California Official Visitor's Guide 2009 - (Page 40) The Cavallo Point lodge in Sausalito. BOTTOM Art recycled from the S.F. Dump. TOP produced olive oil to exquisite chocolates. On Tuesdays and Saturdays you’ll also find Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, where the produce for sale includes in-season California specialties like oranges, avocados, and artichokes. In fact, my first stop after checking into the Orchard Garden is the Ferry Building’s Hog Island Oyster Bar. I order a half-dozen Sweetwater oysters, harvested in Marin County’s Tomales Bay, and a Scrimshaw Pilsner, brewed up the coast in Fort Bragg. During this same trip, I spend an hour or two talking with Alice Waters of Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café in Berkeley, commonly considered the inventor of California cuisine and lately a proponent of the slow food movement. I mention to her that while the green movement has sometimes been identified with things you can’t have—rules and prohibitions—this “buy local” revolution in eating that is happening all around us seems very much to be about enjoyment. “It is,” she affirms. “It’s all about bringing people to biodiversity and sustainability through pleasure. By eating heirloom tomatoes, you can be doing exactly the right thing, and having the flavor and experience.” The Bay Area’s list of eco-friendly restaurants is a mile long and includes places that buy local, organic produce simply because it tastes good. There’s Zuni Cafe, 40 a perennial favorite, and Range, a more recent arrival in the Mission District, where I dine with friends at the bar. And then there are places that have a defined purpose such as Farmer Brown, a soul food restaurant on the cusp of the Tenderloin District, dedicated to supporting local and African American organic farmers. Greens Restaurant, a bastion of vegetarian cuisine for 30 years, also offers one of the best San Francisco Bay views, and Millennium downtown offers vegetarian fare in a dramatic, highceilinged space. An intriguing option for Union Square shoppers is the Medicine New-Shojin EatStation, a stylish Japanese macrobiotic cafeteria specializing in bento box lunches. Drinking, by the way, can also be green. The Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant has daily tastings and every wine on the menu is rated for, among other things, the sustainability of the vintner’s growing practices. Yield Wine Bar, a small establishment on the backside of Potrero Hill in a rapidly evolving neighborhood called Dogpatch, was established specifically to promote organic wines. Beaches, dump diving, and the new Academy of Sciences Naturally, the most obvious activity for a green tourist is to simply go outside, perhaps for a stroll on any of the Bay Area’s beautiful beaches [ Bay Area beaches]. But there are also more urban forms of sightseeing, such as one that combines a stunning natural setting with a worldclass museum. The newest and splashiest green attraction—in fact, attraction, period—in San Francisco is the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano, this reinvention of a 155year-old institution debuted in the fall of 2008. It’s billed as “the largest public LEED-certified building in the world.” Even if visitors don’t notice the natural ventilation and the recycled blue jean insulation (this is the city of Levi Strauss, after all), they’ll be swept away by exhibitions including a multilevel rain forest, the world’s deepest living coral reef tank, and some very imposing snakes. The undulating green roof, an artificial terrain dotted with seven hills, planted with native perennials and annual wildflowers, is the biggest draw for human visitors and butterflies alike. And for the truly gung-ho green tourist there’s always the San Francisco Dump. Indeed, SF Recycling & Disposal, Inc., located at the south end of the city, is well worth a visit. The grounds are home to a meandering sculpture garden full of rusted springs and discarded soda bottles magically formed into aesthetic objects; tours are available by advance reservation on the third Saturday of every month. The dump also has a popular artist-in-residence program where talented sculptors and painters spend several months drawing inspiration (and materials) from their unique surroundings. And if you schedule your trip wisely, you might be able to attend one of the program’s quarterly art exhibitions, where the wine served may be from vineyards that grow their grapes in compost supplied by the dump. What could be KARRIE JACOBS greener than that? Enter keyword in Search box at visitcalifornia.com SARA REMINGTON http://www.visitcalifornia.com
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