6 of the best sights and local secrets in San Francisco
The hotel After a ten-and-a-half hour flight from London, the 1920s glamour of the Beacon Grand (rooms from £169, beacongrand.com) makes for a plush and, crucially, well-located refuge for the weary traveller – it's just two miles from the San Francisco Opera and Fisherman's Wharf. Time your arrival right and you'll want to head straight to the 21st floor for a refreshing sundowner at the rooftop Starlite bar, which has one of the most enviable 360-degree views in town.
The heights Shake off your jet lag with a pre-dawn taxi trip up to leafy Twin Peaks (below) to watch sunrise over the city, serenaded by birdsong (that is to say, unless Karl the Fog has rolled in). Then take a 20-minute stroll or bus down, past San Francisco's 'I'd definitely live there' houses – with their flamboyant colours, bay windows and the occasional turret – to the Castro district for revivifying pancakes beneath fairy lights at Orphan Andy's diner.
The sights Despite its sticky-sweet confectionery stores and tourist tat, Fisherman's Wharf is a must-visit for its barking sea lions. Catch a ferry to Alcatraz Island, the infamous (and, for now, still former) prison, and out past the Golden Gate Bridge (below) from Pier 41. If you haven't packed your sea legs, a clattering old cable-car trolley ($8 a ride, bring cash) is a great way to see the city, or ride the Wiggle, a bike route that winds around (instead of over) many of SF's famous hills (Bay Wheels bike day pass, $15).
The bites From Four Kings' cheeky spin on chicken and waffles in Chinatown to the 'cozy Nob Hill jewel box' (Michelin's words, not mine) that is Sons & Daughters, British chef Harrison Cheney's homage to the forest-to-table kitchen, you could take a year to eat your way around SF and barely touch the sides. My favourite is the homely waterfront Italian, Scoma's of Sausalito (above), a 45-minute ferry ride across the bay, with superb views of the city and seafood dishes to die for.
The park The city has tripled down on friendly open spaces post-pandemic, a welcome counter-narrative to the tough times that some people will tell you the city has fallen on. The new Tunnel Top Park (above) has spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge, The Great Highway (an ageing stretch of road) is now closed to cars on weekends, making it a beachfront promenade devoted to pedestrians and cyclists, and Aquatic Park is where swimmers brave the frigid San Francisco Bay.
The after-dark SF loves a revival. Take in live jazz at the Dawn Club (above), the 2.0 update of the club of the same name from the 1930s and 40s (it's down the road from Twitter HQ, and after a few cocktails my friend wrote a job application to CEO Elon Musk here on the back of a napkin; she didn't get it). Sink a mai tai made with Chinese wine at legendary Chinatown cocktail bar Li Po Lounge or sip champagne with spiced nuts in French wine bar Verjus, then whizz back to HQ in a Waymo, Google 's ubiquitous driverless taxi.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE As Meghan's new rosé hits the shelves next week, we reveal the secrets of the Californian winery where it was made... which also produces bespoke tipples for celebrities including Barry Manilow and hit Western series 'Yellowstone'
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Meghan - a wine lover who named her original blog 'The Tig' after her favourite Italian Tignanello wine - spent months tasting dozens of different blends created in Fairwinds' 25,000 sq. ft. cellar, before settling on the final mix. The bespoke wine is understood to contain a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot grapes. A source said: 'Every time she had friends over she would test the different blends out on them and then give notes back to the expert winemaker that it needed more of this, or less of that. This is a custom-made wine.' Meghan was instrumental in every aspect of the creation of her rosé right down to designing the label with her trademark calligraphy handwriting. Meghan specifically picked Fairwinds - 75 miles north of San Francisco and a six-hour drive from her home in Montecito - to show her support after the winery was almost totally destroyed in a devastating 2020 wildfire which caused $15 million worth of damage The gold-rimmed label on the front of the bottle says: 'As Ever Rosé Napa Valley 2023' while the back describes the wine as having 'soft notes of stone fruit, gentle mineralogy and a lasting finish.' She signs off: 'As ever, Meghan.' The 2023 vintage is considered one of the best harvests in living memory thanks to plentiful spring rain and a temperate summer that produced a bumper grape crop. Fairwinds Estate has risen 'phoenix-like from the ashes,' cellar master Troy Harbison told the MoS when we visited on Friday afternoon. Mr Harbison said: 'The winery and tasting room were destroyed in the 2020 fire and haven't been rebuilt, The fire came down Hope Valley, over the hill and ripped through this property. Only the cellars survived. 'We aren't growing any grapes on this site but we have acreage across Napa Valley. We also buy in grapes from other vineyards, all in Napa Valley. 'For a while we weren't sure if the winery would survive. 'Then the owners had the idea of working with celebrities and sports teams to make their own line of wines and it really took off. 'We now produce wines for television shows and American football teams, basketball franchises, hockey and baseball teams. It was all because of the fire.' It is not known what price Meghan will charge for her new rosé but Fairwinds sells its rosé for $36 a bottle. Once Meghan made her final selection her wine was put into barrels and shipped 20 miles across winding country roads to the Kunde Family Winery in the neighbouring valley of Sonoma County. The wine was decanted into vast steel vats 18 feet high and holding up to 40,000 gallons before being piped across the roof of the Kunde's tasting room into its bottling plant. 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Fairwinds' website recalls the dark days of the fire saying: 'In an act of true patriotism the firefighters of Engine 559 of the Fremont Fire Department saved the American Flag as the Glass Fire overtook Fairwinds. 'The next day, these brave men presented the flag back to Brandon and Anthony to proudly raise about the new structures to rise from the ashes in the coming years.' Meghan and Harry have been strong supporters of firemen.
The Independent
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- The Independent
Bill Maher roasts Trump fans who say ‘God saved' him from sniper bullet — but did not spare Corey Comperatore
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Meghan Markle flaunts her trim pins in new sun-soaked snap following launch of latest As Ever products
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