Another pile of juicy Rainier cherries from the stall next to me, or a ‘drip down the chin’ Ivory Princess peach? Decisions, decisions. It is a foggy San Francisco morning at the iconic Ferry Building’s Saturday farmers market, and just about everything on display — peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines — is ‘perfection with a pit’. Nothing like the imported varieties back home, which are often overpriced (₹400 for 20 cherries!), suspiciously firm, disappointingly bland; it’s no wonder I go a bit fruit mad. Till Lisa Rogovin drily reminds me of the extra stomach I will need over the next two hours. Having organised food tours with her company, Edible Excursions, for over 13 years, Rogovin is no stranger to gluttons like me. I will be rewarded at the artisan Marketplace in the historic Ferry Building, she promises.
She’s right. An hour after we have eaten our way through at least 15 stores and restaurants (there are over 48), I have to concur that the Ferry Building tour, her most popular (Gourmet Ghetto in Berkeley, the birthplace of California cuisine, is a close second from a list of about 10 tours), deserves a pre-event masterclass in portion control. Bypassing queues (thanks to Rogovin’s contacts) to sample steamed pork buns, spring rolls from Out the Door, wild nettle-wrapped cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, Recchiuti’s burnt caramel truffles, lemon poppy seed biscuits and so on, is a good way to be introduced to the Bay Area’s culinary ethos. While I pack blood orange olive oil from Stonehouse to take home to India and Acme apple turnovers for the cruise to Alcatraz Island later that day, Rogovin suggests I sample Boccalone’s signature ‘meat cone’ before I leave the city. I do. Delicious slices of small-batch cured meats like Mortadella, Ciccioli and Capocollo are served in a paper cone, and I take it along for my walk along the Embarcadero with its waterfront views. (Sadly, the iconic emporium for ‘tasty salted pig parts’ has since shut shop thanks to the crowded charcuterie scene in San Francisco.) Meanwhile, back on the tour with Rogovin, I sign up for Humphry Slocombe’s Secret Breakfast - ice cream for adults, featuring cornflakes and bourbon as ingredients – but it’s the adventurous brand’s black sesame ice cream that gets my vote. Much later, when we hunker down to inspect baskets of wild and international mushrooms on sale at another Marketplace favourite, Far West Fungi, Rogovin, 47, brings me up to speed on the many experiences I should pack into my short trip.
Trucks and star chefs
There are the food trucks, of course, seen all over the city for years now, but over several mails with her the Mozzeria Food Truck is her favourite, she says. Known for its Neapolitan pies with a buttery crust, and its owners, servers and cooks, who are all deaf, it also sees people flying in from other countries just to have a meal. A fine example of empowering the deaf community! With seven Michelin three-star restaurants, a visit to San Francisco for them also requires booking months ahead. The ‘chefs most wanted’ on this list? Stuart Brioza at State Bird Provisions, Ravi Kapur of Liholiho Yacht Club, and hunter-chef Joshua Skenes of Saison. Look out for California’s famed seasonal produce on their menus and at markets — this is the month for varieties of citrus and vegetables like cardoon, the thistle-like relative of the artichoke.
Dinner high
Another underground trend that might gain momentum this year is the ‘cannabis dinner’, what with adult recreational use becoming legal in California this month. Guests with a prescription for medical marijuana have been queuing up at pop-ups that offer a gourmet meal starring seasonal California ingredients paired with cannabis flower, edibles and extracts.
Rogovin too has something to do with the trend, having launched Curious Cannabis Salon last October. Over mail a few days ago, the former staffer at the food and travel magazine Gourmet insists that is not an “edibles tasting experience” but that the focus is on “education about wellness through cannabis and the forms of consumption available.” Among the edibles showcased at her sold-out event in December were weed-infused probiotic chocolate, marshmallows and olive oil! But cannabis cannot cross state lines, she cautions.
The Ferry Building Tour begins at approx. ₹5,000 onwards.
The writer was invited by Visit California
