We eat at restaurants for work more nights than not, but when we have that rare night off,
here’s where you’ll find us:

Luella
1896 Hyde St. (at Green), 415-674-4343, luellasf.com
Ben de Vries’ charming, yet chic, Russian Hill restaurant is a favorite of both food writers and chefs like Northside SF’s 2006 Chef of the Year, Gary Danko. His clean, simple flavors make this one of our off the clock go-to spots.

Vivande Porta Via
2125 Fillmore St. (at California), 415-346-4430, www.vivande.com
Northside’s 2006 Pioneer Chef of the Year, Carlo Middione, has been doing rustic southern Italian cuisine for over 25 years at his quaint Fillmore Street café. This is where the two southern Italian girls here at Northside SF go when they want a home-cooked meal the way nonno used to make it.

Yaya Cuisine
2424 Van Ness Ave. (at Green), 415-440-0455
Chef/owner, Yahya Salih, calls his cuisine Mesopotamian-California, but we just call it delicious. Yaya has some great vegetarian options when we’ve been going a bit too heavy on the red meat – try the yabragh, a large dolma of tomato, eggplant, zucchini, and Swiss chard stuffed with cracked wheat, red bell pepper, parsley, and coriander.

Florio Café & Bar
1915 Fillmore St. (at Pine), 415-775-4300, www.floriosf.com
We’re suckers for a little French bistro – while not all the dishes at Florio hold our attention, we go back again and again for the crisp skin and moist meat of the poulet roti and the classic steak frites.

Get Across Town: farmerbrown
25 Mason St. (Market St.), 415-409-3276, www.farmerbrownsf.com
Southern comfort food, with a bit of San Francisco sensibility thrown in for good measure, is the draw here – the crunchy, juicy Fulton Valley fried chicken is some of the best in The City.

Get Outta Town: Sushi Sam’s
218 3rd Ave. (at B St.), San Mateo, 650-344-0888, www.sushisams.com
This bare bones spot in quaint downtown San Mateo is a favorite with such revered chefs as Thomas Keller and Ron Seigel. Pristine fish like Arctic char, tuna belly, and superb specials such as baby hamachi and “special unagi” (flown in fresh from a retired eel farmer in Japan) make Sushi Sam’s well worth the drive.