Day Trip to San Francisco… And Beyond

www.BlackhawkLivingCA.com

@BlackhawkLivingCA

By Melanie Warner and Jo Peek, Resident since 2014

Sure, you might have been to San Francisco - but I guarantee you have never seen it from this perspective.

Underground tunnels on North Beach Tour

We attended a progressive food tour of the emerging Tendernob district with Avital Tours (avitaltours.com), a unique and immersive tour company that features walking tours highlighting the history, culture, food and cocktails in San Francisco.

Avital guides Philip Hall & Camille Holmes

We chose the North Beach Tour where our guide, Philip, led us to old-school Italian favorites like Cioppino at Sotta Mare with the owner’s family recipe, along with Tommaso’s - the first restaurant to introduce pizza to the West Coast in 1935 with their 850-degree pizza oven. People Magazine named them #3 pizza place in the U.S.

Tommaso’s famous pizza oven

We also visited China Live, where we enjoyed Peking duck with kumquat glaze. The $20-million rebuild took four years to complete and it was just voted best restaurant in San Francisco. Check out the speakeasy upstairs with a blade-runner-meets-Frank- Lloyd- Wright theme. We finished off with tiramisu at Pasta Pop-Up - a farm to table restaurant utilizing traditional Italian culinary techniques.

Speakeasy at China Live

The eclectic and progressive food tour offers so many incredible adventures in the Bay (plus LA and New York spots) it would take a week to do them all. It makes for a creative date night or passionate excursion unlike anything you have experienced.

We highly recommend Avital Tours to learn about the history and enjoy The City from a new perspective.

Melanie Warner is a travel journalist and publisher who scours the globe for unique travel experiences. You can follow her online at www.MyDefiningMoments.com or follow her Facebook page: Melanie Warner - Wander Woman.