We arrive in San Francisco late at night and exhausted after a ten-hour flight from London. The next day we are up early – we have an exciting new city to explore, new people to meet and new foods to taste. We play safe the first day and have breakfast in our hotel. It’s a buffet and we choose freshly squeezed orange juice, bircher muesli and country sausage with eggs. The sausages are thin, spicy and delicious. No lunch for us! We set off on a nine-mile walk from the centre of town, across the Golden Gate Bridge and return by ferry.

Next day, it’s 7.30am and we are up early to beat the queues at Sears on Powell Street. This place is so beautifully old fashioned and elegant. The staff are the friendliest we have come across and the breakfast is really something else. Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and with a little persuasion from the waiter I order the special – 18 Swedish pancakes with warm maple syrup, butter and berries. My husband has eggs, bacon, maple syrup and hash browns. It’s delicious. We decide not to eat for another 12 hours!

It’s our last day in San Francisco. We are going to have brunch before heading for the airport. First we do some shopping. I find a great sports shop with fabulous gym-wear. The mirror does not lie – those beautiful San Francisco breakfasts have added a kilo. I resolve to exercise like mad when I get back to England, so that means I can have a final large breakfast. We go to an old fashioned American diner, complete with jukeboxes and a Chevrolet. I attempt to be healthy and order eggs Florentine which is poached eggs on muffins with spinach. It comes with a thick hollandaise sauce and fortunately for my waistline the whole thing looks nicer than it tastes. A little disappointed I watch my other half finish his bacon and we hop onto a cable car for a last look at the city.

http://www.searsfinefood.com