Owner Harmony Fraga behind the bar at The Social Study

Part café, part wine bar, The Social Study, is the latest addition to the spate of new venues opening up in the Lower Fillmore neighborhood, and will be sure to delight coffee and jazz lovers across the city.

Serving locally-roasted Four Barrel espresso and coffee as of January 11, the groovy lounge fills a long-vacant space formerly occupied by a cannabis club on the corner of Geary at Fillmore behind Won Mi Korean BBQ. I stopped by the day after it opened on the advice of a friend who works next door and immediately wished that I could spend all day working in this café rather than in an office downtown. The high, vaulted ceilings have windows that go almost all the way up the walls, letting in plenty of light for such a small storefront.

Stepping through the almost unmarked front door (luckily, a sandwich board points thirsty guests in the right direction), my first impression transported me directly to my grandfather’s library. A long community table that could seat 10-12 people is just inside the tall front windows and the rest of the space features a unique take on bar tables -- the entire wall from the front door to the back of the lounge is covered with a quilted blue faux leather, out of which seats and tables fold out down (think 1960s airline jump seats).

Along the top of the wall, behind the register, running along the beams of the exposed brick wall on the other side of the building, and decorating many of the open spaces are books, books, and more books. A varied library that includes titles from all genres is available for leisure reading while hanging out in the café, and free wi-fi will sustain those who can’t bear to leave their laptops at home during coffee time.

In the mornings, The Social Study serves homemade pastries like crumpets, croissants, sticky buns, and one-mouthful-only chocolate croissant bites. The small selection is a testament to the tastiness of the pastries (on a foggy Thursday morning there were only a few pastries left by 10:15am): large, fresh pecans stud the glistening top of a caramelized sticky roll, and the slightly uneven texture of the croissants promises a hand-rolled, fresh-baked taste that doesn’t disappoint. Owner Harmony Fraga, East Bay native and former bar manager of Farmer Brown, plans to bring in a larger selection of pastries soon, but until she finds the perfect combination (great taste, made in San Francisco, preferably in her neighborhood, with fresh, local ingredients) The Social Study is baking their own.

But it’s not all coffee and pastries at The Social Study. Like any good European-influenced café, the place gets livelier as the day wears on. Beer, wine, and house-made sangria replace morning beverages, and the menu gets an upgrade starting in the afternoon. “Study Snacks” like charcuterie and cheese boards go great with a draught Guinness, and roasted fingerling potatoes are a healthy (and local!) alternative to the fast food French fries available a little bit lower down Fillmore street.

"Study Snacks." Photo: The Social Study

The record covers that adorn the walls are more than just decoration: The Social Study has a serious collection of vinyl. From jazz to R&B to hip-hop and Motown, the record library is as varied as its library counterpart, and the music in the café does a great job of matching the ever-shifting mood of the neighborhood.

The pace picks up even more on Friday nights, when live music takes the place of the vinyl selection and DJ Doc Fu steps behind the turntables. More music is promised, too--there’s been talk of a live house band (called Hot Pocket) playing in the lofted area above the main floor on Saturday nights. Although The Social Study doesn’t have a full liquor license (though Fraga says that’s in the works, along with a regular movie-screening night), I think it’s kind of nice. A beer and wine bar is a mellow addition to what can be a rowdy part of town, and when you want to step out for a cozy bite in a place that feels like an extension of your own living room (and face it, who can afford a place with an actual living room near Fillmore street?), The Social Study is just the place to be.

The Social Study
Address: Map
1795 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94115
415.292.7417
Open daily, 8am-11pm.

The current adventure actually started ten years ago, when our friend Sylvia learned we were about to leave on a trip to Paris. She pressed $50 into my hand, begging, “You have to get me two kilos of vanille des îles at Thé Mariage Frères.” Sensing my hesitation at possibly transporting a couple of kilos of some unknown (controlled?) substance, she whispered, “Try some yourself, you’ll love it.”

Turned out my friend’s drug of choice was an intensely flavored black tea infused with incomparable vanilla from Madagascar. And to procure it, my family wandered the winding streets of the Marais district of Paris to a quaint teashop with an elegant tea salon that served swoon-worthy pastries. Our then 9-year old daughter, Lila, fell completely under the spell of Thé Mariage Frères, as did my husband and I.

Thanks to a recent work assignment of my husband’s, the three of us are back again in Paris for a week. But this time—because of Bay Area Bites—I have an appointment to interview Monsieur Loris Thibaud, the man in charge of Thè Mariage Frères, in my role as journaliste amèricaine, and 19-year old Lila (a college sophomore and art major) will be my photographer.

When we enter, the teashop is abuzz with last minute shoppers. The walls are lined with hundreds of large timeworn tins labeled with mysterious names like fleur de désir, thé des impressionnistes and rose de porcelaine, from which white-suited clerks scoop and weigh the aromatic mixtures on ancient scales.

Monsieur Thibaud greets us and leads us up the narrow staircase to the little museum where we can talk tea in relative quiet among antique pots, canisters and baskets. He shares a little history:

As the oldest beverage in the world, tea began its reign in China 5000 years ago and moved on to Japan, Persia, the Islamic world, Russia and then to Europe in the seventeenth century. In 1665, after King Louis XIV‘s doctors told him tea would benefit his digestion, the King sent brothers Nicholas and Peter Mariage to Persia and Madagascar, respectively, to sign trade agreements and gather up the magical stuff.

Several generations of Mariages stayed true to the trade of tea importing and finally in 1854, Henri and Edouard Mariage commenced wholesaling to the restaurants and hotels of Paris. But despite the venerable looking, colonial design of the tea counter, this charming retail shop only opened in 1984 and currently, there are no more Mariage family members in the business.

The French take their tea as they take their wine: quite seriously and Thè Mariage Frères prints up a list of essential rules to make their tea correctly, which might actually come in handy since their collection of teas include black, white and green varieties from over 30 countries. But their specialty is fragrant blends, created much like perfume, by combining aromas and tastes, selecting from hundreds of scents: including the leaves, flowers, bark, seeds, roots, leaf-oil and fruit of an entire arboretum of plants.

After a bit of a wait in line, Lila and I are seated in the elegant tea salon, with its custard yellow walls and potted plants, surrounded by stylish patrons and their tea-fueled chatter. We order sandwiches first: melted cheese with smoked salmon and a smoked chicken with creamy spread, both served on greenish matcha tea bread.

In fact, Mariage Frères has pioneered the art of cooking with tea and every dish on their menu incorporates some form of tea, from tea flavored jelly, to tea infused rice and vinaigrette to a tart topped with pears poached in hibiscus tea, and a chocolate cream pie featuring bergamot, the essence of Earl Grey.

Each table sports a few of their exclusively designed teapots, which encase the black or white porcelain in a silver shell to help keep the tea warm (without need for a British tea cozy). Over the years, I’ve enjoyed a number of their teas, (especially black teas with fruit, like peach, mango or black currant.) But today, Lila and I return to our first love, the intoxicating vanille des îles.

The next morning, we are up early, exploring vintage clothing shops in the cobblestoned Montmartre neighborhood where we are staying. Lila notices the welcoming window of an adorable tea spot called MILK, which stands for “Mum in her Little Kitchen.”

No way we’re going to pass that up. So we head in for a mid-morning tea and toast that eventually leads to a decadent pistachio and chocolate fondant. The table is set with pots of homemade jam in flavors like strawberry mint or spiced clementine, plus a banana, date and coconut spread. The cozy space feels exactly like we’re sitting in someone’s 1960s kitchen, with Formica dinette sets in crayola colors and flowered dishes. Owner, Deborah Habib makes all the goodies daily in her kitchen in the back of the room. Her father is our server. Habib also sells cute accessories, arranged in niches around the room, which include a motley collection of paisley aprons, mushroom magnets and kitchen elves. Luckily, Lila has her camera along to capture the photogenic bric-a-brac.

I thought this story was just going to be about Mariage Frères, but it seems to be expanding. So I tell Lila, “If we’re going do more than one tea salon, we need to do three or four.” Tea parties have actually been a recurrent theme in our lives. A china cabinet holding my grandmother’s collection of English bone china teacups and saucers resides in a treasured corner of my dining room. When she was little, Lila loved giving tea parties, first for her teddy bears and then for her friends. Sometimes, in the more turbulent teen years, a shared cup of tea from a flowery teapot could call a momentary truce on eye-rolling or nagging. Now that she is away at college in Canada most of the year, our tea sharing opportunities have dwindled. What could be better than a mutual quest for unique Parisian tea salons?

Lana, a Paris native and family friend, who is the same age as Lila, suggests our next destination, La Fourmi Ailée. The robin’s egg-blue exterior of this intimate restaurant stands out amidst the historic buildings nestled in the shadow of Nôtre Dame. Its interior resembles something out of a fairy tale, with a whimsical painted ceiling of clouds, plenty of book-lined shelves, and a row of pre-loved teapots along the windowsill. Although a full lunch menu is available, we arrive after the kitchen has closed. The tea is good, but I find the pastries a bit odd: apple streudel with mushrooms?! It’s a sweet, funky place to sit and sip tea, especially if you are in your twenties, but my taste in Parisian tea salons runs more to gracious elegance.

We end the week in style, with a visit to a glorious tea salon in the spacious dining room of a 19th century mansion that is now a museum—Musée Jacquemart-André. Nélie Jacquemart and Edouard André were avid Italian art collectors as well as husband and wife. The opulent rooms of their former residence, filled with exquisite paintings, sculptures and furnishings, provide an intimate opportunity for visitors to engage with the works of art.

In their former dining room, the walls are hung with tapestries and the space is dotted by huge flower-filled, burgundy vases, that match the floor-length drapery and thick carpet. When we are seated, the tea service is polite and refined.

I pick a luscious wedge of plum pie and Lila chooses a decadent raspberry cream tart. We drink Ceylon tea, perfumed with aromas of strawberry, cherry, raspberry and redcurrant. Outside the windows, massive stone lions guard the manicured garden. The tea is fragrant, the pastry perfect. Lila and I sigh contentedly. This is a moment to savor.

(All photos, except this one, by Lila Volkas)

It’s no secret that we're spoiled here in the Bay Area due to an abundance of artisanal, locally produced gourmet specialty foods.

So, it's not a surprise that while attending this year's massive Fancy Food Show at San Francisco’s Moscone Center many of the favorite products I tasted were produced by Bay Area purveyors.

Here are my top six recommendations:
1. Wine Lovers Chocolate by Bridge Brands Chocolate
   The folks at Bridge Brands Chocolate based in San Francisco have taken two great tastes and paired them perfectly together: wine and chocolate. Their tins of various percentages of dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate claim to pair best with different types of wine. I tasted a few of the varieties and especially liked the ones that paired with Merlot and Syrah.

   

2. Chili Lime Tequila Tortilla Brittle by Anette’s Chocolates
   This Napa based brother and sister owned company have made a name for themselves with their Chardonnay, bourbon and beer peanut brittle products that are both salty and sweet. But their newest award-winning brittle is a savory one. It’s a little citrusy, a little spicy, and has a dose of tequila, tortilla chips and roasted pumpkin seeds. It’s a very different snack that’ll surprise you with its great texture and flavors.
3. Spicy Yuba Strips and Five Spice Tofu Nuggets by Hodo Soy Beanery
   Local foodies and chefs swear by Minh Tsai’s tofu products. Hodo Soy Beanery's artisan produced, organic, non-GMO tofu is higher in protein and fat than most others, resulting in a creamier, some say superior, product. The Yuba Strips, which are the skin that forms on top of steaming soy milk, have the texture of a thin flat noodle, so it makes for a great pasta alternative. Both the Yuba Strips and the Tofu Nuggets make for zesty, full-flavored meat substitutes that have an unexpected kick. Oakland-based Hodo Soy is now selling their products at select Costco stores in California so this superior tofu will be more accessible.

   

4. Lemon Cookie Ice Cream by Three Twins Ice Cream
   Petaluma produced and Bay Area born, this company’s ice cream is exceptionally creamy, decadent, organic and doesn’t contain things you can’t pronounce. Their Lemon Cookie flavor is their most popular, even beating out the perennial favorite, vanilla. It’s a delicious combination of lemon ice cream and vanilla cream sandwich cookies. I’m drooling just thinking about it.

   

5. Midnight Moon by Cypress Grove Chevre
   This Arcata-based cheese company produces the finest goat cheese you can find. Though they’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of their most popular cheese, the Humboldt Fog variety, it’s the Midnight Moon that steals my heart every single time I taste it. It’s a hard cheese that is creamy and has a gouda-like flavor, complete with salty crystals for texture. The salty bite and lack of gamey flavor makes this versatile cheese perfect for snacking alone or in combination with other items like fresh fruit. I’ve continued to declare it one of my favorite cheeses of all time.

   

6. 20th Anniversary Celebration Tea by Republic of Tea
   This Novato-based company has come a long way in 20 years. They now feature hundreds of different varieties of teas and have come out with two new ones to celebrate their 20th birthday. The one that stands out is their Anniversary Celebration variety that boasts black tea, sweet white wine grapes, and is infused with the essence of champagne. It’s a pretty clever and unexpected flavor combination for a tea. After all, what’s a birthday without a little wine and champagne?

   

Caleb Zigas of La Cocina, Ruth Reichl, and Alice Waters, at the Good Food Awards.

Ruth Reichl was standing in front of a gigantic American flag hanging like a banner along the wall of the Ferry Building on Friday, January 13th. It was a backdrop worthy of any Presidential hopeful stumping for votes in the heartland, but here, the stars and stripes were evoking not just Mom and apple pie but Mom's apple pie, and maybe great-granddaddy's moonshine, and now their kids' apple-whiskey chutney and curried cauliflower pickles. It was time to welcome the room of makers and media, gathered in San Francisco for the 2nd annual Good Food Awards, a celebration of the best of artisanal food production from coast to coast.

"Most of you are too young to have grown up in the white-bread world that I did," said Reichl. Every cheese was sliced and wrapped in plastic, all strawberries were huge and tasted like cotton. This changed, slowly, through the work of pioneers like Alice Waters, sitting off to one side of the podium, as well as dozens of other food pioneers. Reichl remembered the first time she walked into The Cheeseboard, in Berkeley and was handed a taste of Laura Chenel's Sonoma-made fresh goat cheese. Reichl lived on it all that summer, and knew that she had to meet the woman making something so new (to American tastes) and so delicious. Then there was "Artists of the Earth," an article she wrote for California magazine in the early 1980s, profiling nine men and women making a difference in the food world and beyond. "They are some of California's most valuable resources," she wrote then, "...perfectionists who work very hard not because they expect to get rich but simply because they expect to get the best."

Walking through Chino Ranch with Alice a few years later, she was amazed at the quality of produce surrounding them. Corn so sweet it needed no cooking. Strawberries so intensely fragrant that every fellow traveler on the small plane she and Alice were taking from San Diego to Oakland came up and begged for a berry off the flats they were carrying in their laps. "Every person said, 'I forgot strawberries could smell like that! Please, can I just have one?'" she recounted. "And I watched Alice give away that night's dessert for Chez Panisse, because how could she say no?"

"Back then, I never could have dreamed how huge the change was going to be. We now live in a country that has the best produce in the world...We are reclaiming our edible heritage. "Thank you for giving us the America we once dreamed we could have."

After this came the awards, 99 products in eight categories (coffee, chocolate, charcuterie, pickles, preserves, cheese, beer, spirits). There were no single winners; instead, each category had a fat handful of top picks, from seven coffee roasters to 14 preserve-makers. The winners, like food-world Olympians, got medallions stamped in the shape of the tools of their trade--a cleaver, a canning jar--strung on wide red-white-and-blue ribbons to hang around their necks.

It was hard not to feel a little hometown, homestate pride at the fine showing the Bay Area, and California, made in the final running. Two local beers made the cut, at opposite ends of the brewing spectrum: from San Leandro, Drake's Brewing Company's high-alcohol, rich-as-devil's-food Drakonic Imperial Stout, and from Petaluma, the Lagunitas Brewing Company's spritzy, grapefruity ale, dubbed A Lil' Sumpin' Sumpin'. In the coffee category, Equator Coffees from San Rafael won for its fair trade/organic Ethiopian Watadera beans.

In pickles, California snagged three of the 11 winning picks, including Farmhouse Culture's Smoked Jalapeno Sauerkraut, Emmy's Pickles and Jams' Turmeric Cauliflower, and the Devil Sauce made by Let's Be Frank, of grass-fed hot-dog truck fame. (And we'll give a California hug to OlyKraut, which was founded by Sash Sunday, a former San Franciscan who got into the kraut biz shortly after relocating to Olympia, WA. Plus, she makes nettle kraut!)

OlyKraut, from left: Sash Sunday, Alexia Crousnillon, Nate Massé (not pictured: Summer Bock)

We tied with New York in the cutthroat preserves category, winning for Artisan Preserves' Orange Honey Marmalade, Chez Pim's Blueberry-Golden Raspberry Preserves, and Wine Forest Wild Foods' Wild Elderberry Shrub.

Wylie Whiskey, from left: Matt Jones, Garrett Hale, Sarah Swearington.

It's a cascade of riches from our part of the Golden State: Costa Rican chocolate bars from Dandelion Chocolate in SF; white whiskey from Wylie Howell Spirits in Petaluma; Carmody (my favorite!) and whole-milk ricotta from Bellwether Farms in West Marin; yogurt cheese from Sonoma's St. Benoit, pork, rabbit, and duck terrine from Fatted Calf in SF and Napa; speck from Oakland wine bar/salumeria Adesso.

Dandelion Chocolate: Alice Nystrom, Todd Masonis

Come the next morning, many of the previous night's winners were out in force at the Good Food Awards Marketplace, a tasting/selling spread of tables organized by category set up under the archways of the Ferry Building. Reichl, who now runs the specialty food (and content) site Gilt Taste, was on hand with a keen appetite, even after a late-night dinner with Alice and friends at Locanda in the Mission. Already, she's tried the chilaquiles and shrimp ceviche at the Primavera market stand, and tells me, joyfully, of the "best breakfast sandwich" she's ever had, from 4505 Meats: a soft, buttery brioche bun piled with a maple-bacon sausage patty, an oozy-centered fried egg, and a frizz of snappy peppercress. Speaking of her talk the previous night, she laughed at the thought of trying to profile just eight makers now. "At the time, it was hard to find even eight people, enough to write about. I had to include a produce distributor, a guy who was raising pigs and lambs for Chez Panisse. Now, that would be ridiculous. You'd have to write an encyclopedia!"

If anything, she thinks we're underestimating the strength and staying power of the artisan movement. Already, the food makers' landscape has changed drastically in just the past five years. In the next five, ten years, what will it look like?

Kathryn Lukas of Farmhouse Culture

There's no doubt, though, that the movement is fostering ever-closer relationships between chefs, makers and farmers. These products, from basil vodka to sea-vegetable kraut, are only as good as their raw ingredients. Recounting a cabbage blight that decimated the California crop last year, Farmhouse Culture founder Kathryn Lukas quoted Let's Be Frank's Larry Bain, laughing, "It's hard when you're in business with God."

The Bay Area has been at the forefront of a coffee renaissance in recent years, and local boutique companies like Blue Bottle, Ritual and Four Barrel are now spreading their roasting philosophy -- and their coffee beans -- across the country. KQED's Forum talks to some of the entrepreneurs behind the so-called "third-wave" coffee movement.

Original Broadcast: Mon, Jan 9, 2012 -- 10:00 AM

Host: Scott Shafer

Guests:
• Eileen Hassi, owner of Ritual Coffee Roasters
• James Freeman, owner of Blue Bottle Coffee
• Jeremy Tooker, owner of Four Barrel Coffee

Related BAB posts:
3rd Wave Coffee Roasting in the Bay Area
Bay Area Coffee Roasters: Food & Wine This Week

Temescal's Telegraph Avenue in Oakland is becoming quite the coffee-lovers' hot spot. There's a Peet's Coffee, Remedy, Good Bellies, Aunt Mary's Cafe and The Mixing Bowl. And now there's a new cafe on the block, Arbor, which has taken over the former kid-friendly spot SadieDey's as of October.

Arbor is owned by DNA Lounge manager Christopher Marquez. When my husband and I stopped in for brunch on a chilly Sunday morning, we were looking forward to a good hot cup of coffee and a warm breakfast.

The decor reflects the retro-vintage chic that's all the rage right now, with wood floors and mismatched tables and chairs filling up the space. But there's very little artwork up on the walls, so the space doesn't quite have the same warm, lived-in look as its furniture. It would be a great venue for a rotating gallery featuring local artists, so hopefully they'll utilize Arbor's spacious room for small art openings.

The indoor bicycle rack was filled to capacity -- a nice touch to help attract cycling-friendly clientele -- and Arbor brews java from the local Bay Area company Bicycle Coffee as well.

Their daily menu is written up on a chalkboard perched on an easel: granola with yogurt and fruit ($5); egg and cheddar sandwich with salad ($6); poached eggs with toast and salad ($7); prosciutto, poached eggs and toast ($7) and strawberry and Nutella (we're presuming on toast) ($6). There were also an assortment of pastries for sale. They were out of the egg and cheddar sandwich when we arrived just before noon, so my husband ordered coffee while I decided to try their prosciutto special. There were only two friendly staffers behind the counter, so service was a little slow as they prepared the drip coffee and meal. But they were cheerful and attentive, and we didn't mind the wait as they apologized for the fact they're still smoothing out the kinks.

The prosciutto plate was rather plain; two slim slices of buttered baguette were topped with poached eggs and meat, and the accompanying mixed green salad was simply dressed. While the breakfast was a bit on the underwhelming side, I'm hoping Arbor will continue to evolve and expand their offerings. Judging from the number of tables occupied that morning, it's building a loyal community following and is another welcome addition to the neighborhood.

Arbor Cafe
Yelp: Arbor Cafe
4210 Telegraph Ave
(between 42nd St & 43rd St)
Hours:
Tue-Fri 9-5PM
Sat-Sun 10-7PM

I've been walking by for months trying to peek through the papered windows. Hoping and hoping that one day on my stroll, the doors would just magically swing wide open. Sometimes I'd actually force myself to go a few weeks without checking, convinced that the next time I did, a new bustling cafe would be livening up the sleepy morning stretch of Grand Avenue that I call home. You see, for all of the cafes and amenities we have, we don't have an independent morning spot with great espresso, coffee and interesting morning pastries. Until now.

Now let's get one thing straight: Charlie Hallowell, chef/owner of both Pizzaiolo and Boot and Shoe Service, doesn't do things half-way (and thus, I think, the wait for the perfect time to take that kraft paper down from the windows). From wonderful fresh salads and delightful wood-fired pizzas at Pizzaiolo to those fantastic salty olives and strong cocktails (and pizza, of course) at Boot and Shoe Service -- there are innumerable reasons to visit both. And since moving to Oakland I find myself frequenting one of the sturdy wooden tables at Pizzaiolo drinking a macchiato, nibbling on a cinnamoney donut hole and stealing internet from the tenants upstairs. The morning service there is lovely and the locals have caught on: it's packed.

And finally: the new cafe adjoining Boot and Shoe Service, formally DiBartolo Cafe, opened last week and looks pretty promising. In short time, I predict, it too will be packed. Like Pizzaiolo's morning service, there are a variety of simple pastries and morning cakes and lots of seating (they are keeping it wi-fi free for now) at counters along the whole periphery of the space. The inside is spare and clean with high ceilings, brick walls, and fantastic light. Hallowell has opted to serve Sightglass coffee, and the staff and other customers I chatted with seem thrilled with the decision for a few reasons. It's local, it's excellent, and it's not Blue Bottle (which, while fantastic, is ubiquitous these days).

You can find a short list of coffee drinks including lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos and the like along with a special mocha made with a housemade chocolate consisting largely of dark Valrhona chocolate. If you're into drip coffee they brew one cup at a time, taking just as much time and care with a simple cup of coffee as they do a more involved espresso drink.

They also offer housemade granola in a bowl with fruit and milk/yogurt or in a big ball jar for $10 ($1 of which is a deposit for the jar). I haven't had a chance to try the granola yet, but the staff insists it's the best you'll ever have. It's on my to-do list this week.

What I have tried are their perfect cappuccinos, crumbly currants scones and buttery almond cake. The pastries are all done in-house by the pastry chef at Pizzaiolo, so if you're familiar with the carefully curated sweets there, you'll feel right at home. I've always been a big fan of their scones because they're not huge and hefty, but rather: light, simple, and seasonal. And the almond cake is the perfect morning compliment to a cup of strong coffee: not too sweet, buttery, with a nice sweet layer of almonds on top.

While they're not currently rolling out any special savory items midday, there are plans to do a variety of breads and spreads and more fixed-menu sandwiches in the future. So stay tuned. And another exciting aspect of the space to come: there are plans to open in the evenings for espresso beverages, plated desserts, and cocktails. The idea is that it can serve as a spillover for folks waiting for a table at Boot and Shoe Service but can also be a new spot to come and snag a cocktail or have an evening espresso before a stroll around the lake.

So they're off to a great start. And like all great starts, there's a definitive reason to go and check it out now, but there's also promise in what's to come down the line. A most welcome addition to the neighborhood.

Boot and Shoe Service
3308 Grand Avenue
Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 763-2668
Hours: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. everyday

On one lovely sunny afternoon in early January, my friend Pamela Palma and I decided to take a coffee break in the backyard of General Store, a quaint little shop in the Outer Richmond located next door to Trouble Coffee. We were taking a leisurely bike ride around the city and around 3 o'clock -- that magic hour that's perfect for a little caffeine boost -- we were both craving some coffee.

As we sat within the quiet walls of that peaceful sanctuary and sipped our drinks, we came upon the idea of creating an extended version of that day's journey: a bicycle tour that visited several of our favorite coffee shops throughout the city. As we're both cycling enthusiasts and devotees of good food and drink, this was the perfect blend of our passions.

We quickly came up with a list that would loop around the city, thus allowing our friends to burn off some caffeine if they chose to indulge themselves at each location: Sightglass Coffee in SOMA; just right around the corner at Mission and 7th Street is De La Paz Coffee at their new location; Blue Bottle Coffee at the Ferry Building Marketplace; Trouble Coffee on Judah and 46th Street near Ocean Beach; Ritual Roasters at Flora Grubb Gardens; and Four Barrel Coffee in the Mission.

We set the date for early April and spread the word to our friends. Folks were encouraged to bring their own mugs and a steel stomach.

On the bright spring morning of the ride, close to 50 folks showed up for our 25-mile excursion. We hadn't warned any of the shops that we'd be arriving en masse, so our arrival felt a bit like a flash mob descending on the baristas. Their lazy Sunday turned into a Monday morning-like rush, but they were happy to accomodate us one drip coffee at a time.

After lingering at Sightglass for an hour, we ended up bypassing De La Paz as they were still renovating their new space. Onwards to the Ferry Building, where people also fueled up with Blue Bottle's delicious caramelized Belgian-style waffles. The energy came in handy as we wove through Fisherman's Wharf, Ft. Mason, zoomed past Crissy Field and climbed up through the hilly Presidio. We spread out along the vast lanes of The Great Highway, which was conveniently closed off for Sunday Streets.

Giulietta Carrelli, the proprietor of Trouble Coffee, greeted us warmly at our third stop and rang up our orders. Folks filled up on their renowned fresh coconut water and thick-sliced toast slathered with cinnamon and butter, peanut butter or Nutella. And of course, we guzzled more coffee as there was still lots of riding on the agenda.

After a much-needed pit stop at a public bathroom on La Playa, we meandered up the long, slow incline of Sloat Avenue, then cut through to Monterey Boulevard. Alemany Boulevard took us down to Hunter's Point, and we soon descended upon Flora Grubb Gardens, a lovely urban oasis located in Bayview. The line for Ritual Roasters was bit shorter, as people were well-buzzed, hungry for dinner and ready to retire for the day. We made an executive decision to end the tour there and Four Barrel would have to wait another time.

Pamela and I were thrilled to discover that we were able to introduce many of our friends to new shops and bike routes within the city. You can try out our route by following the Google Map below. Approximately half of it follows bike paths and streets with bike lanes. It's an intermediate ride with several climbs throughout the city loop, so feel free to reference the San Francisco Bike Map to get approximations of elevation or to plot out an easier course. Be sure to stay well-hydrated, wear a helmet and have fun!

View San Francisco Coffee Ride! in a larger map

Check out more photos from our coffee ride from Pamela Palma's Flickr set.

Just when you think you’ve gotten through the most food-filled time of year, the Fancy Food Show descends upon the Bay Area and rears its tasty and gluttonous head.

This amazingly large annual show takes up two entire Moscone Center expo halls and contains 80,000 food and beverage products, 1,300 exhibitors and 17,000 attendees. This thing was so big that two of the three parking lots within a three block radius were completely full.

All the food companies large and small were vying for your attention and hoping you’ll either sell their products in your food stores or talk and write about their products in your publication.

How do they do that? Well, like they would in the fashion business, they try and convince you their product(s) are the next big thing in the food world. They set the tone for what you see in your local market and create the newest food trends (think spicy, organic, or antioxidant-rich food items in recent years).

So what’s up and coming in food? Here’s some of what I saw:
• Asian food is still where food purveyors turn to for new product ideas, but there’s a twist this year. The new darlings of the moment are Indian and Korean foods. Brands like Sukhi's and Tandoor Chef were making sure everyone in the area had a taste of their frozen Indian food entrees and meals. And Annie Chun's, which is a brand that traditionally focuses on Chinese meals, was branching out into Korean marinades and meal kits.
• Asian snacks also tried to make a splash at this year’s event. Items like a black sesame candy, which is a popular snack in China, took an American spin by getting a good coating of dark chocolate, courtesy of the folks at Bissinger’s. And rice crackers and candies are usually something you’ll find at a typical Asian market, but vendors were trying to get them into the American mainstream.
• Tea is still the hot commodity as far as beverages go, but gone are the white and green tea infusions. This year I saw a plethora of traditional herbal teas fused with fruit flavors to create unusual and creative tea combos like Blackcurrant and Cardamom, Milk Oolong and Apricot and Honey from the folks at Novato’s Republic of Tea, as well as more infusions like Chamomile and Citrus and Organic Café Orange from the San Rafael company, Mighty Leaf.



• Candy is a trend that will NEVER go away. This year’s sweets had herbs, energy boosting power, or even health benefits. I tried everything from pumpkin and sunflower seed candies covered in dark chocolate from Bissinger’s to "Sport Beans" from Jelly Belly which look like the Red Bull of candies, giving you an energy kick.



• Ginger is definitely the ingredient of the moment, marrying health benefits with that exotic Asian flavor. It was in candy, sauces, teas, foods, and everything else in between. My favorite, though, were the ginger, lemon and yuzu flavored gummy pandas from Bissinger’s.

Though many of the brands at the show weren’t exactly mainstream yet, some can currently be found at Whole Foods, Mollie Stone’s, or Draeger’s. And if you wanted to order a few bags of this or a couple of boxes of that for yourself, you can always order something directly from the vendors' websites.

The economy has made everyone cautious, and the food world is no exception, which is why most of the trends I saw were variations of what I’ve seen in the past. And although I didn’t see anything outrageous, it seemed perfectly appropriate not to. It was trendy this year to take what we’ve already got and make it better.

Furthur playing at the Lands End Stage Saturday evening

The Outside Lands festival that took place in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park August 14th and 15th was dedicated to integrating local food, wine, music, and art to create two days of entertainment, indulgence and education.

A Taste of the Bay Area, Wine Lands and Eco Lands provided festival goers with the opportunity to experience quality food from Bay Area restaurants, California wines from some obscure local wineries, and lessons on urban farming and sustainability...all in between music sets that took place on four separate stages.

The area now known as Golden Gate Park used to be referred to as the "Outside Lands" back in the Gold Rush era, "a great sand waste" that was not legally part of the city of San Francisco until 1866. By 1860 the park had been transformed into a recreational space for citizens to enjoy. This festival reclaims the name and celebrates the social value that the park environment contributes to life in an urban area.

This slideshow features some of the festivities from Saturday August 14th.