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.

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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.

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I had to resist the temptation to get one of their vegan cupcakes. They looked so good!

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Thankfully I was strong and managed to make it through that trying time in my life. Winking smile

I ended up getting a Green Banana which has almond milk, almond butter, banana and kale.

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Brandon opted for the Açaí Berry Protein which has açaí, mango, strawberries, banana, double hemp protein, apple and orange juice.

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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.

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On our walk we passed by AT&T Park, home of the 2012 World Series Champs!

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After about a 25 minute walk, we made it the restaurant we were looking for, The Butler and The Chef.

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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.

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I ordered a Buckwheat crêpe with egg, mushrooms, and cheese.

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And Brandon got a vegetarian baguette sandwich with peppers, tomato, basil and mozzarella along with a side of cauliflower soup.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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?