Home Cover Stories A locals guide to Fishermans Wharf

A locals guide to Fishermans Wharf

Written by Bill Knutson and Susan Dyer Reynolds

Monday, 31 October 2005

The Wharf is much more than Disneyland by the Bay – we’ll show you the attractions, the food and the shops every Northsider should experience “The Wharf? Why would anyone want to go to the Wharf?” This is a question I often get from my riends when I suggest any activity in that area. It's amazing to me how this neighborhood – truly the hub from which our city sprouted – could be so completely derided by the locals. The obvious answer is the infestation of discount sweatshirt stands beckoning tourists from every nook and cranny of Jefferson Street, the only chance the Bermudashort, tank-top clad have to save themselves from hypothermia on a cold summer’s day. On a recent visit, even I nearly succumbed to the allure of a $14.95 fleece jacket with the Golden Gate Bridge emblazoned across the breast to warm my chilled bones as the late afternoon fog rolled into the Bay. Although the area does cater to tourists, the Wharf has much to offer the locals as well. Our city’s history starts with a flood of fortune seekers landing there looking for gold, and many attractions focus on this history. You can find organizations dedicated to the conservation of the Bay and its wildlife. The Wharf area is also home to a number of our best restaurants and a bounty of fresh seafood. If you avoid the 3-for-$10 T-shirt stores, you can explore a plethora of fun, unique shops where you will discover things you didn’t know you needed, or find gifts for that person who has everything. And while you’re exploring, take time to savor the second-to-none postcard views of the Bay that most locals take for granted.##M:[more]## GoldRush.com The dot-com era was not the first time in our history The City was flooded with fortune seekers with little or no skills and big dreams of streets paved with gold. And as with the dotcom boom, many people got rich, but not necessarily the miners. Like eBay and Amazon, the successes were the individuals or businesses that provided the services or goods others needed. Several of these Gold Rush start-ups are still an integral part of The City’s economy, including Levi Strauss, Ghirardelli, Boudin Bakery, Del Monte and Wells Fargo. Many potential miners left their homes with little but the clothes on their back and the tools they thought they would need. The harrowing journey by sea left many men broken in spirit, and most would have to trade all of their possessions for food to survive. Upon arriving in San Francisco, they found incredible inflation. The picks and shovels they traded away on the ship for a few pennies were now being sold back to them for several dollars. Many sought jobs in their original trades such as fishing and baking to make the money to buy their equipment back, and found it more lucrative to trade their goods for the gold than to dig for it. Living History Boudin Museum and Bakery Tour, 160 Jefferson Street on Pier 43½, (415) 928-1849. The Boudin Bakery is San Francisco’s longest continuously operating business, and the new museum takes you from 1849 to the present and tells the parallel histories of San Francisco and the Boudin Bakery. This is currently the only museum dedicated to general San Francisco’s history (one is slated to open in the Old Mint, though a date has not been determined). One of the tour’s highlights is an exhibit featuring edibles and potables originating in The City, such as the martini, the Popsicle, the mai tai and the fortune cookie. You’ll be treated to the aroma of the only original San Francisco sourdough as it is baked in front of you, and watch every step of the process, from removing a piece of the mother dough to the bread being carried away to the shop and café along the bread rail. The famous Boudin mother dough, nurtured and used in every loaf of their sourdough since 1849, almost didn’t survive: Louise Boudin grabbed a bucketful of the starter before the bakery burned to the ground in the 1906 earthquake. These days, Boudin keeps their sourdough gold in a vault under lock and key. Once you finish the tour you can head upstairs to Bistro Boudin, which aims to deliver a higher-end Wharf experience to tourists and locals alike with good, solid food and a modern, sleek interior. You can also grab a cup of Peet’s coffee or some locally produced gourmet items in the Baker’s hall. San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park This national park consists of many elements including Aquatic Park, the visitor center, the Maritime Museum, a library/research center and the historic ships on the Hyde Street Pier. All of these will give you a sense of our colorful seagoing past, but the highlights are definitely the ships. The Balclutha is the queen of the historic fleet. She had her maiden voyage from Cardiff, Wales in 1887 and first arrived in San Francisco six months later. She has been registered under three names in her lifetime: Balclutha, Star of Alaska and Pacific Queen. In 1954, the Maritime Historical Society bought her and returned the name Balclutha. In 1985, she was named a national landmark. The Eureka is a steamship built in Tiburon and was used on the Bay as a ferry. It may look familiar to many people as Don Johnson’s office in the first two seasons of Nash Bridges. www.nps.gov/safr/ U.S.S. Pampanito (S.S.-383), Pier 45 The Pampanito is a World War II Balao class fleet submarine that is currently being restored to its original state. The highly entertaining and informative selfguided audio tour gives you a feel for the life of a sailor on board a submarine while on patrol. During the Pampanito’s six patrols, she sank six Japanese supply ships and inflicted damage on four others. But the high point of its service was when the crew rescued 74 Australian and British prisoners of war from a Japanese ship they had sunk. www.maritime.org Sea Lions, Pier 39 In 1990, the sea lions started showing up on the docks at Pier 39. They were not welcome when they first arrived, because they tend to be smelly and loud. Also, the fact that they were damaging yachts did not endear them to boat owners. But, tourist and locals alike started to come to the pier to see these playful creatures cavort in the water and bark at each other. Soon the yachts were moved and the sea lions were given a permanent residence. The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito watches over them and often has a docent on hand to offer sea lion lessons. One hundred percent of proceeds from the shop on the second floor of Pier 39 benefits the center. www.marinemammalcenter.org Aquarium of the Bay, Pier 39 This is one of the true treasures of Fisherman’s Wharf. While its focus is on education and conservation of the Bay and its inhabitants, it still provides hours of entertainment. As you start your self-guided tour of the exhibit, you will encounter a large cylindrical tank of anchovies swimming in a constant spiral of silver and light. As you pause to read the info cards, you learn that this is a survival instinct. When the anchovies swim in tight packs, they appear as one large fish instead of a buffet for their many predators. As you continue through the aquarium, you ride an elevator down below the surface of the Bay where you can walk through two Plexiglas tunnels filled with native sea life from leopard sharks to rock cod to bat rays. As you leave the tunnel, you can watch a video on the effects of overfishing and receive the Seafood Watch card. The Watch Card, produced by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, lists safe-to-buy seafood as well as seafood to avoid because of overfishing or farming practices that aren’t environmentally sound. The visit ends at the touch pools, where you will have an opportunity to pet some of the sea life you just saw in the tunnel. The chance to pet a velvety leopard shark or watch a bat ray dance before you like Flipper is bound to make you feel like a kid again. The aquarium is also available for special events and children’s sleepovers. This facility was accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association in 2002. www.aquariumofthebay.com Eagle Café, Pier 39 This waterfront landmark used to reside across the street, where the parking garage now sits, but in 1978 The City raised it from its foundations and set it down on the second floor of Pier 39, which was then under construction. This is an ideal place to start your day on the Wharf. Grab a hearty breakfast of homemade corned beef hash and a Bloody Mary, settle into a seat by the window for a fantastic view of the Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge, and plan your day. The John Deere Store This is one of those stores that if it didn’t exist, I wouldn’t miss it. But now that I know it exists, I have become obsessed with the little yellow deer on the green background. Don’t you think those John Deere mud guards would look great on that new Mini of yours? And your kid would look great on that little pedal tractor. I know where I’m getting all my Christmas gifts this year. Cannery: 2801 Leavenworth Street (at Beach). International Spy Shop This is the perfect store for aspiring James Bonds and paranoid freaks. It has an extensive collection of audio and video surveillance equipment and nonlethal weaponry for sale. It isn’t the caliber of Q’s equipment yet, but close. 555 Bush Street. Lark in the Morning This home of unique world musical instruments is a treasure trove for musicians looking for a new (or old) sound. Their selection runs from children’s instruments to rare, one-of-a-kind and antique guitars. If you were going to start an Elizabethan string quartet with Thelonius Monk influences, this would be your shop. Cannery: 2801 Leavenworth Street (at Beach). -Bill Knutson “I NEVER eat at the Wharf…” I was chatting with a foodie friend of a friend not long ago when she asked what I was working on for Northside’s November issue. “A profile of David Kinch, an interview with Sara Moulton…” I told her as she nodded approvingly, “and a piece about the food of Fisherman’s Wharf.” You could almost hear the brakes inside her head screech to a halt. “I NEVER eat at the Wharf,” she said with snobbish disdain, and then proceeded to tell me about the brilliant meal she’d had just weeks before at Gary Danko, recently voted the number one restaurant in San Francisco in the Zagat survey for the fourth year in a row. As she finished describing the dreamy lobster risotto, I interjected, “Gary Danko is located at Fisherman’s Wharf.” She shook her head in denial. “No Susan, I don’t consider Gary Danko to be at the Wharf…” When she realized that she couldn’t stand behind her original statement, she qualified it: “I meant I never eat at THOSE restaurants at the Wharf.” Truthfully, I knew exactly what she meant. While two of my favorite restaurants in The City, Ana Mandara and Gary Danko, are geographically located at Fisherman’s Wharf, neither typifies what most locals consider “Wharf food.” My friend’s friend was thinking of the giant over-the-top “family-owned for generations” seafood palaces with carpeting from 1952 and the street level shacks beckoning tourists with Styrofoam bowls of pastethick clam chowder. Indeed there are Barnum and Bailey food hawkers at the Wharf, just as there are cookie-cutter Italian restaurants on Spaghetti Row in North Beach. But as with North Beach, there are a few gems that make visiting the Wharf something every local should do. Mu Shu with a View Sure, Gary Danko and Ana Mandara are on nearly every savvy food lover’s list of places to eat, but don’t dismiss the Old World charm of Fishermen’s Grotto #9, the Wharf’s first sit-down restaurant and a place that hasn’t changed since I was a kid – and I like it that way. I have a special place in my heart for Fishermen’s Grotto because I have many memories of dining there with my mother, who has since passed away. Every time I peak in at the brightly painted Venetian mooring poles on the first floor, I remember fighting with my father for the last piece of hard-boiled egg on the crab Louis or stealing a bite of my mother’s petrale sole dor&eacute. My dad would order the calamari steak and I would say I didn’t want any; then I’d eat half of it. The Geraldi family has owned the Grotto since 1935, and my father loved talking with Nino who took over the business from his father, Mike. Nino passed away several years ago after a battle with cancer, but even during that battle he was at the restaurant every day because he said it made him happy. Now Nino’s son Mike is running the place, and his daughter works at the hostess stand, a fourth generation firmly in place. My dad, his girlfriend Kickie and I still meet at the Grotto for lunch every time they come up from San Jose for a visit. Kickie loves the rich tomato bisque-based Manhattan clam chowder, my father and I still fight over the hard-boiled egg, and I still eat half of his calamari steak, even though I say I don’t want any. You should also venture off the beaten path to Scoma’s (see review below), where Old World charm and New World cookery collide and you’ll find some of the freshest seafood in the entire city. If you’re looking for sleek and modern, McCormick & Kuleto’s also offers a long list of fresh seafood, and it’s one of my favorite spots to grab a selection of the day’s fresh oysters, a glass of wine and a seat overlooking the Bay, especially on a foggy or rainy afternoon. Even the Food Network has visited The Crab House on Pier 39, featuring executive chef Andrea Froncillo’s whole-roasted “Killer Crab” on their Best Of series. I love the “Killer Crab,” but I actually crave (and sometimes dream about) the crab angel hair lasagna, which rates as one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. If seafood’s not your thing, check out the Mandarin, which has been serving fresh, tasty Chinese cuisine for over 35 years at Ghirardelli Square. Prices aren’t cheap, but you can have your mu shu with a view, which is worth a few extra bucks in my book. For romance, you simply can’t beat Forbes Island – literally an island, off Pier 39. Thor Kiddoo built the 50-foot wide by 100-foot long houseboat and added 120 tons of rock, 100 tons of sandy beach, a working lighthouse and 40 tons of topsoil, which is necessary for his palm trees. The cozy dining room is underwater, so you’ll see fish and the occasional sea lion swim by the stage-lit portholes, and the food is well worth the five minute trip via water taxi. If you’ve been thinking of visiting Forbes Island, I recommend you do it soon --- at press time, the floating restaurant was listed for sale on eBay with a note reading, “Although she has a strong/long lease with Pier 39, you can move the Island any where in the world - remember she floats!!!” Eat and Run There are a few gastronomic experiences on the Wharf I think every local should find time for, even if sitting down for a relaxed meal is not in the budget. The first is to buy a fresh Dungeness crab from the crab stands. The pots boil all day long and the masters of the cauldrons will clean and crack your crab to order. The price is just a couple of dollars more than buying at the supermarkets and about half the price of ordering at a restaurant. You’ll have to fight for elbow room with the throng of tourists, but it’s worth it – you won’t find fresher crab anywhere. Scoma’s executive chef Steve Scarabosio says that the local ban on crab fishing three years ago proves that conservation works – fishermen are predicting the best season in history with a bounty of monster crustaceans tipping the scale at up to three pounds. To satisfy a sweet tooth, head to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Manufactory and Soda Fountain at Ghirardelli Square and order their classic World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae – rich vanilla ice cream covered in molten hot fudge sauce, fresh whipped cream, slivered almonds with a cherry on top. If you wander to the back of the shop you can watch the original chocolate making equipment in operation where, if not for a glass partition, the chocolate stream would have you doing an Augustus Gloop. Crepes a la Carte serves wonderful made-to-order crepes from a little cart inside the Cannery. An array of fillings from sweet to savory and reasonable prices make this a great place to eat on the go, especially before hitting the Cannery’s farmers’ market on a lazy Saturday. I get a crepe with lemon and powdered sugar and a cup of coffee and wander over to Ghirardelli Square to visit the Andrea Mermaid Fountain, cast in bronze by artist Ruth Asawa in 1968. As a child, I used to make my father bring me to see Andrea’s Fountain every time we visited The City, and I am just as mesmerized by it today. Two beautiful mermaids, a merbaby, two sea turtles and 35 frogs frolic in the spray, and as I gaze at them, coffee and crepe in hand, I always see something new. Perhaps it’s my lifelong fascination with mermaids talking, but I think Andrea’s Fountain is one of San Francisco’s must-see sites. Newly Notable: Oakville Grocery Four thousand square feet of foodie heaven recently opened at the Cannery – the beloved Oakville Grocery’s fourth location. On a recent visit, I bought a sampling of their wonderful cheeses: tangy extra-aged Mimolette with its bright pumpkin hue, wonderfully stinky Roaring Forties Blue, decadent double-cream Montbriac grey-blue brie and some Tintern, made with Welsh cow’s milk, chives and shallots. Deli meats from Prosciutto di San Daniele to my favorite, hot coppa, are available for purchase, as well as artisan chocolates, p&acirct&eacutes, pastries and breads, fresh Napa Valley bulk olive oil and gourmet gift items. (Who doesn’t want a wine auction paddle cheese board?) If you’re feeling sentimental, pull up a stool, taste some wine and listen to the latest Coldplay album, or if that’s not your speed, grab a Pabst Blue Ribbon Tall Boy and some quince paste and head back over to the mermaid fountain. Just like the rest of the Wharf, Oakville has something for everyone.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 January 2008 )