My SF Bites: The Ferry Building Tasted

September 9, 2011

Over our stay in San Francisco, we spent a fair amount of time at the Ferry Building at the very eastern part of the city. There is so much to do that we never ran out of things to try, from breakfast to dinner to snacks to a farmer’s market of massive scale on Saturdays!

One day, we had little breakfast at the Cowgirl Creamery Sidekick, a breakfast and sandwich nook next to the Cowgirl Creamery cheese stand.

The light fruit yogurt filled with fresh summer stone fruits and granola. The Earl Grey panna cotta was a bit indulgent for breakfast but we couldn’t resist, it is tea after all?

Of the prepared breakfast sandwiches, we chose the Ham and Tam, salty, creamy and light. The baked egg sandwich stuffed with grilled mushrooms, gruyere and pancetta came out piping hot, quite a generous portion and definitely a filling sandwich.

We reserved one afternoon to wander around the market for snacks. I for one couldn’t wait for a taste of Boccalone, the salumi shop owned by Chris Corsentino. I have been dying to try his work for a while, both at Boccalone and at Incanto. Who wouldn’t when the tag line for Boccalone is “tasty salty pig parts”?

The best thing to get there for one person for a taste is the meat cone, filled with 3 kinds of meats served in a cute little snow cone holder.

I am not a huge fan of mortadella so I chose to create my own little cone filled with prosciutto, capocollo and lonza. It was my first time having either capocollo or lonza and I can tell you right now that I have found my new favorite cured meat. The capocollo is cured and smoked pork laced with fatty and leaner bits. The flavor is more intense than prosciutto and fattier than the leaner lonza, a cured pork loin.

Post Boccalone with a Nduja and pate di Campagna in tow, we swung by the Cowgirl Creamery to pick up some cheese for the next day. The selection was abundant so I left the choice of cheese to the cheesemongers for one harder and another soft to pair with the meats I grabbed from Boccalone.

All this shopping made us tired so we grabbed a seat at the Hog Island Oyster Bar. The restaurant was on the water front with a beautiful view of the Bay Bridge. The center piece of the oyster bar was, well, clearly, an oyster bar! You can see them working on your plate right in front of you.

We had to save room for dinner so only a dozen of the Sweetwater Pacific oysters. It was crisp and clean, just like the air coming from outside.

Our last full day in San Francisco started with a bang with the Saturday Farmer’s Market. There were so many fresh produce and vendors selling amazingly fragrant and diverse foods. I took a spin throughout the entire space, right outside of the building. The best part was the sampling. I hate to be a cliche but the fruits do taste so much fresher and better in San Francisco.

A few shoots from the market…

The final result of our Saturday morning Ferry Building Farmer’s Market crawl was a delicious picnic. I can get used to this and do this every weekend.