This Wednesday, I tried to eat my way through the 3×3 block neighborhood, Hayes Valley. My friend and I enjoyed a picnic in Patricia’s Green underneath the SQUARED art piece, noshed on Eastern European savory treats and fermented wine, indulged in savory ice creams, and washed it down with some toffee-topped boba.
When it comes to food, it’s certain that the choices are endless in Hayes Valley and there are too many amazing places to hit on a single trip. For example, if you’re thirsty, you can choose between specialized bars for champagne, beer, or wine at The Riddler, Biergarten, and Fig & Thistle, respectively. If you like ice cream you simply choose between it being made to order with liquid nitrogen at Smitten or more savory flavors such as bone marrow at Salt & Straw.
Stop 1: Picnic in the Park
We started the “hike” with a picnic in the park featuring wine, cheese, salami, and macaroons. I picked up a few flavors at Miette: raspberry, chocolate, pistachio, and hazelnut. My friend, Diana, joined me in the park and as we caught up we talked about what kind of food we wanted to try in between nibbles. Neither of us had spent considerable time in the neighborhood recently and it was an exciting opportunity to peer in windows and get a feel for the latest storefronts.
Stop 2: Savory Puffs at the 20th Century Cafe
We ventured east along Fell towards the Fatted Calf, a high-end butcher with sandwiches and other specialty goods. As I still had some prosciutto in my backpack, we opted to head straight to 20th Century Cafe, a charming Eastern European-inspired bakery with eclectic furnishings and music from several generations back. Along with Georgian wine, we split a potato knish, essentially a pastry puff filled with spiced mashed potato and onion – absolutely delectable!!!
Why I love it: Eastern European wine is hard to find on the West Coast and the pastries are all handmade as shown above with the strudel.
Stop 3: Inventive Ice Cream at Salt & Straw
Ready for something sweet, we returned to Hayes Street and made our way back to the park. What makes Hayes Valley unique in a city full of great neighborhoods are the cargo containers converted into businesses with small pop-up style architecture for businesses like Smitten, Ritual Coffee, and Juice Bar. After a few more minutes of sunshine, we make our way past the shops on Hayes and get to the main attraction: Salt & Straw ice cream. Unsure what flavor to get, we try sweet and savory flavors like Bone Marrow & Smoked Cherries, Sightglass Coffee Cashew Praline, Arbequina Olive Oil, and my personal favorite: Mt Tam Cheese with Toasted Acme Bread. I’ve never experienced anything like this. A funky yet creamy ice cream with a candied crouton crunch and a cherry and apricot jam to tie it all together.
Why I love it: inventive, innovative, delicious, and they sell pints!
Stop 4: Boutique Bobo at Urban Ritual
With a few more blocks to go before covering the main drag, we turned south at Laguna. If you’re along this stretch of Hayes in the evening, be sure to get potato pancakes with applesauce at Suppenkuche and a glass of champagne at the Riddler. Once you’re at the corner of Fell and Laguna, you’ll find Urban Ritual (Note: I’m not huge on boba because they’re typically overwhelmingly sweet, but this place is highly customizable whether tea base, milk, or sweetness). Diana and I both opted for the matcha toffee (I cranked the sugar way down) which was boba-less and topped with actual toffee. I don’t think I could drink the whole glass, but I still want to try the Creme Brulee drink with honey boba and crackling torched raw sugar…
Check out this map of more Hayes Valley spots for noshing, sweets, drinks, and more!