Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Said to be the longest-running Japanese confectioner (since 1906) in
a city where that heritage goes back a long way,
Benkyodo Co.
(1747
Buchanan St., at Sutter;
%
415/922-1244; www.benkyodocompany.com;
Mon-Sat 8am-5pm; cash only)
does an array of
mochi
(soft rice cakes)
manju
(mochi with sweet bean paste)—all handmade, under $1, and not
easy to find outside of Japan. Naturally, it has a huge following, so show
up earlier in the day to stand a chance of getting the most popular fla-
vors, such as strawberry. It's cash only, and the lines can be unpleasant
around the holidays and the New Year.
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The Bi-Rite Grocery, a yuppie supermarket across the street, runs the
equally adorable
Bi-Rite Creamery and Bakeshop
5
9
(3682 18th St.,
at Dolores;
%
415/626-5600; www.biritecreamery.com; AE, MC, V; daily
11am-10pm),
where homemade ice cream is scooped within sight of the
sunbathers and Frisbee tossers of Dolores Park. Besides the high quality of
the product, the Creamery is known for a few of its more adventurous fla-
vors such as ricanela (a snickerdoodle-like concoction) and, my favorite,
salted caramel. It does more conventional flavors, too (the rocky road is
rich and addictive), but if you have the chance to try something like Sam's
Sundae—a chocolate ice cream topped with Bergamot olive oil, sea salt,
and whipped cream—shouldn't you seize the chance?
halls, is a good fallback for filling food. Other locations:
Lower Haight (237
Fillmore St., at Haight;
%
415/487
-
0551), Upper Haight (1428 Haight St., at
Masonic;
%
415/864
-
8484), and Marina (2263 Chestnut St., at Scott;
%
415/
441
-
2200).
$$-$$$
After crawls through the Haight's secondhand stores,
Magnolia
(1398
Haight St.;
%
415/864
-
7468; www.magnoliapub.com; Mon-Fri noon-midnight,
Sat-Sun 10am-1am; AE, DC, MC, V)
makes a fitting and kicked-back finale. Here
we have pub-style food (burgers, sandwiches, home-cut fries and onion rings)
done with local and seasonal ingredients and served with a selection of wittily
named homebrews (the Kalifornia Kolsch, the Cole Porter—many are made in
the basement). Sodas are home-brewed in root beer, grape, and orange cream.
Prices are sane (about $12 per entree) and the menu isn't overly long, although
the psychedelic wall murals are wild enough.
$$$-$$$$
The baby of chef-owner Justine Miner,
RNM Restaurant
(598 Haight
St., at Steiner;
%
415/551
-
7900; www.rnmrestaurant.com; Tues-Thurs
5:30-10pm, Fri-Sat 5:30-11pm; AE, MC, V)
does surprisingly large “small plates”
