I would love to have hung out with some of you guys in San Francisco at the 2010 BPS at the Moscone center. But alas, my postdoc contract has ended (send job tips for a computational structural biologist/scientific programmer my way!) and I am now kicking back with family and old friends in Australia. The downtown of San Francisco is tricky to navigate if you want the good stuff (I am skipping the obvious stuff like 3D-Imax Avatar at the Metreon), so here’s a list of my favorites within striking distance of the Moscone center:

• Blue Bottle Cafe for some of the best coffee in the city, and my favorite interior. It’s also a very nice place to hang-out

• the Matador, the best hipster bar downtown

• right next door is Tu Lan, a formidably cheap greasy-spoon Vietnamese that’s been around probably since the 49’ers.

• Katana-ya, best ramen in the city. The soup is glorious, but alas, not good for vegetarians. This place gets packed so go outside normal eating hours.

• Osha for fast and delicious late night Thai food

• there are thousands of indian restaurants in the Tenderloin, but Little Delhi is the best. And very comfortable. I love their okra.

• another cafe, Epicenter, which is probably a little less busy, and better for some wifi laptop last-minute working.