4 Hour San Fran Tour: The Vestry, Humphry Slocombe, Tartine Bakery

I recently did a one day trip to San Francisco. The main reason for the trip was a miles run. (If you don't know what that is, you probably don't care to know or understand why people do this. But if you are on the same boat as me... you know what I'm talking about!! :P) Anyhoo, I'm trying to make Platinum status on AA for next year. But for me, if I'm spending the time and money to do this, I better enjoy it!! So I made plans with my cousins who live close to SF to meet up for brunch. :) A 4 hour food tour of SF is basically what I did. hehe.

I was upgraded on my flight there so I got a really good breakfast in first class! Egg souffle with potatoes, sausage, fruit, and a warm biscuit. I was trying to hold out until brunch with my cousins but the food was too yummy. XP

I landed SFO at 10AM and my cousins picked me up and headed straight for the Mission area. Apparently it's a younger, hipster area with lots of food places. And I basically stayed in that area for the whole day.

The Vestry at the Chapel
777 Valencia St,
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 551-7306
http://www.thechapelsf.com/vestry-restaurant/
Price: $$

We had reservations at 11:30, but got there at 11AM. They seated us immediately. It didn't start getting a little more crowded until 11:30. The decor was rustic. The tables were really small but makes it a more intimate setting I guess. It was a little dark for my preference for brunch but there was sunlight coming through the windows.

Duck Confit Hash (banana squash, apples, potatoes, sage and poached egg) $13~ 

This was my order. I was pretty excited. Until they served it. haha. It was very small. :( I guess I'm used to Texas portions! But this gave me the opportunity to eat more of other people's food. haha. The hash was meh. I needed more depth in flavor. The duck wasn't super tender. The egg was overcooked since the yolk had hardened a bit inside. But all in all it was by no means bad... Not worth the price though.

Corn Bread Benedict (bacon, poached eggs, chipotle hollandaise) $15~ 

I guess they tend to lean on the smaller side on portions. Other than the bacon there wasn't a side to the dish. But it was pretty good. The chipotle hollandaise made the dish. It was delicious. Still pricey for the portion though.

King Cake French Toast (bananas foster syrup) $12~ 

This was my favorite of the day. The french toast was awesome. Never had french toast with king cake before! The texture was great. It had a nice crust but the inside was soft and warm. The mound of caramelized bananas was a great addition. I ate half of an order myself. haha.

Shrimp "Po' Boy" (with spicy remoulad and mardi gras slaw) $12~ I didn't get the try the sandwich but my cousin said it was really good. I used the jalapenos with my hash tho, which gave it a nice kick.

Not the best brunch I've had. Not the worst either. I was underwhelmed. I guess I expected more from SF since it's a big foodie town. Oh wells. Gotta try another place on my next visit!

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Next, we headed over to Humphry Slocombe for some ice cream! This place was on my list to hit. They had some interesting flavors! They're most famous for their "Secret Breakfast", which is corn flake ice cream with bourbon.

Humphry Slocombe
2790 Harrison St,
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 550-6971
http://www.humphryslocombe.com/
Price: $

One Scoop (Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee) $3.75~ This was really good. The coffee flavor was bold! I almost got the same thing. But obviously I didn't cuz I want to try multiple flavors. haha.

One Scoop (Cinnamon Brittle on a cone) $3.75~ I got this. The crispy brittle in the creamy ice cream was great! The cinnamon made it a little spicy and it just warms you up! Even though it's ice cream. hahaha. The consistency of the ice cream is really rich. I enjoyed it a lot. However, the scoops are too small! I missed the Texas sizes there as well. hehe.

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Last but not least, everyone I talked to had told me to go to Tartine Bakery. We walked by before brunch and saw a line out the door. It was about the same amount of people in line when we made it back later that afternoon.

Tartine Bakery & Cafe
600 Guerrero St,
San Francisco, California 94110
(415) 487-2600
http://www.tartinebakery.com/
Price: $

The cafe is pretty small and seats are first come first serve. But we were able to snag a few seats while I waited in line. The line moved pretty quickly. I kinda felt pressured to have my order ready due to the long line, but I wanted to look at and have everything. haha. The display of pastries and desserts were soooo tempting. They had these massive croissants!

 

 

 

 

I got some stuff to eat there and also a bunch of stuff to take back to Dallas.

Lemon Cream Tart (4 inch) $6.50~ My cousins wanted one of these. I'm not usually a lemon fan but this was really good. The cream was silky and just enough tartness. The tart shell was thin and had a nice crunch to it.

Passion Fruit Lime Bavarian Cake (topped with shredded coconut) slice $5.50~ 

I wanted to try something different and this cake sounded awesome. However, there was no description and from the brief glances into the display case, I thought the coconut flakes were actually white chocolate flakes. (Since they didn't include 'coconut' in the name of the cake.) I hate shredded coconut so it was a little disappointing to find that on the frosting. One of my cousins doesn't like shredded coconut either so both of us were trying to scrape it off the frosting. haha. But, despite the coconut, it was awesome. We all loved it. It had just the right amount of tartness between the passion fruit and lime. It was very refreshing too. The passion fruit cream in the middle of the layers were fantastic. I really liked it even with a few shreds of coconut flakes.

These are what I took home:
Pumpkin Tea Cake (slice) $3.75~ Pretty yummy. I liked the pumpkin seeds on the top of the slices.

 

Morning Bun $3.95~ I popped these in the oven for like 5 minutes. It crisped up the outside and the inside was still soft and warm. It was like a croissant muffin. Or a "cruffin"? hahaha. I'm pretty sure this precedes the cronut creating in NYC. This was my favorite out of the bunch I took home. Not too sweet and I loved all the layers of pastry.

 

 

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart (4 inch) $6.50~ I was really excited about this. And it wasn't too bad. But I waited over 24 hours to eat it. I heated it up for a few seconds in the microwave which helped I think. But it was not as moist as I would've liked. The tart shell is the same as the lemon cream tart, which I still enjoyed. It was good with tea, but I think if I had it when it first came out of the oven, it would be a totally different experience.

Gougere (popover with gruyere and black pepper) $3.75~ This was highly recommended on yelp so I got one to try. I love popovers. I popped this in the oven as well, so the shell got really crispy. But the inside was still soft. You can definitely taste the gruyere and black pepper. The inside was hollow and airy. I liked it a lot.

 

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~