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North Beach Food Tour down Columbus Avenue (San Francisco’s Italian Quarter)

What happens when Italian caffè houses, a bohemian bookstore, funky wine bars, and a really big-grass park come together? -- North Beach. Casually strolling down Columbus Avenue, I started to get a real sense of its cultural heritage, its poetic history, ... mmmmm, and its really delicious smells.

Beatniks made North Beach famous. Back in the 50s, San Francisco’s Italian Quarter became a breeding ground for young, bohemian writers, poets and artists reveling in nonconformity and hedonistic creativity. They sipped caffè, philosophized, read poetry, and blended an artistic, free-thinking cultural phenomena with years of Italian tradition & culture.

It’s this brilliant, fortuitous fusion that gives North Beach its unique identity -- it’s an eclectic concoction of upstanding tradition, a pinch or two of colorful indelicacy, and a good dose of swank and groove.

Here’s a tour of Little Italy, mostly gastronomic, of course, with a smattering of cool must-sees. The list begins at the north-end of Columbus and works its way down:

XOX Truffles
754 Columbus, bet. Greenwich & Filbert
When I first stepped into XOX, I wasn’t sure if the truffles were worth adding to my ever-increasing treat stockpile to take back to Seattle. I gave in & purchased a small box thinking (alright, this is awful) if they weren’t worth the calories, I’d give them to my husband as a surprise. I popped one in my mouth before reaching Filbert, turned immediately, ran back into the shop, & thanked the owner for making such amazing truffles. They are that good.

The Slanted Door in San Francisco’s Ferry Building

If you eat at only one Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco, make it The Slanted Door. Executive Chef, Charles Phan seamlessly meshes traditional Vietnam with modern San Francisco for the best of both worlds. Authentic Vietnamese cuisine using traditional methods and local, organic, sustainable ingredients (including produce from the Marketplace just outside their doors) is served in a very modern setting overlooking the Bay. Phan never cuts corners & everything is made from scratch.

San Francisco's Ferry Building - A Model Marketplace

Not many cities would restore a bleary, old building to surpass its former glory and then dedicate it to organic & sustainable food. It’s so west coast. So California. So very San Francisco. Only the Bay Area, where America’s food revolution began, would make such a grand gesture to Mother Earth and its humble caretakers.

Before the Golden Gate & Bay Bridges were constructed, the Ferry Building was the point of all comings & goings in San Francisco. By the 50s, the Ferry Building had little use and lost much of its luster, by 1998 the city came up with a plan and hired a redevelopment team. Four labor-intensive years and about $100 million later, the renovation was complete, and the result is stunning!

Imperial Tea Court

Where Are All The Women - by Laura Shapiro

Women have come a long way from the days of discrimination in the work place, but there are other factors influencing women chefs from rising to the top in the kitchen. Here are the highlights from Laura Shapiro's excellent & timely article in Gourmet:

“...Take a look at the two liveliest and most influential restaurant scenes in the country. In one of them, women chefs are ubiquitous, and so successful that nobody even remembers the word “discrimination.” In the other, you could fit all the big-name female chefs in town under a single bus shelter.”

How to Cook A Wolf: Queen Anne’s New Hot Spot

Ethan Stowell’s third restaurant brings a different twist to Queen Anne’s usual stroller scene. How to Cook a Wolf is modern, chic and cozy - a nice, grown-up place to get a drink & a snack. Andrew & I went early last Saturday evening and snagged a seat at the bar - the place was filled within 45 minutes.

The small, constantly changing menu is seasonal with an Italian feel - creative crostinis, cured meat plates, great little salads, etc. Wolf has a full bar with wines by the glass and bottle.

The Tuna Confit Salad with Creamy Saffron Dressing and Haricots Verts was absolutely divine. It was refreshing, light, and full of flavor - perfect for a sunny day.

The prosciutto plate was beautifully presented on a wooden cheese board drizzled with olive oil and garnished with Parmigiano-Reggiano. I was glad there was two of us and that the server gave us some bread at the beginning, because 15 slices of cured meat can be a little daunting otherwise.

The Anchovy Crostini with Tapenade was even better than I had anticipated. The bread was warm and crisp, but the tapenade and white anchovy fillets were cool - it was a delicious contrast of flavors, textures and temperatures.

Three appetizers, one martini and a glass of red wine set us back just over $60. Wolf isn’t a cheap date, to be sure, but the food, wine and atmosphere were delicious - - and the lack of screaming children made it priceless.

Chicago’s Best Pizza: Dishing Deeper on the Deep-Dish

I flew into Chicago a deep-dish virgin, and emerged a full-fledged, lip-smacking, Chiago-style pizza-lusting woman. I’m hooked.

Chicago: More Than Great Deep-Dish, And Yes, Pretty Windy

I knew about deep-dish (can’t say I’d ever had an authentic one); but that, the biting winds and Charlie Trotter’s were all I really knew about Chicago.

New York's Fleur de Sel: Amazing Lunch for $25

I believe a restaurant truly excels when: being immutably full for three days of gastronomic pleasure, you not only eat more, but enticed by the menu, you opt for the five-course tasting lunch instead of the intended three.

Cipriani Le Specialita

Do you think Giuseppe Cipriani knew that when he answered an ad in 1918 for a chef de rang position, it was the first step to creating an empire beloved by the royal, rich and famous?

Falai Cucina Italiana

“Destination Street,” “Restaurant Row,” “The Hot Block” – those are just a few labels stuck to Clinton Street on Manhattan’s lower east side.