Nice last day in San Francisco today. Most of my sessions today were focused on the issues I have with the new school in Los Angeles. The quality of sessions today restored my confidence in WWDC–up until today, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to come back next year. Now, I’ll have to re-think that decision.

We walked over to a new restaurant I’ve wanted to eat at for two years, Zuni Cafe at 1658 Market Street. They were crowded, but we lucked out yet again and got a nice table near the bar and right next to the window.

Zuni reminded me of both Barbette and Vincent in Minneapolis, with a little bit of St. Paul’s Heartland thrown in. They locally source most of their ingredients and the quality was really high. I ordered a fancy hamburger with gruy?®re cheese and super skinny fries, while Jake had a huge pork chop. Luckily, our orders came just before smoke started billowing out of the manhole cover down the street and they lost power and hot water to the kitchen. Pricey, but very, very good.

My last session is just finishing up and WWDC07 will be done. Our red-eye flight on Sun Country doesn’t leave until 12:40am Pacific time, so we are planning to eat dinner near Moscone, catch 28 Weeks Later at Metreon, then head out to the airport. Arrive home at 6am, drive to Somerby to cover the Nationwide event, then up to Grand Marais Saturday night. Must. Sleep. Soon.

Tonight was the “Campus” Beer Bash at WWDC–now moved from the Apple Campus to Yerba Buena Gardens atop Moscone Center. I wasn’t sure I’d like not being in Cupertino, but I sure didn’t miss the bus ride down and back. Overall, I think it was a good move.

We snuck in the back way and didn’t have to wait in line for food. They had tables set up by regions of the world, including Japan, China, Italy and Mexico. Lots of drink servers, a few ice cream carts and several desert tables equaled (or maybe exceeded) the catering options of beer bashes of old.

The musical entertainment turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The past few years have been major let-downs, especially considering the clout Apple now has in the music business. This year’s act, Ozomatli, was featured in one of the iPod ads. I’m glad we stayed for their set, as they were energetic, talented and fun. As they apparently do at many shows, they ended their set by parading through the audience playing, singing and interacting with the crowd.

Earlier in the day, we had lunch at House of Nanking in Chinatown. We ate there last year and it was well worth the mile walk up Kearney Street to this award-winning restaurant. We lucked out yet again–no wait and we got a great table by the window. Jake and I both had sesame chicken and enjoyed seeing the owner being his usual crabby self.

WWDC 2007 (also know as SausageFest) wraps up tomorrow.

This afternoon we left WWDC early and headed out to Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco for a twilight round. The non-resident rates have been increased significantly since the American Express World Championships were held there in 2005, so we elected to wait until 5pm when the cheaper rates kicked in. We ate at the new clubhouse before the round, where I ordered fish and chips that were hot and fresh.

I was a little rusty out of the gate, but had a chip-in birdie later in the round and finished with an 89. We played the 18th hole in the dark, but did get the round in by hustling at the end and pushing the slower groups in front of us.

I felt like a superstar after the round–the driver our hotel arranged for us arrived right on time in a shiny black Mercedes. He was very polite (calling me “sir” is just too cool) and had bottles of water for us. Great end to a great afternoon of golf.

Harding Park Photo Gallery

This morning Jake and I had breakfast at Sears Fine Food, located at 439 Powell Street in downtown San Francisco. Open since 1938, they claim to be “world famous for little pancakes.” Couldn’t pass that one up, so we both ordered 18 silver dollar-sized Swedish pancackes with bacon. Very tasty, with great service and atmosphere. We didn’t even have to wait in line and got a perfect table right by the front window. Recommended.

Tonight we tried a new restaurant for dinner, Brindisi Cucina, located at 88 Belden Place in downtown San Francisco. The front desk at the hotel recommended that street and we found a number of great looking bistros on a narrow alley off of Bush and Kearney. Very European–also reminded me of Boat Quay in Singapore.

I had the pork chop filled with prosciutto and mozzarella over roasted potato, while my co-worker Jake had the mixed seafood skewers chef’s selection of fresh market fish over Sicilian couscous. We both agreed it was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time. Gotta love San Francisco for dining…

Last night Jake and I went to the Giants-Blue Jays game at AT&T Park on the bay. We sat way up high, but the seats were great, halfway between home plate and first base. We had perfect views of the water–I don’t think there is a bad seat in that place.

The Giants won 4-3 after Barry Bonds hit his 747th home run to center. I don’t follow baseball much, but I do know about the Bonds scandal/excitement. Either way you look at it, it was cool to be there.

We had to have the signature “Gilroy Garlic Fries,” but I’m still regretting that decision today. At least I can say I tried them once. Lunch today at my favorite San Francisco 50s joint, Lori’s Diner, is sitting much better. I ordered the hot, open-faced turkey sandwich with gravy fries and a real cherry Coke–excellent!

Tonight is the Apple Design Awards and Stump the Experts, but I may have to return to the hotel to get caught up on work. Tomorrow Jake and I are splitting out early on the conference to play a twilight round of golf at Harding Park.

Today was the first day of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in downtown San Francisco. After three days of non-stop Tapemark Charity Pro-Am action, my co-worker Jake and I jumped on a plane at 9:30pm yesterday night and arrived here at 3am Minnesota time.

We are staying at a new hotel this year–the Orchard on Bush Street (about two blocks north of Union Square). The San Francisco Marriott was full, so we found this option on tripadvisor.com. The price was decent and so far I’ve been impressed with the room. Bit of a walk, but it’s not bad.

I woke up this morning at 7:30am and got in the keynote line. We were able to get in the big room and sat towards the back. Overall impressions? Not much new and no free iPhones. The “top secret” features of Leopard don’t seem that great, but maybe they will grow on me. I desperately wanted a new Finder and so far, I think it still falls short of the preciseness and time-savings features of the old OS 9 Finder. Absolutely hate the transparent top menu bar…

The rest of the conference is confidential, so I can’t speak to specifics of what I’m hearing. That’s usually when all the good stuff happens, though.

Tonight we have tickets to see the Giants play Toronto at the wonder stadium by the bay.