Experience the hippie and the hip in San Francisco
Stay at Hotel Zeppelin
A picture of Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead greets me outside my guestroom at Hotel Zeppelin (viceroyhotelsandresorts.com). The rock theme continues inside: ’60s concert posters adorn the walls and the bathroom is wallpapered with the names of Bay Area bands, from The Flamin’ Groovies to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Hotel Zeppelin successfully blends the look of a stylish boutique hotel with the vibe of a rock-show after-party. The lobby has a cool cocktail bar with an open fire, overseen by a giant photo of Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick, while downstairs is a hangout room with a pool table, arcade games and an oversized peace sign made from licence plates.
Get hip to The Beat Museum
Before the hippies arrived, the beatniks ruled San Francisco. Immerse yourself in their world at The Beat Museum (kerouac. com), in North Beach, where books, photos, films and ephemera tell the stories of writers Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and others. In the attached store, the huge range of Beat literature will expand your mind beyond On the Road and Howl and Other Poems.
Eat brunch at Zazie
No tipping? Yes, really. Frenchstyle café Zazie (zaziesf.com), which has a lovely garden patio out the back, pays its staff a good wage, benefits, health insurance and even a revenue share. Its weekend brunch is so popular that even if you’re a star like Adele – who was here a few weeks before my visit – you’ll be placed on a waiting list if you don’t arrive early. Once you taste the gingerbread pancakes and inventive eggs Benedict dishes, you’ll understand why.
Soak up Scandi chic at Outerlands
From Outerlands restaurant (outerlandssf.com), you can smell the salt in the air and see the waves crashing on nearby Ocean Beach. The restaurant’s raw-wood design is a mix of Hamptons beach house and Scandinavian Mid-century. The open kitchen doles out mouth-watering pastries and hearty signature dishes such as Eggs-in-Jail, a toasted thick chunk of their pain au levain with two fried eggs in the hollowedout centre, topped with bacon.
Go organic at Nopa
Named for its position north of the Panhandle, Nopa (nopasf. com) specialises in wood-fired cuisine made from organic ingredients sourced from local farmers and producers. The wood-grilled hamburger and rotisserie herbed chicken are so good that chefs from other restaurants often stop by after their shifts to chow down. In this bustling, cavernous space that used to be a bank, the old vault is now Nopa’s wine cellar.