As you’ve probably guessed, we’re home from our trip to San Francisco and Sonoma. We had a great time, saw some great sights and, of course, enjoyed some great meals.

But this post is about one meal in particular — the best meal we had in San Francisco. No, it wasn’t the dinner we had at Zuni Cafe, though that was romantic, delicious and amazingly fresh. And it certainly wasn’t our visit to Rubicon — a great meal in terms of the food, but god awful in terms of the service and overall experience.

No, our best mean in San Francisco was technically in Oakland, and was cooked by the Obsessed One.

What makes a great meal for the LENNDEVOURS dynamic duo? It’s simple and it is probably true of most people:

Great food. Anyone who knows Derrick knows that the food is going to be good if he’s cooking it. I don’t mind putting that pressure on him one bit…he always seems to be up to the challenge.

Great wine. If you had to pick any one wine blogger to supply wine for dinner, who would it be? (Don’t lie to yourself, it’s not me). Alder of Vinography was in attendance with his lovely wife Ruth. He introduced us to some tremendous California wines (to go with Derrick’s California-sourced menu). Wow. From the amazingly balanced chardonnay to the can’t-get-it-anywhere rose to the six (that’s right, six) pinots to the knock-me-over (in a good way) zin, these wines were beyond terrific. In fact, they were the best wines we tasted on the entire trip (Sonoma jaunt included). Thanks for sharing them Alder.

Great friends. The blogging community is a funny thing. Even though this was only the second chunk of time I’d spent with Derrick, Melissa, Fatemeh and C — and the first time I’d met Alder and Ruth — it’s hard not to count them each as a friend. Shared passion for the finer culinary and vinological things in life bring people together.

What a great evening. Check out the complete menu and wine pairings. Don’t be too jealous, okay?