Favoite San Francisco Spots

So last weekend, before I got sick, I was in San Francisco for a wedding. I had a whole morning to myself and packed a lot in. San Francisco is one of my favorite cities: it's beautiful, it's got the kind of weather I love and it's filled with so many possibilities for food and flavor that it boggles the mind. I basically ate my way through that morning:

First stop, blue bottle, an independent coffee roaster and quite the hip little place. It's the Bay Area's Intelligentsia (if you will):


Just take a look for yourself, the space is gorgeous: high ceilings, lots of natural light, a minimal interior, and...


these things. I don't know what they're called (siphons?). But gosh aren't they interesting in a turn of the century TESLA kind of a way?


Also, the best latte I've ever had. It was smooth like hot chocolate but still very much coffee. I'm a dedicated sugar adder and I didn't need a single grain of sugar to drink this mother down.


I was also starving so I ordered what they call a gravis murphy: baked potato with some of the potato scooped out, filled with scrambled eggs and topped with cheddar cheese. Delicious. And easy enough to make for a brunch (maybe a christmas brunch that's casual?).

Next up, Miette Confiserie et Pattisserie:

I went by their stall at the Ferry Building and decided I needed to see the real shop so I went over to their Hayes Valley Locale and was not disappointed.



The shop is styled as an old fashioned confectioner: a cross between main street USA and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Yes!

They're known for the Macarons (I think) but I opted instead for some of their cookies (chocolate chip and lavender shortbread) and an old fashioned cupcake. Delicious.


I promise I ate lunch soon after this, but I forgot to take a picture: it was an apple, walnut and bleu cheese salad and it was good. So good that I decided I needed a little bit of ice cream to finish it off. So off I went to the Bi Rite Creamery in the mission.

Bi Rite is a creamery that produces small batches of ice cream using local/organic ingedients whenever possible. I was tempted to get a more unusual flavor like balsamic strawberry or creme fraiche but opted instead for what I was craving: cookies and cream and coffee toffee.


The weather was perfect so I walked with my cone and checked out all the people doing the scavenger hunt along Valencia (I think it was organized by 826 Valencia). It was lovely and then it was time to go to the wedding.