10 reasons why I love being a foodie in San Francisco, Part I

I get occasional emails from confounded readers, asking where it is that I actually live. I guess that is at times unobvious from reading the blog. It seems I’ve been writing more about other places than I do about my own adopted hometown, San Francisco. I really should change that, you think?

You might also notice that I seem to be quite into lists lately. So I might as well do another one, no? How about, 10 reasons why I love –just love- being a foodie in San Francisco? These are the people, places, and things that help make my experience here a marvelously delectable one. They are distinctly Californian -and even more uniquely so Bay Area- and nowhere else in the world. As much as I love and admire great cities like Paris and London, there are things here that would be sorely miss should I ever move somewhere else. And here is the top ten list of them.

10. Pizzetta 211 on a Sunday afternoon.
One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon is going to Pizzetta with a good book or good friends, enjoying the simple but delicious fares and relaxing in the calm, restful space in the shadow of an old tree.

Pizzetta 211
211 23rd ave. at California

9. “After Midnight” on my birthday.
Almost every year since I moved to San Francisco, I’ve had the absolutely decadent chocolate “After Midnight” cake from the fabulous Citizen Cake for my birthday, with layers of dark and dense chocolate cake, milk chocolate cream, covered in dark, dark bittersweet ganache, and decorated with chocolate chards in random shapes. Just fantastic. I have no plan to change.

Citizen Cake
399 Grove St at Gough
Favorite things: After Midnight cake, the brunch menu

8. Getting all worldly in the Tenderloin.
That colorful neighborhood has it all, from fantastic Pakistani and Indian curry houses, soulful North African couscous, spicy Thai noodles, Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwiches, to delicious Turkish mezze.

Shalimar
532 Jones St at O'Farrell St.
Fovorite things: Keema curry, Goat curry (on Thursday)
Green Pizza (for Tunesian coucous)
219 Jones at Eddy
Thai House Express
901 Larkin St at Geary
Favorite things: Som Tum, Stewed Duck Noodle Soup, Pad Kee Mao
Saigon Sandwich Shop
560 Larkin St at Eddy
A La Turca
869 Geary St. (at Larkin)
Favorite things: Pide, mezze, anything on specials that day, sweets

(To be continued)

Comments

[Malik]

Next time you're in the mood for Bahn Mi, try nearby Wrap Delight/New Vietnam Sandwiches (they seem to go by both names) at 426 Larkin near Golden Gate. The lady who owns it used to work at Saigon Sandwich, and I think her Bahn Mi are quite a bit better, plus she has a bigger selection of meats for the sandwich. There's also all kinds of funky Vietnamese desserts in the refrigerated case. The only downside is that it's only open Monday to Friday, whereas Saigon Sandwich is also open Saturdays.

Wrap Delight
426 Larkin St
San Francisco, CA
415-771-3388

[mns]

Thank you. As a former San Francisco resident (work moved me to North Carolina), the one thing I miss the most is the fabulous selection of restaurants, and this reminded me of that. Citizen Cake, in particular.

Oh, and if you haven't tried it, Fina Estampa on Van Ness (1000 or so, if I remember correctly) is absolutely delightful, and typically not very busy.

Great, now I'm hungry, and stuck in North Carolina.

[dexygus]

yes, yes, yes, the after midnight cake. must work out the recipe to that dense, magical mousse.

[haddock]

Saigon Sandwich shop, oh yeah. When we go down on our monthly trip we nearly always end up there at least once. Shalimar is almost always out of what I want but I still like it.

We'll have to check out A La Turka

[Kate]

Many times I have commented to friends that the best job in the world would to be a food critic in San Fran. I believe (in my limited experiences there) that the hit/miss ratio of restaurants is greater (favoring hits) there than the ratio in NYC. But I admittedly haven't had the resources to explore NYC that well.