Roger’s San Francisco trip in May 2013 opened the way you might expect from someone who had spent the previous summer hunting for Hong Kong café food in San Diego: with a cha chaan teng fix — milk tea, macaroni soup with ham and thick toast.
The rest of the trip moved fast. A caramel cream puff from Beard Papa’s. Sunset drinks at a view lounge followed by The Europeans red wine flight at Press Club. A late-night bowl of boat noodles near Union Square when the munchies hit. On a bike ride in Sausalito, a break for spaghetti carbonara.
The most detailed caption of the trip came on the Embarcadero, with the Bay Bridge in the background: oysters from California, British Columbia, Washington and Virginia, and steamers of Manila clams with leek tips, lima beans, Spanish chorizo and jalapeño butter in white wine broth.
The best find was unplanned. Walking back to the hotel, Roger ran into a French crème brûlée cart on Market Street and got two, torched in foil tins. And across the bay in Berkeley, The Melt’s Mac Daddy put macaroni and cheese inside a grilled cheese.
These are 2013 records, not a current Bay Area guide. They capture a trip where the street finds were as memorable as the sit-down meals.
Source trail
Sunset drinks at The View Lounge, May 21, 2013 — Roger’s Flickr post ↗The frames in this story
