Spending a week at our company's San Francisco office and just discovered a breakfast/lunchtime gem. Ingenious, creative, delicious soups, salads, sandwiches, and sweets. Price by the piece: 1 for $6, 2 for $11, 3 for $14. Eat in or take away. I found it on Monday, today is Wednesday and I've just eaten/taken away my fifth meal from there. Freshest, locally source ingredients, wonderful combinations, variety of breads. Breakfast today: crunch crusted chewy dark levain bread, smeared with fresh goat cheese, topped with slices of poached pear and tender currents. So simple, so delicious. Yesterday: sandwich size omelette topped with wild mushroom sauté and a boursin type cheese on pain de mix. Lunch yesterday: butter bean soup and a rocket/celer root salad in creme fraiche dressing. I could go on. Instead, why don't you go down there and try if yourself. Two blocks from the Embarcadero Bart station. OMG. Worth a ride.

Heyday is a brand new restaurant in the San Fran Financial District. It bills itself as "fast and casual", and it lives up to both claims. Decor is basic and contemporary, with some small tables and one larger farm table. Food is presented buffet-style, with restaurant staff quickly dishing up the ample portions. Food is made from scratch daily, using seasonal, organic and mostly local products. There are options for vegetarians, vegans, some gluten-free, and some meats. All dishes, utensils, and take-out containers are compostable or recyclable--good for the environment! For early risers, light breakfast fare is available M-F starting at 7a.m. We chose to go to a late lunch to avoid the lunch-hour rush. Since there were 4 of us, we were able to sample quite a few of the offerings. I ordered the soup-of-the-day (Lentil with flavors of India) and Raw Kale salad. One friend ordered the Roasted Eggplant on Focaccia and Cabbage/Chicken Slaw. Another ordered the Toasted Farro, and the fourth friend ordered Chickpeas/Quinoa salad. We all agreed that the Chickpeas/Quinoa salad was our favorite, with the soup running a close second. However, we enjoyed all of it, and followed up with a couple yummy pastries. We even had a short visit by the head chef, Jeremy Scheiblauer, whose previous experience included Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Word of advice: this restaurant currently closes at 3:00pm weekdays, so get there early enough to enjoy your meal or to pick up something to take home for dinner.