Dottie’s True Blue Cafe, San Francisco
A few weeks ago I went to the annual ACOG (American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) meeting in San Francisco. It was an incredible experience…I learned a lot, made some wonderful friends, and was away from the hospital for a few days. The conference was great, but my schedule was so full that there was absolutely no time to explore the city. Fortunately I was able to take a few days off afterwards to spend some time in Napa Valley and San Francisco. Finn, always up for a vacation, met me in San Francisco. We spent the next 4 days indulging in some of the most amazing food and wine I have ever had.
We started in San Francisco with a late brunch. Finn did his research and discovered Dottie’s, a little diner famous for brunch. Although it was a short walk from the Hilton where I had stayed for the conference, I was glad I wasn’t alone, as the neighborhood was a little shady. We had read online reviews of people waiting in line for 2 hours to just get into this tiny diner. There was even a sign on the window outside telling customers “if you are pressed for time please join us when you are not rushed” and “please don’t tell people to vacate when they are finished eating” among other things. We found this quite amusing. Fortunately we were there on a Wednesday afternoon and we had no wait.
Although I rarely describe diners as cozy, this one definitely was. There were different antique salt and pepper shakers on every table that reminded me of my Grandma Butler’s house. There were snow globes on the counter and souvenir postcards on the fridge. The artwork was a bit eclectic, including a few photos of topless women. Our waiter was actually a little gruff in my opinion, a sharp contrast to us in our relaxed vacation modes. The food made up for this. Choosing from the long list of specials was incredibly difficult. I had the lamb-fennel sausage, roasted garlic, tomato, spinach and goat cheese omelet with homemade sourdough-dill toast. Good choice. I especially liked the sausage. Finn had the smoked whiskey-fennel sausage, mushroom, and baby spinach scramble with grilled cornbread. Also very good. We shared a pancake too – totally unnecessary but worth it – whole wheat buttermilk with ginger and cinnamon. The subtle spices were incredible in this very fluffy pancake…I think I will try this at home.
Go here.
