First Bite

So while I get that Boston is pretty much the chowder capitol of the East Coast, coming to Boston was not the first time I ever tasted chowder. No, I'm not talking about the stuff Campbell's or whoever sells in cans - I'm talking real, honest-to-goodness, coastal city chowder.

And I'm pretty sure, on the West Coast, the best place to get it is San Francisco.

Fun fact: I am in love with San Francisco. If I wasn't afraid of the earthquake potential and being across the country and in a different time zone than my friends and family, I'd move there in a heartbeat. Actually, when I was 12 (young, naive, and unafraid of leaving the East Coast), my family visited SF for the first time. I picked out my house on Lombard Street. (FYI: It's the fourth one up on the right side - that blue one with the fuchsia flowers. Yeah, this was at the point where I was still thinking of being a lawyer or something and probably had a shot at actually making enough money to live there. Now that the journalist dream took over, that's pretty much not going to happen.) I was set.

The point of this all being that, during that vacation, and another one back to SF when I was a sophomore in high school (and, at that point, thinking I should go to Berkeley - still young enough and naive enough to think I could move across the country), I pretty much lived on a steady diet of clam chowder. My family went to McCormick & Kuleto's in Ghiaradelli Square (probably the prettiest restaurant with the most amazing view in the most amazing place in the city - seriously), and my mom convinced me I should try a taste of the chowder she ordered.

OK, so, I had to get my own. And then I made my parents go back again on that vacation so I could have more. On that second vacation, I actually ate chowder for breakfast (a big step for the girl who has to always eat breakfast food before anything else, and a poor decision in retrospect - I'm surprised my stomach didn't rebel, honestly). My dad and I went to a farmers' market in the Ferry Building, got some cheese, some sourdough bread, and some chowder, and we sat out on the pier on the and watched the boats and the sun and ate breakfast.

Oh, the sourdough bread. As much as I love Boston chowder and have realized that I'll be moving to Boston permanently before I'd ever be moving to SF permanently (sadly), I really miss those bread bowls. SF sourdough bread might be one of my favorite foods. And, no offense to Boston, but that is the one thing that will always make San Fran chowder better than Boston chowder.

And, after writing this, I now really, really want to go back to San Francisco. If anyone's going, I'm strongly recommending the sourdough/cheese/chowder breakfast on the pier. Not only is the food good, but the view is one-in-a-million. Maybe there'll be a for sale sign on that Lombard Street house (hey, a girl can dream!).



By the way, if you Bostonians want to try that chowder I had, there's a McCormick & Schmick's (same owners/family of restaurants as McCormick & Kuleto's) in Faneuil Hall. It doesn't have the view the SF one does, but it's got the same great food. I know Legal Sea Foods is the big thing here, but if you're looking for a change, but still want a place that's Legal-like, I'd seriously recommend this place. Excellent.