super yummy day

For some reason, I had both Monday and Tuesday off this week. We came back from DC on Monday night anyway since D had to work, so I had all of Tuesday free. I decided to embark on a food tour of SF of all the places that I'd been wanting to try, but hadn't had time to go yet.

My friend and I left home around 9:30am, and went directly to Little Skillet, where we split chicken and waffles and an order of biscuits. Everyone else was eating their food on the street, but we were cold so we ate in the car. I thought the chicken and biscuits were quite good, but the waffles were so-so.

Next up was Dynamo Donuts, where we met up with another friend and ordered a maple glazed bacon apple donut and a bread pudding to share, plus coffee/espresso all around. Of course, I took a box of donuts to go: another maple glazed bacon apple, a lemon thyme, a spiced chocolate, and the last passionfruit milk chocolate available. Score!

I wanted to hit the farmer's market, so we headed back across town to the Ferry Building where I bought cherries and green beans but resisted some delicious brittle. Instead I went inside where I bought Cowgirl Creamery cheese (Red Hawk, Cave Aged Marisa, & Wasatch Mountain), more Acme bread, and Miette macarons. We also snacked on a "meat cone" at Boccalone Salumeria and I eyed some of the mushrooms at Far West Fungi but I finally decided they were just too expensive.

Soon afterwards, we met up with yet another friend, and after much debate, the four of us picked Hog Island Oyster Company over Out the Door for lunch. Together, we split a half dozen oysters, two salads, and two delicious gruyere and onion bread grilled cheese sandwiches.

I couldn't eat anything else after that, but couldn't leave the city without some ice cream anyway. We discussed the pros and cons of Humphry Slocombe and Bi-Rite but in the end I picked Mitchell's since I hadn't had it since high school and figured I should give it another chance. We took home a pint of "Tropical Four" (banana, guava, mango & pineapple).

After a few hours of errands and such, it was time to make dinner! My contribution was pasta with shallots, mushrooms, tomatoes, and pesto sauce, made from all of the fresh basil in the fridge that was just starting to spoil. We also made chicken piccata and had some of the bread and cheese. For dessert, we sampled the donuts (my favorites were the maple bacon and passionfruit chocolate) and I made a parfait of sorts from ice cream, milk, Grand Marnier, peaches, and blueberries.

Now that I think about it, it's probably a good thing that I hardly ever have random weekdays off of work.