I just took an Alka-Seltzer. It's been that kind of day.
I started out at Atlas Cafe with a great, tart-sweet apricot pop tart (or rather, a PoP as they call them) made by SF-based Black Jet Baking Company and a strong cup of coffee. You can now find Black Jet in the Ferry Building but they do online sales too. I'm seeing breakfast in bed for someone special on V-day. That, and maybe a bouquet of tulips. This is a hint.
Shortly thereafter, I headed a few blocks away to the brand new Southern Pacific Brewing Company which is trickily located on a deadend, industrial part of Treat Street. In a massive former machine shop, the brewery sports soaring ceilings, galvanized steel, reclaimed wood, a mezzanine, outdoor seating and more. It's huge and makes you feel like you're somewhere else (Portland?). Tablehopper has the details here. I tried their pale ale and a Vietnamese sandwich. The ale was fine, but the riff on a banh mi—made with braised pork, pickled jalapenos, and field's worth of cilantro all stuffed in a really nice French roll—was really good. The salads were not given the same love. Surprisingly, they have a full bar, which I didn't expect. Now you know.
From there, I drove over to Cole Valley's long anticipated Ice Cream Bar. The two years they spent dealing with the city's unfriendly laws before finally opening was just documented in the Bay Citizen.
To get a sense of the Ice Cream Bar, think mixology meets ice cream. Same old-timey getups, just remove mixologist and add soda jerk. Same kind of syrups and tinctures of things like thyme and chai tea and cinchona, which is what makes quinine. Remove booze, add ice cream. Remove page boy cap, add this. Add happy children and smiling adults.
The first time I visited ordered from the bar menu which includes everything from frappés and floats to phosphates and lactarts (this is not to be confused with lactards, which is a term my friend told me is used for the lactose intolerant and I'll admit that I laughed). On that trip, my favorite was the breakfast soda (muddled oranges, powdered sugar, maple syrup, thyme extract, soda), though I could have used a straw to get around the floating mass of orange pulp. But straws apparently don't let you get the full effect, according to the jerk. Calling someone a jerk is awkward, by the way.
On my visit today, along with the help of a couple 7x7 editors, we tried the ice cream sundae side of things which is a little less heady and where the kids are definitely headed. The ice cream, which uses a Three Twins base, has a nice texture, and just the right amount of sweet to salt. I liked the tropical sundae the best, topped with some cute little toasted marshmallows.
What was the best thing you ate this week? Let me know in the comments.
