Lunch at The Butler and The Chef + The Japanese Tea Gardens
Well hello there! How’s it going? Is everybody feeling bright and shiny on this fabulous Monday?
We had a great weekend that involved a little fun in San Francisco.
We perused the farmers market for a short while before making our way over to Pier 3 to stop at The Plant Café for a few fresh fruit smoothies.
I had to resist the temptation to get one of their vegan cupcakes. They looked so good!
Thankfully I was strong and managed to make it through that trying time in my life.
I ended up getting a Green Banana which has almond milk, almond butter, banana and kale.
Brandon opted for the Açaí Berry Protein which has açaí, mango, strawberries, banana, double hemp protein, apple and orange juice.
Both were awesome!
With our smoothies in hand, we made our way back in the direction of the ferry building towards a restaurant that was about a 2 and 1/2 mile walk from where we were.
On our walk we passed by AT&T Park, home of the 2012 World Series Champs!
After about a 25 minute walk, we made it the restaurant we were looking for, The Butler and The Chef.
I am kind of obsessed with French food and found this place online prior to us going to to San Francisco. Although it appears quaint, it was actually super small and somewhat cramped for room.
I ordered a Buckwheat crêpe with egg, mushrooms, and cheese.
And Brandon got a vegetarian baguette sandwich with peppers, tomato, basil and mozzarella along with a side of cauliflower soup.
Everything was good, but I wasn’t blown away by it. From what I read, they are well known for the Croque Monsieur which I can’t try because of the ham. But I would be willing to go back and try their waffles or quiche to see if they could win me over.
The complimentary homemade chocolate truffles at the end your meal are a nice touch though. Brandon is a chocolate fiend and ate his before I could take a picture.
After our meal, we walked another 2 miles back to where we had parked and then drove to Golden Gate Park so that we could check out the Cherry Blossoms at the Japanese Tea Gardens.
We found parking along the street for free (score!) and immediately saw a really cool tree on our way to the Tea Gardens.
There were a few Cherry Blossoms outside of the Gardens that were in bloom but were already starting to lose their flowers. As we got closer to the entrance, we saw another one that looked much fuller and inside everything was really lush and pretty!
Eventually, we made our way to the tea house and sat down with a cup of hot green Sencha for me and iced green tea for Brandon.
Soon after that, we decided to leave as the rain clouds were rolling in along with a chill in the air.
We said goodbye to the Cherry Blossoms and headed back to the car for our drive home.
Overall, we had a great day in San Fran and were grateful for the beautiful weather!
Did anybody do anything fun this weekend?
Have you ever seen Cherry Blossoms before?
Nice pictures :) Sounds like you had fun in SF. I would love to see these gardens when I get a chance to visit SF area.
The tea gardens were so peaceful and pretty, I hope you get a chance to see them one day! :)
Gorgeous pictures! It’s been a while since I’ve been to San Francisco, but I really do love that city. I never visited the tea gardens before, so I’ll have to keep them in mind for my next visit because it looks so beautiful and peaceful there.
I love cherry blosson trees! They are so pretty. It looks like you two had a nice weekend together. That garden is beautiful!
soo jealous! I love San Francisco, but I live approximately one billion miles away.
Those vegan cupcakes look fantastic!! I would SO love to get my hands on one (or two!) or those :).
If we had lunch there I would have been all over those things but I had to save room for crepes! They made me want to whip up a homemade vegan cupcake though. :)
Your day in San Francisco looks like it was amazing! I am glad I am not the only one who wear comfortable clothes (aka: NOT jeans!) when touring a city :) I would love to see the tea gardens, they look lovely!
I haven’t always been good as dressing comfortably but I am getting more wise with my old age! :)
What a fun day! I walked by the Plant when we went to the Alcatraz ferry and wanted to check it out, but we were on a schedule. next time!
I have always wanted to go to the Tea Gardens. I saw a short documentary on California’ Gold about it and it was very lovely.
Go Giants!! haha. sorry, had to do that. :)
The Plant Café is on the pricey side but it is a nice occasional treat! It seems like going to the gardens a few weeks ago would have been the best time to see the cherry blossoms. Hopefully you make it over there one day!
You were very good to resist those cupcakes :)
I love cherry blossoms. We went to Japan a couple of years ago and was lucky enough to see them.
Wow, that is amazing you got to see them in Japan. I would love to make it there one day to see them!
It looks like you had such a great time! I love the outdoors and nature so these pictures were really entertaining to look at :) That buckwheat crepe looks tasty, totally something I know I would enjoy!
Thanks Sarah! If you love the outdoors you would LOVE Northern California. There is so much to do and see out here!
I love San Fran! Looks like yall had an awesome time. I had no idea they had those gorgeous Tea Gardens there! I’ll have to check them out next time we visit.
The Cherry Blossoms are so pretty there but you have to go in late Feb to early April to see them in bloom.