Recently in San Francisco Category

Planning a meeting while you're on the road? Don't forget to order coffee and donuts — or maybe some bagels — to keep the attendees alert and on-task. Here's a list of some of the better options to supply each around the country.

In New York, the clear leader is Doughnut Plant. Made from scratch (even the jelly fillings) fresh daily in decadent flavors such as dulce de leche and crème brulée, a second location will be opening this spring a couple blocks from the Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea. If bagels are more your thing, Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company has you covered.

San Francisco's Dynamo Donuts has flavors that'll really help groggy colleagues wake up: varieties include a chocolate donut dredged in chipotle sugar and a lemon-filled dusted with Sichuan spices. Ask the concierge at the St. Regis San Francisco to send someone to pick up from this Mission storefront. Closer to the hotel, Blue Bottle's French press coffee service will help make sure the jolt from the spicy donuts sticks.

Keep their eyes from glazing over in Chicago with an order of Glazed Donuts, available by catering or subscription(!) only. The flavors change weekly, and range from classic apple cider to bing cherry balsamic and maple-bacon-chocolate (pictured). Pair them with coffee from the Intelligentsia near Millennium Park, and you'll be the hippest meeting runner the Westin Michigan Avenue has ever seen.

Hundreds, if not thousands of restaurants compete for a foodie's attention in San Francisco, but one of the most exciting current trends in local dining is with recurring "pop-up restaurants." These are sometimes held in secret locations that may include a chef's own home; exact directions are always revealed upon making reservations in advance in these cases.

Hosted and engineered by the enigmatic, rock-n-roll whiz known as the "Dissident Chef," Sub-Culture Dining (secret location) usually takes place around once a month, showcasing different fun themes (from ingredients to countries) and a boundary-defying approach to composing dishes. Held twice-monthly Brassica Supperclub
(secret location) offers vibrant four-course meals that are vegan (free from any sort of animal product), seasonal, organic, healthy, and stunningly creative for a style of cooking that does have its limitations.

If you prefer to eat somewhere a bit more spontaneous, Mission Street Food (most Thursday and Saturday nights at Lung Shan (2234 Mission), might be a your best bet. Each week boasts a different menu from creator Anthony Myint, a former sous chef at local hotspot Bar Tartine, and a guest collaborator culled from the city's young and playful chef pool. In only a year of operation, Myint has developed a devoted following as well as some signature offerings: If it's on the menu, a must-try is his PB&J, a flatbread piled with pork belly and jicama. Best of all, the chefs at Mission Street Food donate their proceeds each night to a local charity of their choice, focusing especially on those organizations that feed the community. Stay at the W San Francisco and you'll have easy access to these and many more food adventures in San Francisco. Have you ever had an "underground" dining experience that you might want to share with us?

Vegans not only do not eat animals, they eat nothing that's been made with any type of animal product. What might sound like a challenging restriction to those who don't follow veganism can actually be a tasty adventure when in San Francisco, where incredible vegan options abound. Have a jones for Japanese food, including sushi? Cha-Ya (762 Valencia, 1386 9th Ave.) casts no fishing poles to create its flavorful nigiri, maki (rolls), and homestyle dishes, all vegan. S.F.'s premier raw vegan restaurant Alive! has mastered bites that are artful as well as substantial, and has a beautiful Zen garden for al fresco dining. Also look for the Alive! cart serving up fresh specials every Tuesday at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market (One Ferry Bldg.).

Sweets have traditionally been the forgotten land of veganism, but San Francisco is anything but traditional when it comes to cooking the most important meal of the day. Vegan dessert is an event all in itself at MaggieMudd (903 Cortland), where ice cream is rendered dairy-free with the use of soy and coconut milk without sacrificing taste or imagination -- popular flavor Tar-Mack, for instance, is made of chocolate, peanut butter, and Oreos. Enjoy a hearty shake or a hefty sundae, where every component from the sauces to the waffle pieces can be made vegan -- you'll still feel light as a feather without the dairy. For those craving the non-vegan experience, regular ice cream flavors are also available. Stay at W San Francisco for a convenient home base while you navigate these and other culinary finds while in town. Have you visited other cities that cook up amazing vegan cuisine? Please share with us in the comments.