Three reasons:
1) The Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia has come up in several New Day threads and I think a TC thread or two recently. I LOVE it, and it got me thinking about other facilities like it in other cities.
2) I was (famously) in San Francisco last week (seems like longer, but I've been grading) and I had my camera with me.
3) You didn't really want me to discuss the similarities of this election to elections in the 19th Century, did you?
So tonight, we'll be discussing what's inside this building:
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That is, of course, the Ferry Building, the once (and present) ferry terminal at the Bay end of Market Street in San Francisco. Yes, you can board ferries to Tiburon, to Vallejo, to Oakland, to Alameda, to Pier 41 (the MAIN ferry terminal), and to Harbor Bay (also in Alameda). But a decision made by the port of San Francisco in 1998 when it was clear that the Embarcadero Freeway was coming down to restore the building in homage to (or imitation of -- you pick) the food halls at Harrod's in London, Peck in Milan and the Pike's Place market in Seattle transformed it into a structure that pays homage to San Francisco's REAL obsession: food.
(an aside about San Francisco and food. There was a chain of sorts called the Real Food Company in business when I lived there during the 1980s. REALLY fresh produce, and, presaging the farm to table movement, they labeled where they sourced all their produce from. Bulk almost everything else too, including whole wheat pastry flour. It got to the point where I could tell the difference between lettuce grown by Warren Weber in Bolinas in West Marin from lettuce grown at the Tassajara Zen farm on the Peninsula, and I liked Warren Weber's lettuce better. Whole Foods bought Real Food around 1990 and closed them all. This is why I don't shop at Whole Foods now.)
The Ferry Building Food Hall was completed in 2003, it hosts an actual farmer's market three days a week -- Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (those are for another diary from another visit, as these were taken on Friday -- if I lived there I'd shop there), and a whole bunch of food stores, food stands and restaurants, and it's not really easy to categorize which is which some of the time. So, a selective tour in which I didn't aim to be inclusive (you didn't need a picture of Sur la Table, after all): these are places I either know about from eating there, or from shopping there, or from knowing about the celebrity chef responsible for them. Here's the floorplan:
And here's the view from the southern end of the main hall toward the northern end of the hall. It's not crowded because it's 8:45 AM. I'm going to do this south to north (although I generally start at the northern end).
Blue Bottle Coffee. Here we have a perfect manifestation of the foodi-ness of the Bay Area. Yes, the boutique coffee industry is said to come from Seattle, but before Seattle there was Peet's in Berkeley from which Starbuck's learned everything. This is the anti-Starbuck's with its origins in Oakland:
We roast coffee on vintage gear, put it in compostable bags, and still get it to our customers within 48 hours. We roast great coffee on two coasts, we make great drinks, we clean up after ourselves, we bake cookies, we type up invoices, we get change at the bank, we say please and thank you.
Um. It's always crowded, too. No, I don't stand on lines unless it's necessary, especially if there's a HUGE Peet's at the other end of the market.
A few steps south, we have Boccalone, a project of the celebrity chef Chris Cosentino, winner of the third season of Top Chef Masters, and the people who bankroll him. It's devoted to salumi, or, as the website says, "Tasty Salted Pig Parts." I've seen Cosentino there, so this isn't just a branding exercise. I KNOW I'd go directly to Boccalone if I needed pancetta (if I lived in San Francisco, that is).
Across from Boccalone, there's an empanada stand. It used to be at the other end of the great hall, and this is a better space. It's a little corner of Buenos Aires (your major hint is that it's called "El Porteño") and it proves that there's more to Argentinian cuisine than beef and chimichurri sauce. He even stocks alfajores, which are pretty much the national cookie of Argentina.
I would have had an empanada for breakfast if he had been open when I was in the Ferry Building the day before, but he was just setting up.
As you wander south, you'll come upon the Imperial Tea Court. Pretty, isn't it?
I'm rarely at the Ferry Building at the time in the afternoon when an interesting cup of tea would work. They serve food too, but really, there are SO many good Chinese restaurants in San Francisco that what's the point if the food is secondary to something else?
Delica-1, a Japanese-American deli, is down the hall in one of the fingers that take you to the ferries. THIS is a great idea.
I've done take out from here. I don't remember what I had, but I liked it. And now the serious end: Acme Bakery. I pet sat for two summers within 1/3 mile of the home Acme bakery in North Berkeley, and this is BREAD. Real serious bread, the kind you'd make yourself if you didn't live near Acme.
Just past it is Cowgirl Creamery. San Francisco has lots of good cheese stores in all kinds of neighborhoods. MY favorite when I lived there was the 24th Street Cheese Store, just west of Sanchez, and the great thing about it aside from the stock was you could go during your lunch break and still have time to get something to eat at your desk after (Thank you, J-Church). This is the neighborhood cheese store for the Embarcadero area.
The best thing about it for the tourist is its snack bar: Cowgirl Creamery Sidekick.
Every day there's a different egg and cheese sandwich for $6.95. On the 18th, it was cave-aged Gruyere with sauteed mushrooms on an Acme demi-baguette. Best non-Asian food I had in the City that trip. And, since Il Cane Rosso (people who cooked at, among other places, Delfina) only serves breakfast from 9-10:45 AM, and Boulette's larder doesn't provide a menu (I don't really like to fly blind), probably the best breakfast in that part of the city.
Finally, there's the Prather Ranch Meat Company. A butcher shop (the one I went to on Polk Street in the 80s is gone now), in fact their only retail location (they sell at farmer's markets), to supplement all the other stuff at the Ferry Building so you can do all your shopping there.
The young man (I explained I was taking pictures for a Top Comments diary at Daily Kos and he didn't ask what it was) said that aside from the butcher shop and the restaurant they have there they also set up a grill outside on Farmer's Market days. Cool, no? I think you can read the menu -- at least the headings.
I think they've done a very good job with the Ferry Building, and I don't remember the last time I was in the city without going there. How is the gastrotourism where you are?
And now for the real reasons you come here:
TOP COMMENTS
October 28, 2012
Thanks to tonight's Top Comments contributors! Let us hear from YOU
when you find that proficient comment.
from Steveningen
In Hunter's excellent diary, Romney economic adviser says the poor have it just fine because they have microwave ovens, blue jersey mom knocks it out of the park with this concise comment.
In VetGrl's righteous rant It's not hormones or the vapors. I'm just really f*cking mad, Avila's response enhances the diary like a perfect ornament.
From bronte17:
firenze explains to Ann Romney that those dastardly charter schools don't get a free ride from American taxpayers to overthrow our educational system. And the comment starts a great thread that examines the transfer and hoarding of what should be our national wealth into the few hands of the greedy. From the diary Ann Romney: Throw out the American public education system by noweasels.
from your humble (but unharried) diarist
here4tehbeer lays out the issues involved in zoebear's diary about the ad Romney made and is airing about his Jeep lie exquisitely well
In Scott Wooledge's diary about the forces trying to block marriage equality in Maryland, both Steveningen and Boise Blue make comments I would have made if they hadn't made them first!
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TOP MOJO,
October 27, 2012
Thank you, mik!
1) Promise? I'd like to live to 100! by IARXPHD — 265
2) Wow by Califlander — 151
3) This is an important diary. by Onomastic — 151
4) We in NC aren't leaving any stone un-turned in by funluvn1 — 147
5) "Dictating costs"? No. Doesn't work that way. by Ralphdog — 124
6) They look so young. So much younger than by concernedamerican — 119
7) Lack of dental care makes me crazy by Cuseology — 117
8) We are headed for European style health care by lakehillsliberal — 113
9) Don't Discount NC by ParaHammer — 113
10) If NYC goes bad they blame Obama right before by JohnAdams999 — 109
11) If it's a legitimate infection, the mouth just by accumbens — 108
12) "Quiet determination" by aThracian — 107
13) What Obummercare-hatin' "true american" by scrivener76 — 107
14) They are both patriotic, brave Americans by noweasels — 103
15) Republicans fear Nate n/t by Food Gas Lodging — 96
16) It's funny. by scrivener76 — 95
17) high quality poll by Supavash — 94
18) Wow, is the birth of Progressive Obama we've been by flitedocnm — 91
19) they hate reality. nt. by Vote4Obamain2012 — 90
20) Things we've learned from the last two elections: by movie buff — 90
21) He took a chance, a terrible risk by believing in by cherie clark — 87
22) Awesome. Better than the evil system we by Blicero — 86
23) This is a big event by beholderseye — 86
24) I absolutely cannot stand this woman by chicago minx — 83
25) They don't have the time... by joeotter — 81
26) I voted today! by noweasels — 78
27) Here are some more from Clay Bennett by Scarce — 77
28) dude by schobel94 — 76
29) Fill washing machine with water, by lgcap — 74
30) so many problems for mitts and so little time by live1 — 71
31) Pardon me for adding this here by oxfdblue — 71
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TOP PHOTOS
October 27, 2012
Enjoy jotter's wonderful PictureQuilt™ below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. Have fun, Kossacks!
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