San Francisco - Quick Tour

San Francisco has long been a place we have admired, wanted to visit and explore. Its take on coffee, bakery and café culture was just what we needed to re-energise and inspire us with new ideas for the new café opening in a few months. San Francisco is sometimes referred to as the birth of sourdough bread thanks to a number of small neighbourhood bakeries most notably known being Tartine. Who has since grown to a multi store bakery with branches over the US expanding into South Korea and inspiring a new generation of bakeries including us. The café culture and coffee habits are different to what we are used to in the UK. There is a big ice/cold coffee preference for people in the morning instead of a hot coffee - think 16-20oz iced black filter. No Cortados or Piccolos on the menus. A lot of cafes and coffee bars tended to have a iced seasonal drink creation that was coffee or tea based. A culturally diverse population with a big influx of Mexican, El Salvadorian and Guatamalen flavour has given birth to some really interesting fusion cafes and restaurants. A city well worth visiting if you are a foodie, we hope to return one day. We have made a small list of our favourites to visit :

Coffee shops and favourite item :

Saint Frank - Coffee Milkshakes used to show case new coffee blends.

Andytown Coffee Roasters - Kenyan Iced Filter

Ritual Coffee - Best sweet espresso - Bunny Slope Blend

Verve Coffee - Nitro kombucha on tap

Sightglass - Best space - Huge on site roastery in a warehouse

Spro - Unique drinks coffee science on the edge of Mission Dolores Park

Bakeries and favourite item:

Tartine - Tres Leche Cake, Bread Pudding, Hot Pressed Sandwiches, Ham Cheese Jalepeno Croissant

Craftsman & Wolves - Chocolate Financier, Japanese Milkbread sandwiches, Double Choc croissant

Neighbour Bakehouse - Kimchi squash blue cheese croissant, guava cream cheese pastellito

Abaca Panaderia - Ube mandarin mousse cake, Cheese ensaymada