Angela Benedict | Chief Concierge
My love affair with San Francisco started the day I was born.
San Francisco knows how to spark the magic of childhood. Like Golden Gate Park’s vintage carousel, my memories are a swirling jumble of sensory treats: music in the park, vibrant murals, secret stairwells and icy ocean waves. We marked the seasons by the street festivals; spring cherry blossoms in Japantown, Halloween in the Castro… joyful gatherings celebrating every culture and every walk of life.
A shadowy backdrop to young adulthood, the City had me chasing the echoes of the rockstars and icons that came in the generation before me. We shopped the same Haight Street stores that sold Janis Joplin her feather boas and bell bottoms. We clutched our rolled posters after dancing to bands at the Fillmore or the Great American Musical Hall, on the very stages that featured Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane.
And the food! Long before the rest of America graduated from meat and potatoes, I grew up eating world-class, authentic food from traditions in every corner of the globe. Burritos in the Mission, Dim Sum on Clement Street. Thai, Burmese, Italian.
As a young woman, an early job as a perfume spritz-girl in Union Square lead to new opportunities, and I found myself mingling with trend-setters and fashionistas, whizzing from restaurant openings to hotspots in San Francisco. I entered the hospitality industry and was part of Napa’s launch into the world-class destination it is today.
Call it luck or call it fate, but my immersion in the San Francisco culture during this time prepared me so well for my eventual career as a hotel concierge. For 20 years, I have been tickled to reveal my City to visitors from all over the world. I know where to send families looking for kid-friendly adventures. I know just the right vineyards for wine enthusiasts, and the ones that can make a tasting accessible and fun for beer drinkers. I know where to send them for spectacular views of the City sparkling in the sun, or to feel the chill of the famous San Francisco fog rolling in from the Sunset.
I have had my own travels all over the world, and I can honestly say that San Francisco remains my favorite place to be. The only thing better is sharing it with you.