Bread and Burritos in Springy San Francisco

San Francisco's best Tartine bread basking in 4:59 pm light

I haven't been updating Cantaloupe Alone much, but I have not stopped eating. I know some people love to blog, twitter, and post while on vacation, but I'm in my element away from electronic devices. Today is my first day back from a quick 2 day trip to San Francisco visiting good friend and food lover / artist extrodianare Ava.

First stop: Tartine. Hands down the trip could have ended after a morning of sampling 1 gougère (light and cheesy), 1 scone (just nice), 1 almond croissant (monstrous and delicious), and 1 morning bun (the classic). The morning bun was so much more sophisticated then I imagined. Flaky croissant dough with crispy caramelized top with crusty and sweet bottom, hints of orange, rich but not overpoweringly decadent. Worth waiting in line for. Perfect with their bottomless coffee. I didn't remember my camera!

Tartine bread several minutes old

The next afternoon we happened to be biking home from nearby Dolores Park at approximately 4:50 pm. Several minutes before their famed bread comes out of the oven. In perfect time we snagged a loaf with zero wait. Fortuitously Josey Baker Bread happened to bike by for a with a 3 gallon drum of flour under arm. A real San Fran moment in gluten history. I found the bread incredibly flavorful with a great sour dough tang. Our bread was still steaming inside. We were perhaps a few minutes too early cutting the loaf in half before the hot moisture finished absorbing into the thick loaf, as explained by Mr. Baker Bread. Later on when the bread was cool I found the texture silky and soft with a big chew. Easily one of the best bread experiences ever.

Ceviche from El Farralito

You can't visit San Francisco without eating Mexican food in the Mission. I had a veg bean burrito with drips and drops of all the different salsas from El Farralito. Ava's ceviche was the winning item at lunch. California has some choice produce and seafood that make every flavor bigger and fresher.

El Farralito burrito

Other food moments of note included sushi from Japantown's grocery store, Italian food in North Beach, It's It ice cream sandwich, ice cream, ice cream, more ice cream, and homemade spaghetti, and numerous sweet California oranges. I'll have San Francisco on the brain for a while. It's a great city to get to know. I was lucky to see so much in a short time with the help of two bikes and a fun friend.