More San Francisco Bites

Here are a few more fun places to hit for small (or big) bites in the city. My cousin was on a visit here a few weeks ago from Tokyo, where she hounds down the most exquisite food.  I was anxious  to impress, but that came easily given the options before us. So here are the remaining San Francisco eats we tried:

Frog Hollow Farm Market

After dumplings from Imperial Tea, we stopped at this market in the Ferry Building. For some weeks now I had wanted to try their oats with conserves.

This is definitely something you can prepare at home. What made this special:  the apricot conserves, which were  chunky and flavorful, and the walnuts, which were toasted TO PERFECTION. They were slightly smoky but not burnt--delicious. So if I wanted to replicate this home, I could buy the conserves...but could I get the walnuts to taste just so? Hmmmmm.

Boulette's Larder

Next stop was Boulette's Larder for their famous canelé. I read somewhere that they only make like a dozen of these a day (but I cannot find that article for the life of me).  Since the crowds were small on this frigid day, there were still some left around noon.   $3.50 each.

This little cake had a wispy, crunchy, burnt-caramel-flavored, exterior; with supermoist interior--yes, almost like custard.  I blindly agree with everything good that has been written about it.

Pica Pica

We headed off shortly thereafter to Union Square, and to Williams-Sonoma, where two chefs from Pica Pica, a Venezuelan restaurant in the city, were giving a demo of their corn-based dishes.  Afterwards, we got to try their food.  It was excellent! It is comfort food.  Mild and warm and fried and loaded with carbs.  I am going to the restaurant one of these days.  Corn is like soy. You can do so much with it!

Last food stop was Cafe Madeline, where we refueled on coffee and hot chocolate before heading out to Pampas in Palo Alto.  It's a nice place to stop if you need an injection of caffeine or sugar after too much shopping and tourists.  As you recover from your zombie state, you can check out who's entering the AG shop across the street.

PS: They make their hot chocolate with ganache.