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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

The American Tourist Stereotype - Still Going Strong

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