portrait-photo

Mapping San Francisco, one delicious treat at a time. Follow on Twitter:

@sftreats

‘Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut’ (But more often you feel like a Peanut Butter Cookie from Anthony’s Cookies) Homemade, fresh-from-the-oven cookies are one of life’s greatest and tastiest comforts. And among the best of these cookies are those served at Anthony’s Cookies in the Mission. Anthony’s is a small, no-frills bakery where the cookies are served straight from their cooling racks. They are fresh, fragrant and fantastically delicious, and the best one of all, in this reviewer’s humble opinion, is the Peanut Butter, a plump, pleasing morsel of a cookie that balances a brown-sugary richness with the warm flavors of peanut butter. On top of that, the texture of this cookie is out of this world: incredibly chewy and tender, with crunchy bits of peanut scattered throughout, giving this treat some structural integrity, as well as a welcome bit of texture. There are plenty of other flavors at Anthony’s to choose from (Walnut Double Chocolate Chip is as rich and lovely as it sounds, and the German Chocolate is quite good, too), but if you want to sample the peanut butter, be sure to check the Anthony’s Cookies schedule, as these babies are only available on select days throughout the week. In our 24/7, “have it your way” world, we may not be accustomed to not having something we really want available at any time. But trust me when I say that the Peanut Butter cookie at Anthony’s is worth scheduling your week around.

‘Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut’ (But more often you feel like a Peanut Butter Cookie from Anthony’s Cookies)

Homemade, fresh-from-the-oven cookies are one of life’s greatest and tastiest comforts. And among the best of these cookies are those served at Anthony’s Cookies in the Mission. Anthony’s is a small, no-frills bakery where the cookies are served straight from their cooling racks. They are fresh, fragrant and fantastically delicious, and the best one of all, in this reviewer’s humble opinion, is the Peanut Butter, a plump, pleasing morsel of a cookie that balances a brown-sugary richness with the warm flavors of peanut butter. On top of that, the texture of this cookie is out of this world: incredibly chewy and tender, with crunchy bits of peanut scattered throughout, giving this treat some structural integrity, as well as a welcome bit of texture.

There are plenty of other flavors at Anthony’s to choose from (Walnut Double Chocolate Chip is as rich and lovely as it sounds, and the German Chocolate is quite good, too), but if you want to sample the peanut butter, be sure to check the Anthony’s Cookies schedule, as these babies are only available on select days throughout the week. In our 24/7, “have it your way” world, we may not be accustomed to not having something we really want available at any time. But trust me when I say that the Peanut Butter cookie at Anthony’s is worth scheduling your week around.

The Mijita Fish Taco: For all your fresh-crispy-crunchy-saucy craving needs. I know I’ve done a lot of posts on places in the Ferry Building, and I promise to curb that so this blog doesn’t become simply “things you can eat at the farmer’s market which is already way too crowded as it is.” But before I commit to that, I must at least first pay homage to the fish tacos at Mijita, which combine some of my favorite food cravings into one extremely tasty package: Fried things + crunch + tang + tortillas = taco comfort food goodness. As you can see, the fish portion is not some skimpy strip of fish that’s been so overly breaded that you can no longer even tell it’s fish in the first place. Rather, this is a nice, pleasingly plump serving of mahi mahi that’s been dipped in a batter that fries up crispy and light. The mahi mahi sits atop a tangy coleslaw that’s been dressed in a kind of creamy avocado-cilantro vinaigrette that cuts through the richness of the fried fish. The whole package is wrapped in a double layer of fresh corn tortillas. Believe me, friends, these tacos are so, so satisfying. And at 5 bucks each, they’re a great deal, too. Also try their pinto beans sometime. And the guacamole. But especially the tacos de pescado. Mmmmm…

The Mijita Fish Taco: For all your fresh-crispy-crunchy-saucy craving needs.

I know I’ve done a lot of posts on places in the Ferry Building, and I promise to curb that so this blog doesn’t become simply “things you can eat at the farmer’s market which is already way too crowded as it is.” But before I commit to that, I must at least first pay homage to the fish tacos at Mijita, which combine some of my favorite food cravings into one extremely tasty package: Fried things + crunch + tang + tortillas = taco comfort food goodness.

As you can see, the fish portion is not some skimpy strip of fish that’s been so overly breaded that you can no longer even tell it’s fish in the first place. Rather, this is a nice, pleasingly plump serving of mahi mahi that’s been dipped in a batter that fries up crispy and light. The mahi mahi sits atop a tangy coleslaw that’s been dressed in a kind of creamy avocado-cilantro vinaigrette that cuts through the richness of the fried fish. The whole package is wrapped in a double layer of fresh corn tortillas. Believe me, friends, these tacos are so, so satisfying. And at 5 bucks each, they’re a great deal, too.

Also try their pinto beans sometime. And the guacamole. But especially the tacos de pescado. Mmmmm…

Mmmmmmm…It’s the Most-est Cupcake from Noe Valley Bakery! I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t the cupcake thing like soooo two years ago?” But do you know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking sometimes especially delicious treats transcend time and weave themselves into our daily lives in fulfilling and tasty ways, and I think the cupcake is one of those things. And I’m OK with that. This particular cupcake is the “Most-est Cupcake” from Noe Valley Bakery, and boy, is it divine. My friend Katie turned me on to these cupcakes, during one of our Dessert Crawls, and I have since made special trips to Noe Valley just for one of these cupcakes. And I don’t live anywhere near Noe Valley, and I depend on Muni to get pretty much everywhere, so you know this li’l morsel must offer up some serious scrumptious-factor if I’m willing to take multiple Muni lines just to get my hands on one. And really, what’s not to love here? A nice little handful of moist, chocolatey cake wrapped around a fluffy filling of Bavarian cream, topped with a silky chocolate ganache that is more toothsome than a glaze but not intrusive enough to be a frosting. The combination is, in a word, lovely, and it should be said that this cupcake is nothing at all like the packaged version that the name “Most-est” hints at. (For one, you can’t peel the frosting off of this cupcake and have it remain intact.) So while the cute curly-cue design on top might take you back to the Hostess products you loved back in the day, that’s about where the similarities end. And that’s a good thing.  This cupcake really is the Most-est. So tell your friends to get over their “cupcakes are so over” attitude, and get one of these next time you’re in Noe Valley.

Mmmmmmm…It’s the Most-est Cupcake from Noe Valley Bakery!

I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t the cupcake thing like soooo two years ago?” But do you know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking sometimes especially delicious treats transcend time and weave themselves into our daily lives in fulfilling and tasty ways, and I think the cupcake is one of those things. And I’m OK with that.

This particular cupcake is the “Most-est Cupcake” from Noe Valley Bakery, and boy, is it divine. My friend Katie turned me on to these cupcakes, during one of our Dessert Crawls, and I have since made special trips to Noe Valley just for one of these cupcakes. And I don’t live anywhere near Noe Valley, and I depend on Muni to get pretty much everywhere, so you know this li’l morsel must offer up some serious scrumptious-factor if I’m willing to take multiple Muni lines just to get my hands on one.

And really, what’s not to love here? A nice little handful of moist, chocolatey cake wrapped around a fluffy filling of Bavarian cream, topped with a silky chocolate ganache that is more toothsome than a glaze but not intrusive enough to be a frosting. The combination is, in a word, lovely, and it should be said that this cupcake is nothing at all like the packaged version that the name “Most-est” hints at. (For one, you can’t peel the frosting off of this cupcake and have it remain intact.) So while the cute curly-cue design on top might take you back to the Hostess products you loved back in the day, that’s about where the similarities end. And that’s a good thing. 

This cupcake really is the Most-est. So tell your friends to get over their “cupcakes are so over” attitude, and get one of these next time you’re in Noe Valley.

Guest Post! TK of 40 going on 28 Reviews the Muffaleta Sandwich from Ebbett’s Good to Go It’s an especially exciting day here at San Francisco Treats because TK is filling in with a guest post until I make it back to San Francisco in about a week and am once again eating everything in sight. Thanks, TK! So enjoy TK’s review below—and then go enjoy a muffaleta sandwich from Ebbett’s. Yay! — Food trucks!!!  They’re the black chunky glasses of mid to late 2011!  If you don’t own one, you want to.  If you don’t eat at one, you’re hopelessly out of touch.  FOOD TRUCKS FOOD TRUCKS FOOD TRUCKS.  In 10 years, people are going to be like “What was up with the fascination with eating bacon and waffle things on Acme artisanal bread from an idling vehicle in a parking lot?  SO WEIRD.  Also, I need the hoverboard tonight.  I’m going to a Re-Elect Ashton Kutcher for President rally at the oxygen farm.” NEVERTHELESS, I am a slave to fashion and thus a dedicated food truck aficionado, by which I mean there are 4 or 5 that appear within 3 blocks of my office every Friday and now it’s like A Thing with me and my coworkers to go.  Today’s lineup at Off the Grid – Civic Center was the usual lineup: Ebbett’s Good to Go – Fancy-shmacy sandwiches Curry Up Now – Indian, duh.  BLAZINGLY PAINFULLY HOT Indian, I should say Liba Falafel – What do you think? HapaSF – “Modern organic Filipino cuisine,” according to the website.  I’ve never gone to this one so I’ll take their word for it Crème Brulee Cart – Man, you guys are phoning it in with the names.  It’s supposed to be a funny name!  How about “Crème Bru-WAY Cart!!!” or “Crème OKAY Cart!!” “Crème Lisa Bonet Cart!!!”???  THINK ABOUT IT AND GET BACK TO ME. But enough about me.  Let’s talk about food.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to get today.  Then I was advised that Ebbett’s had a muffaletta today.  MUFFALETTA.  In case you don’t know and thus by definition have been living an empty and sad husk of a life, a muffaletta is a New Orleans-birthed sandwich that usually features ham of some kind, mortadella, salami, provolone and maybe mozzarella too.  Now, all that sounds good, but then it’s topped with olive tapenade, which is the money shot of a muffaletta.  Olive tapenade is the Stunt Casting of sandwiches.  It makes the muffaletta. So I go down there and order the muffaletta.  The girl who makes the sandwiches says “I made you an extra big one” because that’s the effect I have on women and also I was wearing my Noted Local Blogger smock. Then I ate it. It was good.  The bread was nice and soft, almost focaccia-like, or maybe it was focaccia, which, strictly speaking, isn’t what a muffaletta is supposed to be on but we’ll let it slide.  It had the appropriate meats and cheeses.  And the olive tapenade was solid.  So, good sandwich!  I think it was 9 bucks.  Don’t think that Food Truck food is extra-cheap or anything because it isn’t.  It actually tends to be pretty steep.  But that’s cool.  It’s worth it. SO, IN SUMMATION: Ebbett’s Good to Go Muffaletta: It’s Like Rain on Your Wedding Day.  No, wait, that’s bad.   Ebbett’s Good to Go Muffaletta: Did You Know That the Girl From the College in Your PJs Ad Was Don Draper’s Whore Mother on Mad Men?  No, wait, that’s just too weird.  Here we go: Ebbett’s Good to Go Muffaletta: If Sandwiches Were Wu-Tang, It Would Be GZA.  There.

Guest Post! TK of 40 going on 28 Reviews the Muffaleta Sandwich from Ebbett’s Good to Go

It’s an especially exciting day here at San Francisco Treats because TK is filling in with a guest post until I make it back to San Francisco in about a week and am once again eating everything in sight. Thanks, TK!

So enjoy TK’s review below—and then go enjoy a muffaleta sandwich from Ebbett’s. Yay!

—

Food trucks!!!  They’re the black chunky glasses of mid to late 2011!  If you don’t own one, you want to.  If you don’t eat at one, you’re hopelessly out of touch.  FOOD TRUCKS FOOD TRUCKS FOOD TRUCKS.  In 10 years, people are going to be like “What was up with the fascination with eating bacon and waffle things on Acme artisanal bread from an idling vehicle in a parking lot?  SO WEIRD.  Also, I need the hoverboard tonight.  I’m going to a Re-Elect Ashton Kutcher for President rally at the oxygen farm.”

NEVERTHELESS, I am a slave to fashion and thus a dedicated food truck aficionado, by which I mean there are 4 or 5 that appear within 3 blocks of my office every Friday and now it’s like A Thing with me and my coworkers to go. 

Today’s lineup at Off the Grid – Civic Center was the usual lineup:

Ebbett’s Good to Go – Fancy-shmacy sandwiches

Curry Up Now – Indian, duh.  BLAZINGLY PAINFULLY HOT Indian, I should say

Liba Falafel – What do you think?

HapaSF – “Modern organic Filipino cuisine,” according to the website.  I’ve never gone to this one so I’ll take their word for it

Crème Brulee Cart – Man, you guys are phoning it in with the names.  It’s supposed to be a funny name!  How about “Crème Bru-WAY Cart!!!” or “Crème OKAY Cart!!” “Crème Lisa Bonet Cart!!!”???  THINK ABOUT IT AND GET BACK TO ME.

But enough about me.  Let’s talk about food.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to get today.  Then I was advised that Ebbett’s had a muffaletta today.  MUFFALETTA.  In case you don’t know and thus by definition have been living an empty and sad husk of a life, a muffaletta is a New Orleans-birthed sandwich that usually features ham of some kind, mortadella, salami, provolone and maybe mozzarella too.  Now, all that sounds good, but then it’s topped with olive tapenade, which is the money shot of a muffaletta.  Olive tapenade is the Stunt Casting of sandwiches.  It makes the muffaletta.

So I go down there and order the muffaletta.  The girl who makes the sandwiches says

“I made you an extra big one” because that’s the effect I have on women and also I was wearing my Noted Local Blogger smock. Then I ate it.

It was good.  The bread was nice and soft, almost focaccia-like, or maybe it was focaccia, which, strictly speaking, isn’t what a muffaletta is supposed to be on but we’ll let it slide.  It had the appropriate meats and cheeses.  And the olive tapenade was solid. 

So, good sandwich!  I think it was 9 bucks.  Don’t think that Food Truck food is extra-cheap or anything because it isn’t.  It actually tends to be pretty steep.  But that’s cool.  It’s worth it.

SO, IN SUMMATION:

Ebbett’s Good to Go Muffaletta: It’s Like Rain on Your Wedding Day.  No, wait, that’s bad.  

Ebbett’s Good to Go Muffaletta: Did You Know That the Girl From the College in Your PJs Ad Was Don Draper’s Whore Mother on Mad Men?  No, wait, that’s just too weird.  Here we go:

Ebbett’s Good to Go Muffaletta: If Sandwiches Were Wu-Tang, It Would Be GZA.  There.

Today’s Treat: The Mousetrap Sandwich at The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen Grilled cheese is one of the best comfort foods, in part because it is also one of the simplest: Bread, cheese, butter—as Ina Garten would say, “What could be bad about that?” What *could* be bad, though, is when someone takes a food that is fantastic because of its simplicity and complicates it unnecessarily. Fortunately, the folks behind The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen are not the kind of people to do such a thing. And that, my friends, is why the Mousetrap—a combination of sharp cheddar, creamy havarti and monterey jack cheeses on fresh sourdough bread—is such a fantastic sandwich. The cheddar provides just enough sharp tang to highlight the creaminess of the havarti and monterey jack. The bread is grilled perfectly, so that the outside is all buttery crunch, and the inside is warm and chewy and perfect. Notice, too, that if need be, the servers at The American Grilled Cheese will cut your sandwich in thirds. (The photo is from a “food crawl” my friends and I did recently, and there were three of us. We got no pushback or eye-rolling from the guy who took our order when we asked if the sandwich could be cut in three portions. Yay customer service!) I should note that we also took the option of adding applewood-smoked bacon to our sandwich. Some people will scoff that bacon is so over, but let’s be real—whether bacon is trendy or not, it’s still tasty. And the sandwich makers at The American know what’s up: The bits of bacon inside our sandwich were perfectly cooked, and there was enough bacon for the smokiness to enhance the lovely blend of cheeses, but not enough for it to overpower the sandwich and just be about the bacon. Mmmmm. Notice, too, that the sandwich comes with a little clementine on the side. We also got a side of homemade pickles that were right tasty as well. 

Today’s Treat: The Mousetrap Sandwich at The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen

Grilled cheese is one of the best comfort foods, in part because it is also one of the simplest: Bread, cheese, butter—as Ina Garten would say, “What could be bad about that?”

What *could* be bad, though, is when someone takes a food that is fantastic because of its simplicity and complicates it unnecessarily. Fortunately, the folks behind The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen are not the kind of people to do such a thing. And that, my friends, is why the Mousetrap—a combination of sharp cheddar, creamy havarti and monterey jack cheeses on fresh sourdough bread—is such a fantastic sandwich. The cheddar provides just enough sharp tang to highlight the creaminess of the havarti and monterey jack. The bread is grilled perfectly, so that the outside is all buttery crunch, and the inside is warm and chewy and perfect. Notice, too, that if need be, the servers at The American Grilled Cheese will cut your sandwich in thirds. (The photo is from a “food crawl” my friends and I did recently, and there were three of us. We got no pushback or eye-rolling from the guy who took our order when we asked if the sandwich could be cut in three portions. Yay customer service!)

I should note that we also took the option of adding applewood-smoked bacon to our sandwich. Some people will scoff that bacon is so over, but let’s be real—whether bacon is trendy or not, it’s still tasty. And the sandwich makers at The American know what’s up: The bits of bacon inside our sandwich were perfectly cooked, and there was enough bacon for the smokiness to enhance the lovely blend of cheeses, but not enough for it to overpower the sandwich and just be about the bacon. Mmmmm.

Notice, too, that the sandwich comes with a little clementine on the side. We also got a side of homemade pickles that were right tasty as well. 

A Cup Full of Delicious: Frog Hollow Farm’s Fresh Fruit Cup One of the best things to eat in San Francisco is the Fresh Fruit Cup from Frog Hollow Farm’s bakery stand in the Ferry Building. This treat is exactly what it sounds like: a cup full of Frog Hollow Farm’s delicious fruit. The cup pictured above featured fresh cherries, strawberries and raspberries—the fruits on offer in early June—and it was divine. But my favorite time for the fruit cup is in late July and all of August, when the cup is full of slices of Frog Hollow Farm’s famous peaches, super-sweet nectarines, tangy plums and colorful pluots. The result is a cup of fruit that bursts with flavor—sweet, tart, peachy—it’s like candy, except that it’s a million times more satisfying and is also actually good for you. Pro tip: Visit the bakery in the afternoon, when the fruit has been marinating for awhile. The folks who work the kitchen fill the bowl with fresh fruit throughout the day, but if you can score a cup when the slices on offer have been blending together for a half an hour or so, your Frog Hollow Farm fruit cup experience will be even more heavenly.

A Cup Full of Delicious: Frog Hollow Farm’s Fresh Fruit Cup

One of the best things to eat in San Francisco is the Fresh Fruit Cup from Frog Hollow Farm’s bakery stand in the Ferry Building. This treat is exactly what it sounds like: a cup full of Frog Hollow Farm’s delicious fruit. The cup pictured above featured fresh cherries, strawberries and raspberries—the fruits on offer in early June—and it was divine. But my favorite time for the fruit cup is in late July and all of August, when the cup is full of slices of Frog Hollow Farm’s famous peaches, super-sweet nectarines, tangy plums and colorful pluots. The result is a cup of fruit that bursts with flavor—sweet, tart, peachy—it’s like candy, except that it’s a million times more satisfying and is also actually good for you.

Pro tip: Visit the bakery in the afternoon, when the fruit has been marinating for awhile. The folks who work the kitchen fill the bowl with fresh fruit throughout the day, but if you can score a cup when the slices on offer have been blending together for a half an hour or so, your Frog Hollow Farm fruit cup experience will be even more heavenly.

Today’s Treat: Green Garlic Sandwich at Acme Bread So far, I’ve been mapping the sweeter treats of San Francisco, but there are plenty of great savory bites to be had out there, and the Green Garlic sandwich at Acme Bread in the Ferry Building is one of them. This sandwich is ideal for the sight-seeing traveler as well as for the San Franciscan on the go who doesn’t have time to do the whole “sit down and be waited on at lunch” thing. The sandwiches at Acme are ready and waiting for you, wrapped up in their little waxed paper jackets and stacked neatly in one of Acme’s bread barrels. Convenience aside, the sandwich is a treat for me because of the wonderful marriage of flavors: creamy, tangy goat cheese is mixed with savory chopped green garlic, then spread on one of Acme’s crunchy-chewy buttery baguettes. And also tucked inside is a small pile of roasted red peppers that have been drizzled with balsamic vinegar.  Balsamic vinegar and goat cheese are such a perfect pair; somehow the sweetness of the vinegar is heightened against the earthy tang of the goat cheese. The green garlic rounds everything out, making for an incredibly satisfying sandwich experience. Get one soon—green garlic is a seasonal thing; it won’t be here forever. If red peppers or goat cheese or balsamic vinegar aren’t your thing, I also recommend the salame and pickle sandwich. I realize this might sound like an odd combination, but it is divine. The fine folks at Acme get all French on this sandwich, buttering the bread, then filling the sandwich with stacked slices of salame and halved cornichons. If you like salame and you like cornichons, you cannot go wrong with this sandwich. The sandwiches at Acme are $5.15—a great deal for a nice little lunch made from small-farmed, locally-sourced ingredients. Happy munching, y’all.

Today’s Treat: Green Garlic Sandwich at Acme Bread

So far, I’ve been mapping the sweeter treats of San Francisco, but there are plenty of great savory bites to be had out there, and the Green Garlic sandwich at Acme Bread in the Ferry Building is one of them.

This sandwich is ideal for the sight-seeing traveler as well as for the San Franciscan on the go who doesn’t have time to do the whole “sit down and be waited on at lunch” thing. The sandwiches at Acme are ready and waiting for you, wrapped up in their little waxed paper jackets and stacked neatly in one of Acme’s bread barrels.

Convenience aside, the sandwich is a treat for me because of the wonderful marriage of flavors: creamy, tangy goat cheese is mixed with savory chopped green garlic, then spread on one of Acme’s crunchy-chewy buttery baguettes. And also tucked inside is a small pile of roasted red peppers that have been drizzled with balsamic vinegar. 

Balsamic vinegar and goat cheese are such a perfect pair; somehow the sweetness of the vinegar is heightened against the earthy tang of the goat cheese. The green garlic rounds everything out, making for an incredibly satisfying sandwich experience. Get one soon—green garlic is a seasonal thing; it won’t be here forever.

If red peppers or goat cheese or balsamic vinegar aren’t your thing, I also recommend the salame and pickle sandwich. I realize this might sound like an odd combination, but it is divine. The fine folks at Acme get all French on this sandwich, buttering the bread, then filling the sandwich with stacked slices of salame and halved cornichons. If you like salame and you like cornichons, you cannot go wrong with this sandwich.

The sandwiches at Acme are $5.15—a great deal for a nice little lunch made from small-farmed, locally-sourced ingredients. Happy munching, y’all.

Treat #4: Chai-Spiced Banana Fritters from Azalina’s Malaysian One of the great things about spring and summer in San Francisco is the Friday evening event that is Off the Grid Fort Mason. This was the original Off the Grid, and it’s still my favorite. Some people complain that it’s gotten too huge and too busy, but if you can sneak off work early enough some Friday to get there right when it starts (at 5:00 p.m., sharp), it’s so worth it. You can load up on tasty snacks with minimal time spent waiting in line, and by the time the rest of San Francisco arrives, you and your friends have your desserts in hand and you’re ready to enjoy it sitting on the bank above the marina, listening to the boats clink against one another and gazing at the Golden Gate Bridge. Now, there are plenty of dessert choices at OtG, but my all-time favorite is Azalina’s Malaysian Chai-spiced Banana Fritters. First, they’re the kind of treat you can’t get anywhere else. Who else makes a banana fritter at all—let alone one spiced with cardamom and cinnamon and clove? What’s more: they are fried to order. This means you will have to wait a few minutes. I like to spend those minutes thinking about how totally excited I am that Azalina is frying up some banana fritters for me, but you’re welcome to spend those minutes however you like. The important thing is, the fritters come to you hot from the fryer, perfectly cooked—with a just-crisp-enough outside and a tender, slightly chewy texture inside. I’ve had these fritters at least 10 times, and they’ve never been heavy or rubbery or anything other than tender and delicious.  Now, I know four fritters seems like a lot, and you might be all, “Hey, yeah, anyone want to split an order of fritters? There’s no way I can eat all four,” and then someone will take you up on it and then you’ll actually try the fritters and you know what? You’ll be thinking to yourself, “Why the hell did I say I would share these with Tina? I don’t even like Tina! I mean, we just work together, and we barely do that now that she’s in accounting and I’m all the way in tech support and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, she has already eaten two of the fritters!” Don’t share these with people. Just don’t. You will want their sweet-spicy-hot-yummy goodness all to yourself. So forget that “sharing is caring” business. That just does not apply here. You can just tell people, “Sorry, I gave at the office,” and get back to your dessert. Oh—and as you can see, the fritters come dusted in powdered sugar, and yeah it’s usually at least breezy at Fort Mason if not totally windy and so sure—you’re gonna get some powdered sugar on you. That’s fine. Azalina now also drizzles the fritters with coconut jam which—I’ll be honest with you—freaked me out the first time I saw it—not because coconut jam doesn’t sound tasty, but because I had already begun to love the fritters without the jam and change scares me and so I just wasn’t sure. But Oh. My. God. The coconut jam is lovely. It adds a nice carmely-textured bit of coconut yumminess that isn’t over-powering. Actually, it pairs quite nicely with Mr. Fritter. Anyway, there you have it, people. Azalina’s Chai-Spiced Banana Fritters. Get ‘em early and often.

Treat #4: Chai-Spiced Banana Fritters from Azalina’s Malaysian

One of the great things about spring and summer in San Francisco is the Friday evening event that is Off the Grid Fort Mason. This was the original Off the Grid, and it’s still my favorite. Some people complain that it’s gotten too huge and too busy, but if you can sneak off work early enough some Friday to get there right when it starts (at 5:00 p.m., sharp), it’s so worth it. You can load up on tasty snacks with minimal time spent waiting in line, and by the time the rest of San Francisco arrives, you and your friends have your desserts in hand and you’re ready to enjoy it sitting on the bank above the marina, listening to the boats clink against one another and gazing at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Now, there are plenty of dessert choices at OtG, but my all-time favorite is Azalina’s Malaysian Chai-spiced Banana Fritters. First, they’re the kind of treat you can’t get anywhere else. Who else makes a banana fritter at all—let alone one spiced with cardamom and cinnamon and clove? What’s more: they are fried to order. This means you will have to wait a few minutes. I like to spend those minutes thinking about how totally excited I am that Azalina is frying up some banana fritters for me, but you’re welcome to spend those minutes however you like. The important thing is, the fritters come to you hot from the fryer, perfectly cooked—with a just-crisp-enough outside and a tender, slightly chewy texture inside. I’ve had these fritters at least 10 times, and they’ve never been heavy or rubbery or anything other than tender and delicious. 

Now, I know four fritters seems like a lot, and you might be all, “Hey, yeah, anyone want to split an order of fritters? There’s no way I can eat all four,” and then someone will take you up on it and then you’ll actually try the fritters and you know what? You’ll be thinking to yourself, “Why the hell did I say I would share these with Tina? I don’t even like Tina! I mean, we just work together, and we barely do that now that she’s in accounting and I’m all the way in tech support and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, she has already eaten two of the fritters!”

Don’t share these with people. Just don’t. You will want their sweet-spicy-hot-yummy goodness all to yourself. So forget that “sharing is caring” business. That just does not apply here. You can just tell people, “Sorry, I gave at the office,” and get back to your dessert.

Oh—and as you can see, the fritters come dusted in powdered sugar, and yeah it’s usually at least breezy at Fort Mason if not totally windy and so sure—you’re gonna get some powdered sugar on you. That’s fine. Azalina now also drizzles the fritters with coconut jam which—I’ll be honest with you—freaked me out the first time I saw it—not because coconut jam doesn’t sound tasty, but because I had already begun to love the fritters without the jam and change scares me and so I just wasn’t sure. But Oh. My. God. The coconut jam is lovely. It adds a nice carmely-textured bit of coconut yumminess that isn’t over-powering. Actually, it pairs quite nicely with Mr. Fritter.

Anyway, there you have it, people. Azalina’s Chai-Spiced Banana Fritters. Get ‘em early and often.

San Francisco Treat #3: Lemon Cream Tart from Tartine Bakery and Cafe Tartine is known (and rightfully so) for their bread pudding, which is so good that it practically has an official fan club. But the Lemon Cream Tart on offer there more than deserves its own legion of adoring fans. The tart is beautiful to look at and incredibly satisfying to eat: A silky filling that is at once creamy and rich, yet still light, airy and pucker-perfect tangy nestles atop a crunchy butter-cookie-type crust. One bite, and you’ll forget all about how everyone insisted you go to Tartine for the bread pudding. 

San Francisco Treat #3: Lemon Cream Tart from Tartine Bakery and Cafe

Tartine is known (and rightfully so) for their bread pudding, which is so good that it practically has an official fan club. But the Lemon Cream Tart on offer there more than deserves its own legion of adoring fans. The tart is beautiful to look at and incredibly satisfying to eat: A silky filling that is at once creamy and rich, yet still light, airy and pucker-perfect tangy nestles atop a crunchy butter-cookie-type crust. One bite, and you’ll forget all about how everyone insisted you go to Tartine for the bread pudding. 

Treat #2: The Pecan Turtle Bar at Baker and Banker Baker and Banker is a really fantastic restaurant, and yes—I recommend you try it if you haven’t yet. Make a reservation, and be sure to arrive with room for appetizers, a main course and dessert. But this post isn’t about the restaurant; it’s about the little Baker and Banker Bakery in the back of the restaurant, which is open Wednesday thru Sunday from 9-5. Even more specifically, this post is about the Pecan Turtle Bar at the Baker and Banker Bakery, a sticky, crunchy, chocolate-chunk confection covered in the most delicious caramel. If, like me, you’re big on texture, this treat is for you—a crunchy oat crust topped with loads of chocolate chunks and a layer of crispy pecans. The bar is topped with a generous slathering of very soft caramel that is thick enough to have give when you bite it, but tender enough to melt in your mouth. The first time I tried it, I was with two friends on a dessert crawl. This was the first place we went, and we split the bar amongst three of us. By the end of the day, after having visited three other places, we still couldn’t stop saying, “That bar was insane.” My friend Frances pointed out that it was probably a sign of our age that the sentence “That bar was insane” referred to a dessert and not a drinking establishment, which I guess is true. But for reals: if you like caramel and chocolate and nutty-type-things, this yummy dessert is not to be missed.

Treat #2: The Pecan Turtle Bar at Baker and Banker

Baker and Banker is a really fantastic restaurant, and yes—I recommend you try it if you haven’t yet. Make a reservation, and be sure to arrive with room for appetizers, a main course and dessert.

But this post isn’t about the restaurant; it’s about the little Baker and Banker Bakery in the back of the restaurant, which is open Wednesday thru Sunday from 9-5.

baker and banker bakery sign

Even more specifically, this post is about the Pecan Turtle Bar at the Baker and Banker Bakery, a sticky, crunchy, chocolate-chunk confection covered in the most delicious caramel. If, like me, you’re big on texture, this treat is for you—a crunchy oat crust topped with loads of chocolate chunks and a layer of crispy pecans. The bar is topped with a generous slathering of very soft caramel that is thick enough to have give when you bite it, but tender enough to melt in your mouth.

The first time I tried it, I was with two friends on a dessert crawl. This was the first place we went, and we split the bar amongst three of us. By the end of the day, after having visited three other places, we still couldn’t stop saying, “That bar was insane.”

My friend Frances pointed out that it was probably a sign of our age that the sentence “That bar was insane” referred to a dessert and not a drinking establishment, which I guess is true. But for reals: if you like caramel and chocolate and nutty-type-things, this yummy dessert is not to be missed.