Foodie Walkabout San Francisco

As my list has been growing every day so I finally decided to map it out and go try some of these places in San Francisco. There is so much to eat, so little time really! I had a hilarious game of "Foodie Tetris" trying to figure out where I was going, in what order, when they were open and what meal or snack of the day they would be. I also had to decide which bits I was getting "to go" as I could not stuff it all in in one half day. Joe is the one who called it Foodie Tetris, he sat nearby and laughed as I schemed my food plan. He was no help either because he's loaded with suggestions and they ALL sounded good.
I figured I'd get up and get moving and have a good cup of coffee somewhere. Someone mentioned Philz Coffee on 18th, perfect! I was headed to Tartine Bakery for a snack to go anyways, it was right on the way.

I got to Philz and they have a huge list of coffee's named so you find a name you like then find its description and then order the coffee. The guy behind the counter knew I was new and he helped me pick one out (a.k.a. picked one for me) it was a Medium Roast called Tesora. The coffee was so good you hated to keep drinking it because then it would be gone, the logical progression I realize but it was so so good. Wow.

When I arrived at Tartines I discovered that the person in charge of the timer fell asleep and all the good croissants were burnt. I mean the whole case looked pretty dark. So i ordered the lightest looking thing and off I went. I got a croissant stuffed with cheese. I can't recall its name, I'll share it with my roommates.

I walked back towards BiRite Creamery and they didn't open until 11 o'clock. Luckily I decided not to wait adn instead head up to Chow for that pancake I've been wanting. They stop serving breakfast at 11 during the week, so I just made it! I had the plain pancake, which was as good as I remembered and then I tried Marion's Pancake which was amazing. I have no clue what they put in their batter to make it so tasty but I can't get enough of those pancakes!
While I was working on my pancakes I told the gal what i was up to (eating my way across town) and so she hollers at another waitress and says "this girl is on a Foodie Walkabout" so they began to name off their favorites and recommendations. They critiqued the list I had (basically loved it!) and added to it also.
I got my notepad out and wrote it all down. What a great city this is! Everyone I talked to loved to do that.

After pancakes, which were NOT plate sized and only 2 in number, I walked out feeling not too full. Which was a good thing as my next stop was Moishe's Pippic in Hayes Valley. I'd heard stories about the size of teh sandwich you get and also stories about the meat so I of course was planning to order the "State and Lake" which had both hot pastrami and hot corned beef. I'll come back to that in a minute.

Once I reached Hayes Valley I went to the bakery that the waitress had mentioned. It was famous for its New York Bagels so I bought one to go. No sense filling up on bread before my sandwich. As I was walking back towards Moishe's I passed by an Artisan Chocolate store (which was not quite open) so I was able to keep walking.

I got to Moishe's and the man behind the counter was so nice! He was amazed I knew what I wanted already. He said "pickle?" I said "yes!" he said "brown mustard?" I said "why not" he said he'd bring it to me and I'd pay him later, so off I went to find a table.
Then the sandwich arrived. It was fantastic. The meat was so delicious. It was not chewy or spicy or anything, it was just right and alot of it. He could tell by the look on my face when it arrived that it was my first time and he thought I was really brave to order a 2 meat sandwich. He said I'd have lunch tomorrow! No joke!

I savored every bite of the half I ate. Then he wrapped it to go and I had a nice chat with the owner who was really pleased he'd come highly recommended. I told him, not only did my roommates like that place but people I mentioned it to along the way were also excited for me as well. He was really happy to hear it.

Lets see...all the food starts to run together here. I had a few planned stops left and then some additions from the Chow ladies but first I headed back to the artisan chocolate place. Um, they are so pretty it will be kinda hard to eat them. I also had to ask for a "guide" to the chocolate as there is no indication of what they are. I just made sure they weren't lonely, I can't wait to try them!! I got Lemon (white chocolate ganache etc), Vietnamese Cinnamon (chocolate and spicy cinnamon), Lemongrass, Venezuelan Spice (dark chocolate and spice) the place is called Christopher Elbow. I had to go find the name.

After the visit to the chocolate place I walked back through Hayes Valley and found Miette's which was also recommended by the Chow ladies. Its a sweet shop full of all sorts of really cool things! Zotz! I love those things!
They also had the fanciest display of Owyhee Candy there too. That is made in Boise Idaho. I haven't had a bad thing from them but this display was pretty funny, if they only knew their humble beginnings.

At this point I'm armed with a tiny bag with a Gougier in it (that was from Tartine) and a tiny bag with a bagel in it and a tiny bag with a half a sandwich in it and a good sized bag of the fancy chocolate ( he didn't want it to melt by being too close to my hand ) then a big bag for all my little candies. So I'm walking down the street loaded up with goodies and I wander by the True Sake store. Its full of sake. A sea of sake. The staff in there were really nice and very helpful about all the types of drink. I told her what I liked and didn't like (based on what I drink otherwise they can narrow it down) she pointed me in the right direction. I also bought baby bottles so i could share some with my roommates and not have too much. Silent Snow and one other called Sake Specialist.

I'm now really loaded up and none of the bags will fit in any of the other bags and I still have meat and cheese stops to make. My goodness, whats a girl to do?

I walked up into lower Haight and found the sausage place and bought a few links to take home and share. I bought Beer, Chicken Tequila, Knockworst, and wild boar flavored. Then it was onto the cheese. Which took some doing because I was in the right neighborhood but not seeing it. So, circling the cheese. Like a hungry vulture...sounds about right actually. (also have I mentioned I haven't eaten any ice cream all day!) so I find an amazing tall bearded man who loves cheese and he let me sample some and found me just the right wedge and i was off. But not before buying a reusable tote bag for a buck. Phew! Everything fit nicely into it and I was home free! (Cheese names Bra Duro and Trugole-asiago, they hit the back of your mouth like a sharp cheddar, so good!)

Now to enjoy it with my roommates. I can't wait for all of them to get home. And they've got a guest coming tonight too so it will be a full house of fun for sure. I've taken too many photos to put on here as you can imagine so I'll put some on facebook too. These are the highlights for sure. This city is delicious I must say!

I did not get ice cream though!! After all the roommates came home we had Thai for dinner and Joe heated up the sake and we all got to sample them! It was really fun. They were really good!! Then after dinner clean up I got out all the chocolates and they got out knives and we all had samples of the sweets. It was fantastic. All sorts of reactions and top choices for each of us.
Tomorrow we are all headed to Smugglers Cove (the rum bar). Should be really good fun.