What I like about Fridays and the W San Francisco

My favorite time of the week is a three-hour span on Friday evenings from 7 to 10.

I’ve always looked forward to that time.  The work-week is done (when you are gainfully employed that is).  And although you are typically a bit tired, you get to relax and spend quality time with your friends, or beau, or spouse, or whomever you choose.

Dave shares a love of this Friday evening time too, and we like to make the most out of it.

When we lived in Orlando, we usually walked to a few regular nearby happy hour spots in downtown, grabbed a quick bite, and then met up with friends after spending time just the two of us.  Typically, Dave would stay out with the group for a while, and I would head home early, always in bed before midnight.  (Early to bed, early to rise … you know the saying.)  These days in San Francisco, we fill our Friday evenings with a nice, long dinner, and we always stick together.

When you live in a foodie town with amazing restaurants, you have no choice but to begin spending far too much of your disposable income on food.  And, every meal is a new adventure.

Last night, after meeting some new friends for a drink (yes, oh yes, we’re making new friends!), Dave and I went to W San Francisco for dinner.

The W San Francisco is super close to our apartment, and we’ve been there several times to take advantage of the swanky happy hour in the Living Room Bar.

Last night was our first time dining in the the hotel’s restaurant, TRACE.

Nothing about the W San Francisco is very “San Francisco,” and there’s nothing wrong with that.  The bars and the restaurant are dark, with cool light fixtures and sleek and modern lines.  There are white leather sofas and chairs and shiny tabletops.  To me, it’s a South Beach, Miami club-like atmosphere complete with electronic music.  You could pick up the W San Francisco and place it in any big city and enjoy the scene.

I’m fine with that.  Especially in a city like this, where understated and industrial-urban-minimalist, or whatever, is the norm.  It’s a nice change to enjoy the chic.  And at the W, the service, food and drinks are high quality.

With 78 Bay Area restaurants under our belt, we can effectively judge the food and the menu.  TRACE has delicious food.  The menu is only one page, but it’s got plenty of options.  We had yellowtail crudo, chicken meatballs and a beet salad to start, halibut for the main course, and a chocolate creme bar and piece of carrot cake for dessert.  The portions at TRACE are modest, but the food was so flavorful it didn’t matter.  As Dave said at the end, “I’m not uncomfortably full, which is a nice change.” — Well said, my friend.  There are plenty of restaurants we won’t return, but this isn’t one of them.

Something I see more and more of these days is a “bread runner.”  That’s someone whose sole job it is to deliver individual pieces of bread to patrons from a basket with tongs.  I like this.  I get so excited when the bread runner looks to be coming my way.  And yes, TRACE has a bread runner, who offers you three types of bread options, including one particularly tasty brown walnut bread.  The gentleman in that role was doing double-duty with water refill too, so I kept him busy.

Also, there was a Summer Solstice Reyka Vodka party going on at the Upstairs Bar, and I got some free colored sunglasses.

All in all, Friday from 7 to 10 is well-spent at Trace.