It's the time of year when it's fun to take visitors to the market. Friends who don't typically shop at farmers' markets will be overwhelmed by the amount of produce that we have available locally and in season, and will be sure to go home with a bag full of summertime delights. The market is bursting at the seams with color and flavor and scents, and it's an exercise in restraint to decide where to spend my budget. My strategy during this time of abundance is typically to find out what products are going to be around for a little while, and then to prioritize from there. Okra have just begun to show up in the market and as... More

It was 8:15 a.m. and the market had been open for fifteen minutes. I had arrived early for a specific reason: to purchase the prized sour cherry. I realize that sour cherries are prevalent around Michigan and the Midwest, but for Californians, it's a treat to get fresh sour cherries. They are about the size of the tip of my pinky and perfect for pickling and brandying. I was still waking up, and was not prepared for the aggression of the other customers who had arrived early for the same reason as I had. One woman brought an empty cardboard box that was carefully lined with paper towels to carry home her cargo. I had to physically make a... More

Photograph by Lance Iversen for The San Francisco Chronicle At the Blue Bottle Coffee Bar, in the Rooftop Garden at the San Francisco MOMA, pastry chef Caitlin Williams Freeman sculpts desserts that model the paintings within the museum—like the Piet Mondrian-style cake pictured above. Food is often called a form of art, but this cake is pretty incredible. What's the prettiest dessert that you've ever seen?... More

Growing up in the Bay Area, there was a single bread of choice for sandwiches. No, not San Francisco sourdough--lunches came on Dutch Crunch, a dense, doughy bread with a moist crumb. But what sets it apart from other breads? The crackly top, with crunchy little bits growing from the paler crust underneath. More

It's a beautiful day in Mountain View, California, where today at Shoreline Amphitheatre, the first-ever Great American Food & Music Fest will take off. Three generations of the Bracewell family drove their Southside Market smoker truck all the way from Elgin, "the Sausage Capitol of Texas." Half a ton of Barney Greengrass smoked salmon arrived from New York, and Gary Greengrass is slicing it up. Katz's Deli, Anchor Bar Buffalo Wings, Tony Luke's Cheesesteaks and Roast Pork, Pink's Hot Dogs—the list goes on and on. Plus appearances from Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, and a number of Bay Area chefs. The Chronicle called us "The United States of Yum"—and that's just about right. The Serious Eats team will be out... More

The San Francisco Chronicle follows the “Mission Sugar Trail” around the city’s Mission District, finding all sorts of doughnuts, pies, cookies, and ice cream shops along the way.... More

Last week we told you about Millennium restaurant in San Francisco charging customers $1 for filtered water (with no free tap water option). After reading reactions from San Francisco Chronicle readers, they've rethought the approach. "It's clear from your recent blog and the responses to it that it makes sense to offer our guests a choice if they want just good old Hetch Hetchy tap water for no cost," said general manager Erica Culp.... More

Almost a year ago, we told you about Millennium in San Francisco charging a buck per glass of water that's passed through a Natura filtration system. Well, they're still doing it, and as San Francisco Chronicle food critic Michael Bauer points out on his blog Between Meals, there's something psychologically disturbing about knowing that buck went to self-righteous water. Plus, there are plenty of other restaurants that seem to be pouring it for free. What's next, a rental fee for straws? It'd be nice if free tap was an option in addition to the filtered stuff. Or even if that dollar was stretched out across the bill so you didn't fixate on the "water" surcharge. But at the same time,... More

"The term 'new potato' has become ubiquitous and is overused, but a true new potato is a treat, and is fairly rare to find." This moment, right now, is one of my favorite times in Northern California farmers' markets. I wish I had an unlimited budget to buy enough berries and asparagus to fill my Zipcar, and unlimited time to shell peas and fava beans so that I could have them in plentiful supply all year. It's a bright, colorful time to walk through the market. Flowers are in abundance, spring fruit is returning, and the fragrance of strawberries wafts through the stalls. One of my absolute favorite things is making its debut right now: new potatoes. Many people don't... More