San Francisco’s Landmark Ferry Building

Hosts AMC Tasting Dinner On Monday, October 6

“A famous city’s most famous landmark”
--Herb Caen, The San Francisco Chronicle

sponsored by

Featuring two winners of Food & Wine's 11th Annual American Wine Awards, Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Brander Santa Ynez Valley and Pinot Noir 2006 A to Z Wineworks Oregon, and Sunset magazine’s Tangerine Olive Oil Temptation Cake.

Tasting Dinner for AMC Attendees: October 6, 2008, Monday

All AMC attendees are invited to a special tasting dinner at San Francisco’s historic Ferry Building, located just a mile from the Westin St. Francis Hotel. The buses from the Ferry Building begin departing the Westin St. Francis at 5 p.m. on the Post Street exit of the hotel.

About the Ferry Building

The Ferry Building and its 240-foot tall clock tower is the iconic landmark of the San Francisco waterfront. The heart of the building is a dramatic indoor street, known as the Nave, which runs the entire 660-foot length of the building is three-stories tall and sky-lit. The ground floor of the Ferry Building is a 65,000 square foot public food market showcasing the best of the Bay Area’s renowned food communities and agricultural wealth under one roof. The second and third floors house the 175,000 square feet of office space and the ceremonial hearing room of the San Francisco Port Commission. The second floor atrium is the location of the Tasting Dinner, Monday night on October 6, 2008.

Ferry Building History & Renovation

The historic building was designed by A. Page Brown and completed in 1898. The Ferry Building became the transportation focal point for anyone arriving by train from the East and Marin residents who worked in the city. The building's Colusa sandstone façade with its 245-foot tall clock tower, modeled after the clock tower of the Giralda Cathedral in Seville, Spain, has been a landmark at the foot of Market Street in San Francisco, for more than one hundred years. The Ferry Building became the transportation focal point for anyone arriving by train from the East and Marin residents who worked in the city.  From the gold Rush until the construction of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges in the late 1930's, arrival by ferryboat was the only way travelers could reach the city.

Today the ferry terminals operate at Larkspur, Sausalito, Vallejo, and Alameda with plans for continuing network expansion. In 2003, renovation of the San Francisco Ferry Building was completed after an extensive four-year effort. The building’s exterior and main public hall have been restored to the original grandeur as one of San Francisco’s most cherished landmarks.

Shopping & Dining

Located within the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street, numerous shops large and small, celebrate food in all its forms, offering everything from artisan cheeses, organic produce, sweets, and the freshest of local seafood and meats. Restaurants and cafes serve cuisine representing the quality and cultural diversity of San Francisco’s best chefs.

Antiques

Culinaire- This beautiful shop specializes in the culture of food and wine, and antiques from nineteenth century France, England and America.

Books & Ferry Tickets

Book Passage (Books & Literary Events)- A charming bookstore with selections emphasizing local travel, boating on the Bay, food, cooking, sustainable agriculture and ecology, and photo and gift books about the Bay Area

Bay Crossings (Ferry Tickets, Maps & Guides)- The ferry ticket shop and ferry and tour information center. It sells post cards and greeting cards featuring the Ferry Building, helpful maps and guides, and special edition books.

Bread & Cheese

Acme Bread Company- The Marketplace is the only place in the Bay Area—other than Acme's original Berkeley location—that carries the full selection of Acme's nationally acclaimed artisan breads.

Cowgirl Creamery's Artisan Cheese Shop- Full-service artisan cheese shop featuring premium farmstead cheeses from the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain and Greece.

Cafes and Small Eateries

Boulette's Larder- This shop is a friendly, edible gallery of hard-to-find spices and herbs, bouquet garnis, freshly milled grains, and preserved fruits and vegetables from top Bay Area organic farmers.

DELICA rf1- A Japanese delicatessen with a world cuisine menu. The store’s sleek, stainless steel and wood design, like the food served, is contemporary and beautiful.

Lulu Petite- A combination retail store with items to take home—featuring the award-winning Restaurant LuLu Gourmet Products line, and gourmet deli—offering sandwiches, salads and beverages made-to-order with the LuLu products.

MIJITA- A cocina Mexicana with a Bay Area flavor. Whenever possible, organic ingredients are used and the space is a model of "green design," using environmentally friendly building materials.

Mistral Rotisserie Provencale- A classic French rotisserie offering meat and poultry roasted with Mediterranean flavors. Specialties include naturally raised chicken, lamb, pork and beef from small producers, many of them local.

Out the Door- A small shop in the central nave that allows shoppers to sample some of Charles Phan's renowned Vietnamese cuisine in a casual setting at the counter, or take away to one of the prime viewing seats outside along the Bay.

Coffee & Tea

Imperial Tea Court- An elegant traditional Chinese tea shop and in both selection and ambiance, it emulates the original, world-famous Imperial Tea Court on Powell Street in Chinatown established in 1993.

Peet's Coffee & Tea- This coffee shop offers fresh, deep roasted whole-bean coffees and premium hand-selected teas that have earned the company an international reputation for quality.

Cookware & Tableware

Sur La Table- Offers a comprehensive selection of products that includes tools from around the world to prepare any cuisine and create a striking presentation to enhance their lives through creative cooking and entertaining

Mill Valley Candleworks- A small kiosk shop that carries a complete line of handcrafted candles, along with candleholders, and other beautiful handmade glass objects and gifts.

The Gardener- A store that celebrates beautiful and useful things for the home and garden. The merchandise changes with the seasons and immediately wins the hearts of those who share a gardener's aesthetic and spirit.

Farm Produce, Flowers & Garden

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market- a California certified farmers market operated by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA). The market is open two days a week—Tuesdays and Saturdays. 

Farm Fresh to You- provides local customers with Capay Organic farm's quality seasonal organic produce – harvested fresh from the farm in the Capay Valley and shipped directly to the Ferry Building.

Far West Fungi- A one-stop destination for mushrooms, with a selection of culinary mushrooms (both fresh and dried), medicinal mushroom supplements, and even mushroom logs to grow your own at home.

Kingdom of Herbs- In one convenient location, shoppers can buy organic planting mixes, hand tools, seeds, and an array of botanical products to inspire and support healthy living.

Oak Hill Farm of Sonoma- The Marketplace’s colorful, charming flower shop offering sophisticated displays of freshly-cut, sustainably-grown bouquets, and an array of handmade, farm-grown herb wreaths and decorations, living plants, and design accessories.

Meat, Poultry & Fish

Ferry Plaza Seafood- Offers shoppers both top quality fish from world suppliers to take home, and a delightful place to have lunch with a magnificent view of the San Francisco Bay.

Golden Gate Meat Company- This butcher shop and charcuterie carries only natural and organic meats -- beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry, wild game, offal, and smoked meats – featuring Natural Angus Beef and Organic Beef.

Hog Island Oyster Company- This oyster bar offers an assortment of raw oysters on the half-shell, a traditional oyster stew, steamed clams and clam chowder – along with beer, wine, and champagne.

Prather Ranch Meat Co.- Offers a wide selection of organic, sustainable, humane and pasture-raised meats. If you want the peace of mind that comes with knowing where the meat you eat is from and how it was produced, stop by the Prather Ranch Meat Company store.

San Francisco Fish Company- offers customers both a dazzling selection of hand-picked fish and seafood products, and a distinctive assortment of ready-to-eat or cook-at-home prepared items.

Boccalone Salumeria- The Salumeria features more than 20 varieties of Boccalone’s handmade cured meats using sustainably raised, heritage-breed pork and the highest quality spices and salts.

Pastry, Ice-Cream, and Chocolate

Miette- A dainty little pastry shop offering cakes, cookies and pastries lined up in sparking glass display cases that evoke a slice of Parisian life on the San Francisco Bay.

Ciao Bella Gelato- A classic Italian gelateria complete with Italian stainless steel displays, tempting visitors with 36 flavors of gelato and sorbet every day.

Frog Hollow Farm- Offers a variety of fresh-from-the-farm organic seasonal fruits, including the farm’s nationally famous peaches, assorted savory and fruit-filled pastries, such as galettes, baked fresh on-site.

Recchiuti Confections- The Parisian-inspired shop, softly lit with hand-blown Murano lamps and appointed with a jewelry case chocolate display, is nationally renowned for its full line of fine artisan chocolates.

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker- The shop carries the full line of Scharffen Berger chocolates, cocoa powder, nibs and sauces. In addition, there are special cups for hot chocolate, vintage posters, and necessities for the chocolate aficionado.

Restaurants

Slanted Door- Charles Phan’s nationally-acclaimed Vietnamese restaurant that has been lauded as the pinnacle of Asian cuisine. He has long been known for using top-quality ingredients—organic whenever possible—including sustainable fish, poultry and meat.

Taylor's Refresher- Here, fast food is fine food made with fresh, high quality ingredients featuring feature burgers, local fish and chips, fish tacos, ahi burgers, garlic fries, soups and salads, and hand-scooped milkshakes.

MarketBar- A restaurant and bar that offers a seasonal Mediterranean menu inspired by the fresh ingredients sold at the Marketplace. The restaurant is seven days a week and also serves breakfast on Saturdays & Sundays

Specialty Grocery & Prepared Foods

Village Market- a grocery store that offers a complete selection of culinary goods that compliment and complete one’s shopping experience at the Marketplace.

Tsar Nicoulai Caviar- a unique experience that caters to caviar lovers and novices alike, featuring an assortment of caviar themed dishes and a signature caviar tasting menu that is sure to delight.

Stonehouse California Olive Oil- Customers can buy its signature, certified extra virgin olive oils in both bottles and in bulk and are encouraged to bring back the empty bottle for a re-fill, saving $2.

Mastrelli's Delicatessen- An Italian take-out and specialty foods grocery store with floor-to-ceiling shelves stocked with imported Italian canned and packaged goods.

I Preferiti di Boriana- translated as Boriana’s favorites—offers a taste of Tuscany in the heart of San Francisco. Boriana’s shop is a Bay Area hearth for the food, wine and culture of Montepulciano.

McEvoy Ranch Olive Oil- The shop is often able to offer exclusive specials on their certified organic, extra virgin olive oil and other cult favorites including their Meyer Lemon Marmalade, Lisbon Lemon Curd, Cured Olives, Mille Fleur Honey and handmade olive oil soaps.

Wine & Spirits

Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant- A classic, hands-on, service-oriented shop for buying, tasting, and learning about wine. The nearly 3,000 square foot shop carries smaller production wines from around the world, as well as everyday, high-quality labels.

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