Advertisement
Published: August 8th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Contraband Coffee
Best one yet in SF Gourmet chocolate tour scheduled for today. First a trip to the post office ???!! Yes, mundane as it is, I had ordered some perfume on eBay in a bid to save $30 on postage. So the post office had to be visited to pick it up, waited in queue for 30 mins to be told it wouldn't be available till Monday.... The upside though is the guy I stood next to in the line recommended a good coffee shop. Called Contraband Coffee, located on Larkin, it was a winner. Sort of like one I frequent at home, coffee was 10/10!!! Wifi on offer and killer banana choc chip bread. Staff not overly friendly, lots of laptop and iphone users on the free wifi but it worked for me - found a coffee spot.
My walk to Market St was down hill all along California St with it's incredibly awesome views. The Nob Hill area has some pretty spectacular hotels, houses and vistas. Arrived at the plaza in front of the Ferry Building and met up with Lachy. The rest of our group were from the US and pretty quiet, the guide was pretty OTT! We were to visit 7 spots
in all, the first 2 in the Ferry Building. Number 1 was Recchiuti, a SF maker and really exquisite, beautiful artwork and amazing salted caramel dark chocolates.
http://http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/recchiuti_confections.php The second was ScHarffen Berger from Berkeley, California. Also good, standout was the choc dipped dehydrated strawberry on a dab of balsamic.
http://http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/scharffen_berger.php Next was a news agency with the biggest selection of imported and domestic chocolate in CA, they also had a wide selection of imported newspapers and magazines. Hmmm. Next an Eco chocolate place in the Financial District. It used agave, gluten free, dairy free, etc, etc interesting enough. The where? It'is all becoming blurry... Belgian chocolatier followed by a Swiss chocolatier - the Swiss one was like an old fashioned chocolate box, lots of colour, lots of kitsch. I prefer the darker, less sweet chocolates rather than the creamier European ones.
Last stop at Westfield. Fantastic place called Cocoa Bella- German with amazing flavours, some off beat like blue cheese.
http://www.cocoabella.com/chocolates.php Tour over at 5, too much of a good thing ( for me anyway), but interesting all the same. Worth $53 each? I don't know, as an activity with Lachy yes.
Eco chocolate shop
Financial district Wouldn't need to repeat it though.
Anyway, Lachy headed back to his apt. at this point and I decided to do some cable car riding. I rode the California line up and back, it was a good experience. Each trip costs $6 (so with the 7 day transit pass it was a real bargain). This line is much, much less busy than the Market St line. I just walked straight on. I suspect I will have a couple more rides before my trip is over. The California line also stops at Polk St which has lots of good restaurants, plus the Trader Joe market.
Back down town I met up again with Lachy for a quick American Bite. We walked to Split, a burger place at the Metreon. Average. Caught a cab back. Early night.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 7; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0513s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb