Summer Snapshots: SF Sweet Spots

Hello dear readers,

It wasn’t quite summer when I wrote my last post, and now we’re almost halfway through. I’ve missed writing here, although the reason behind my absence is a happy one: I’ve been enjoying my summer travels! A combination of vacation and work travel has kept me away from the blog (although if you’ve been following my Instagram you’ll have gotten some glimpses of where I’ve been). I’ve one last bit of travel coming up in a week, and then I’m looking forward to time to decompress in August and finally start sharing some of my adventures.

As a bit of a teaser, here are some photos from some local sweet spots I’ve visited in between trips. Sweet treats old and new, all worth trying if you’re looking for something to beat the heat (and I hear this weekend will be another warm one).

Glad to be back and look for some more posts next week!

Pictured above: I’m a milk tea addict, so it’s no surprise that I was beyond excited to hear about the new Hong Kong Milk Tea ice cream flavor from Humphry Slocombe, developed in conjunction with Whole Foods and Top Chef contestant Melissa King. The ice cream is available exclusively at Whole Foods in Northern California.

Humphry Slocombe

2790A Harrison Street

1 pm – 11 pm M-Th, 12 pm – 12 am Fri-Sat, 12 pm – 11 pm Sun

One Ferry Building

11 am – 9:30 pm Sun-Fri, 8 am – 9:30 pm Sat

I dream daily of these gorgeous croissants at Vive La Tarte. Vive La Tarte is a bit of a SOMA secret; the surprisingly large and airy space filled with wonderful scents from the kitchen in the back is a great place to work on your laptop or just relax. The wonderful things I’ve had for lunch there include their pancetta and farm egg focaccia pizza, the quiche lorraine, the filled specialty croissants, and of course the tarts – the lemon meringue is particularly tasty.

Vive La Tarte

1160 Howard Street

8 am – 4 pm daily

I first experienced honey toast in Hong Kong, but this distinctly Asian treat has made it over to US shores. Pictures above is the perfectly Instagrammable Macaron Party Honey Toast from Sno-Crave Tea House. For the uninitiated, honey toast Asian cafe-style involves hollowing out a square loaf of bread, buttering and toasting it, and then covering it with honey and whipped cream. It’s as decadent as it sounds, especially once cafes get creative with the toppings, which can include ice cream, fruit, macarons, and about anything else you can imagine.

Sno-Crave Tea House

1181 Ocean Avenue

12 pm – 11 pm daily

Ketsourine Macarons is one Bay Area macaron shop that is fully embracing the cute character macaron trend.  Their selection of unbearably adorable macarons changes frequently – I’ve seen Totoro, Hello Kitty, Keroppi, Pusheen, and the ever-trendy unicorn, among others.When we went, in honor of Isabelle’s namesake we got her a Beauty and the Beast macaron with strawberry filling; the other character is Jigglypuff. They limit 2 character macarons to a customer, so you’ll be returning to try them all!

Ketsourine Macarons

500 Westlake Center, Daly City

11 am – 9 pm M-Sat, 11 am – 8 pm Sun

So of course  Mr.Holmes Bakehouse is not new, but I feel like I have to celebrate the fact that I “did the line” and got my cruffins – spiced pineapple curd filling on the morning I went! While the cruffins did not disappoint, I wouldn’t overlook the rest of the pastry selection, including the filled donuts, the churro croissant, and the bostock. Best of all, you don’t have to stand in line for an hour before opening to get at these pastries. So happy I finally “got baked in SF”!

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse

1042 Larkin Street

7 am – 2:30 pm M-F, 8 am – 3:30 pm Sat-Sun