilled onions, lettuce, and vegan aioli, plus a side salad and pickled cauliflower) for lunch.
I picked up my own lunch at the nearby Million Thai Restaurant: vegan panang curry with tofu, red curry paste, coconut milk, bell pepper, basil, and peanut sauce, with steamed rice.
All this already today, and it’s only 4pm Pacific time! I can’t wait for dinner tonight…I’ll tell you all about it ASAP!
3 years ago this week…
Pineapple upside-down cake
Spaghetti with raw tomato sauce
Crème-filled German chocolate upside-down cake
2 years ago this week…
Homemade vegetable bouillon
Citrusy sweet potato-carrot soup
December-January “leftovers”
1 year ago this week…
Road trip! First stop: 105degrees
Almost vegan at MEDIEVAL TIMES!
Meals at Whole Foods & Bliss Raw Café
WOW!!! I am loving all your eats so far — can’t wait to see more!! Enjoy every bite:)
Thanks Jenn! There’s many more great eats yet to come this week!
Fabulous Trip! I love that you weren’t too shy to go back and eat twice! I LOVE doing that… stick to what works, and considering that they make a breakfast bowl with a base of Coconut Meat, I would TOTALLY go back also. I will have to look this place up the next time im in SF
BTW: How were those RED walnuts?? Never seen those b4. Nature is awesome!
Hehe, never too shy when it comes to good food! The Plant has multiple locations; definitely check it out next time you’re in SF.
I’d never seen or even heard of red/”Livermore” walnuts before either. They’re amazing – they’re magically not the least bit bitter!
Don’t you LOVE The Plant?! Pricey but good! I love that place. As well as the Ferry Building’s Farmers Market- it’s just so big! And they have raw food booths.
Yayayayayayaya! So excited….
So good we’re probably going there AGAIN for b-fast tomorrow – haha!
Just a few more days!!!
You’re in my dream city! <3
Those walnuts are GORGEOUS! <— What a Vegan thing to say!
Hehe! Leave it to us vegans to fawn over walnuts
hey, I am in SF too, over from the UK. So much to experience. There has been so much to try and do I’ve not found any time to blog about them all yet.
Maybe we will bump into each other…that would be fun. Have a great time. x
That would be so cool if we ran into each other! If you see me anywhere, please say hello!!
I definately will say hi, or perform some sort of rudementary sign language if I spot you the other side of a restaurant window! I’ve posted a few reviews for vegan joints in SF but have been to many others I haven’t got around to writing up yet, so let me know if you want a recommendation..www.aveganobsession.com Hope to bump into you!
Haha, sounds good! Hope to run into you!
Everything looks AMAZING! Keep posting pictures for us
You bet I will!
Man, I am totally visiting The Plant next time I’m in SF! Everything looks super-amazing!
There’s SO much good veg food here, but The Plant is a real standout!
Thank you so much for this and all of your other bay area food posts! I live here and am always looking out for new veg places to try.
My pleasure! I’ve got even more coming up over the next week or so!
Of course you’re in San Fran when I’m in Kansas! Sounds like you’re having an awesome trip, though. So much delicious food!!
Absolutely! Have a good time in KS/MO; the weather is great there right now.
Hey, Amber, my son, Ryan, and I just got home late last night from San Antonio, TX. We stopped for a vegan dinner in Tuscon on our way home yesterday. Any chance of you heading to Southern Ca, before going home?
It really is an amazing market, so when you are in So. Cal. perhaps you might want to come visit on a Saturday.
By the way, our local Temecula farmers’ market has local unpasteurized organic almonds and the red walnuts also! Anytime you really want some, I can send them to you
If only we could extend the trip and stop in SoCal! Unfortunately we’re heading home to KC on Saturday afternoon. Someday I’d LOVE to visit the Temecula farmers market! Thanks for the tip on the organic almonds you have there, too. What I REALLY want to bring home form Cali is about 30 Fuerte avocados…but there’s certainly no room in my luggage for that!
It all looks SOOO GOOOD!! Wow, wish I was in S.F…
I am heading to OKC soon; wont be able to go to S.F unfortunately, but will have a few days in L.A. Hope there will be some delicious raw/ vegan places in that part of California too:-)
Enjoy your trip – and please keep posting those mouth watering pictures!
Are you going to MK-OKC?! Ooh, so exciting! You will LOVE it!
There are TONS of raw- and vegan-friendly places in L.A. I have 8 or 9 posts about eating there – check out my travels page for links!
YES!! I am! Oh Amber, I cant wait:-) I am doing Level 1 in april, been reading your posts from your stay there, love them! I will definitely check out your travel pages for great places in L.A too:-)
Let me know if you should stop by OKC while I am there.
Awesome! I will definitely let you know if I’m in the area!
I love the idea of that breakfast porridge with coconut. I’ll have to try that one at home too. What an interesting kombucha flavor, I’m thinking of starting to brew my own but I won’t be making anything that fancy!
I brewed my own kombucha awhile back, but certainly nothing like that! I need to get back into ‘booch-making, actually.
Awesome food adventures Amber! I live in SF and I frequent the Plant and the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market too
In fact I was probably there when you were there haha.
Haha, really? Well, if you see me out anywhere this week, say hello!
nearly had to ban myself from reading this because i was so jealous of the awesome food.
Haha, aww! But yes, seriously good eats we’ve got going on here.
Love your travel posts. I hope to get out to the west coast one day. Everything looks so yummy. I want some of those walnuts.
The west coast is an amazing place to visit. Then again, I’ve never been to the EAST coast! (Other than Florida)
The Plant breakfast bowl looks SO GOOD! I’ve only ever been to their locations at Pier 3 and SFO, so it’s cool to see the inside of the downtown location. Also, I was going to recommend the Ferry Building Farmers Market if you’d never been…if you think the Tuesday market is impressive, check out the Saturday one – it’s massive!
Aahh, I wish we were staying here through Saturday so I could check it out!
It should be noted that neither of us had any idea what we would find at the Ferry Market. I just suggested we go for a walk and I was curious about what that building was since I’d seen it before. So by some stroke of luck we went there on a day when they had the outdoor farmer’s market going. Turns out Matt has some good ideas sometimes.
But I must give credit to Amber for introducing me to another awesome eatery, The Plant. The pic of my breakfast is making me very hungry right about now…
Yup, I think we both would’ve been more than happy to eat at The Plant every single day.