San Francisco Magazine’s Best of the Bay

So I am going for the trifecta here having attended not one, not two but three fabulous foodie events recently.
I’ve been attending this affair for years because in terms of food, drink and atmosphere there is no other quite like it with it’s seemingly endless array of fabulous food, free flowing wine, live art and beautiful people. Proceeds from the event continue to benefit Family House.
Possibly in light of the sour economy event attendees from the 2010 party received a heavily discounted invitation to the 2011 party. I wasn’t about to pass up a deal like that. In my finest threads I showed up well before my friends did anticipating the 6:00 PM start to the VIP portion of the party.
American Cupcake was one of the first tables I saw with this fascinating display of mini cupcakes (
), but I had to fight my urges to start with dessert first and walked away in search of savory food instead.
I didn’t have to look far as Chaya Brasserie was set up several feet away with sushi (
) and tuna tartare.
At that point the food frenzy was on.
I sampled Duck Liver Crostini from Radius (
), Deviled Eggs from McCormick & Kuleto’s (
), Bruschetta from Pizza Antica (
) and some amazing Antipasti with Heirloom Tomato from Credo (
).
Stopping only to grab a cold beer from sponsor Trumer Mils my tasty sampling continued.
Espetus Churrascaria welcomed me with open arms. The Brazilian steakhouse drew a crowd with herb fritters and a mouth watering array of meaty bites including their Pork Sausages and Chicken Legs (
).
The Ceviche Shooter from Limon Restaurant (
) had nice zing to it, but one of the tastiest dishes I tried I failed to take a photo of. The Hiyashi Chuka or Cold Chinese Noodles from Chotto was out-​of-​this-​world delicious!
I tried goat for the first time! Let’s just say the Goat Confit from Fifth Floor (
) was interesting. I appreciated the Ceviche Tacos from The Plate Shop (
) a little bit more.
This year’s VIP Lounge featured two more of my favorite dishes for the night with a Poached Asparagus and Dungeness Crab from the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay (
) and Pulled Mushrooms from Berkeley’s Gather (
). In addition Waterbar featured a slurping station with freshly shucked oysters.
Fancy foods aside the fabulous Meatballs from Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack (
) was very much appreciated as in «Can I start with a half dozen please?» I just kept going back to their table! The Village Pub made me an instant fan by removing the bones from their fabulous Ribs in Peach Glaze (
).
Montadito of Roasted Corn from Contigo (
) was a nice vegetarian cheese bite, and I liked the Sonoma Duck from Anzu (
).
All that good eating had to come to an end at some point though, but I did leave a little room for dessert as I returned to American Cupcake for some tasty bites and inhaled one of the tastiest ever Milk Chocolate Macarons from Murray Circle (
). Finally, a single mini cupcake from Kara’s (
) sent me home a happy man.
Running shoes, get ready! I need you more than ever now!

This is one of my favorite events of the year, and needless to say, they successfully got me to gain another 5 pounds in one night. With over 50 restaurants there offering samples, it may possibly be more like 10 pounds.
VIP is the way to go here, as there are so many amazing restaurants inside the VIP area and never any wait for cocktails, which this year, was provided by Blue Ice Vodka. Navio of Ritz-​Carlton HMB was my absolute favorite of the night. Mini Kara’s Cupcakes made me a happily stuffed piggy at the end of the night.
The silent auction was awesome, but once I started bids for Giants tickets and Yoshi’s tickets, I was immediately outbid. Love their seamless silent auction system too.
Always great running into fellow tastemakers who love to indulge in the best food and drink of the Bay Area!
Only downfall? Nicole was jipped at the end of the night because she didn’t have her stub for the ginormous goody bag. I offered to share my motherload with her:
Yes, this is like trick-​or-​treating for adults.

Absolutely go if you had nothing previously planned for Thursday night and a friend calls the day before and wonders if you’d like to go with the free VIP tickets he got from work.
Go early, feast on gelato and champagne and other assorted delicacies.
However, if you’re pondering actually BUYING tickets to this shindig, think hard before you do.