UX week is a 4-day conference held by a leading user experience consultancy, Adaptive Path in San Francisco. As Amazon encourages us to go to a design conference every year, this was my top choice. Naturally, how could I refuse a work trip to the lively food-centric city of San Francisco? Luckily, my good friend and co-worker Claire accompanied me.

The City

I’ve been to San Francisco twice but this time, I got to spend more time and explore more areas in perfect summer weather.

Baker Beach was beautiful in summer weather —last time, it was cloudy and foggy. The view of the golden gate bridge during sunset was gorgeous.

We rented bikes to explore Golden Gate Park. Even though, Golden Gate Park had closed off some roads on the weekend, it wasn’t as bike-friendly or serene as Central Park in NYC. However, we did reach Ocean Beach and it had a very hip Californian vibe.

The conservatory of flowers had a great but small succulents exhibit that Claire and I loved. The arrangements and displays were beautiful.

Our hotel and the conference was near the Ferry Building. It was a culinary treat and good place to grab food with a bit of shopping before catching a ferry.

We took the ferry to Sausalito, a small town north of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a small but cute and lively seaside town. The ferry ride was windy and rocky but offered great views of the bridge, city and Alcatraz.

The Food

I wasn’t overly impressed with the food during my last trip to San Francisco. My expectations was that it would be as good as New York City. So this time, it was a second chance for SF to prove itself.

Smitten Ice Cream

Wow, I’ve had liquid nitrogen ice cream before but this one blew me away! It was so smooth and creamy… like soft served ice cream and whipped mousse. I got the most odd flavor on the menu —Corn flavor with berry syrup. It did not disappoint.

Burma Superstar

This was one of the top recommended restaurants in San Francisco so I was determine to make it there. I’ve never had Burma food before so didn’t know what to expect. The famous tea leaf salad, featured on food network was unlike any salad I’ve had before. The crunchiness from the pine nuts and sesame seeds was delicious. The other dishes were very enjoyable and light too. It lived up to the hype.

Philz Coffee

Last time, I had their hot drinks since it was cold out but this time I discovered their two special iced lattes; Mint Mojito and Ginger Snap. The Mint Mojito was a unique combination that just worked really well. It was creamy, sweet and minty. The ginger snap tasted like a spiced cookie. Both of them still tasted like a coffee though.

Cotogna

This was Claire’s pick and it was one of my favorites. The truffle pizza was delicious. The dough and cheese… paired with the slices of truffles and a runny egg. It didn’t have a strong truffle taste… in fact the truffles tasted like air almost but the pizza was just fantastic. The other winner was the taglierini with dungeness crab & squash blossoms. It was a thin noodle with a tangy creamy sauce that I just loved.

Good spots that I’d go back

• Liholiho Yacht Club: The mains were good and I really liked the homemade spam fried rice but the winners were the desserts. The Baked Hawaii was filled with pineapple ice cream with a meringue . The pistachio pavlova melted in your mouth with a refreshing basil lime creme and fresh berries.
  

  

  

  

• Crustacean: Delicious garlicky roasted crab paired with garlicky noodles.
  

  

  

• Delica: I only had their matcha and hojicha (roasted green tea) soft-served ice cream but it was creamy and delicious.
• Blue Bottle Coffee: Just a fantastic latte. The liege waffle was nice too.
• Blue Hawaii Acai Cafe: A small shop in Embarcadero Center served a great acai bowl with fresh fruit and honey. It was better than what I had in Brazil.
• B Patisserie: I had the chocolate kouign-amann, a pastry that I fell in love with in Montreal. It isn’t the same at all but it was still flaky and good. I’d go back to try another.
• Sushirrito: It’s a quick cheap option if you’re feeling like sushi. It is heavy due to the size and the deep-fried ones can be a little greasy but I still liked it.
• Hot Sauce & Panko: The Chris’ wings (Pepper and Honey) and waffle was delicious. It’s a tiny shop with two standup table

Good but wouldn’t go back

• Kokkari Estiatorio: Good greek place with a fantastic fried cheese but their specialty is lamb and goat stew and I don’t eat that.
  

  

  

  

• The Slanted Door: This place had some great dishes and some mediocre but for modern vietnamese food, it was overpriced and I’m sure their sister restaurants (OTD) has less expensive but just as good options. Their Hong Kong Milk tea ($7) was delicious though.
  

  

  

  

• Hakkasan: Their pricy dim sum was decent but I’ve had better in Asia and Toronto.
• Humphrey and Slocombe: The “dollywood” melon ice cream was fine but a little gritty and not as great as the other ice cream options I’ve had.

The Conference

The 4 day conference was a good mix of inspiring talks and hands-on workshops. The talks were not always UX-focused but still interesting to hear about. For example, we learned about how your taste-buds works vs. empathy in design. The workshops were more practical and I definitely learned things I can take back and use (who knew keynote can be used as a prototyping tool).

The provided buffet lunches were great and every break came with delicious snacks. You were never hungry! The opening night party was at the SoMa Food Park with a midway carnival theme. It was an odd party but enjoyable nonetheless.

My impressions of San Francisco improved since my last trip in January. This visit had much better weather, accommodations and possibly better food although this might be skewed by the duration of my stay. But… I still think I like New York City more.