The Foods of San Francisco Only 3-Hours in San Francisco? Eat a Neighborhood! By Mary Charlebois
F
An Edible Excursions tour group on its way to the next restaurant. Photos courtesy Mary Charlebois. ood is the key to knowing any city. Submerge yourself in one of San Francisco’s 27 diverse neighborhoods and eat your way through. In three hours, you will learn about food, history, culture, politics and residents. Try Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese, even forage city parks for common wild foods, medicinal plants and edible flowers. Tours are also organized around beer, wine, cocktails or cycling and food. Food tours offer something for all tastes and interests. Exploding worldwide, San Francisco is a leader with tours curated by foodies, chefs, farmers and food producers. They share extensive knowledge of a neighborhood’s food, drink, history, culture and residents. The Bay Area’s tours have been acclaimed by Fodor’s and Travel and Leisure. In a Japantown food tour, we ate Tonkotsu Ramen and learned about the 40-hour porkbroth that gives the dish the deeply umami flavor. We visited a Japanese sweet shop that 22 • Byways
has been operated by the same family in Japantown since 1906. Their Mochi is sweet, beautiful and addictive. A neighborhood market and deli served us sushi and salads made with fresh organic ingredients on-sight, that day. This family-owned shop was filled with Japanese food and beverage. I could have browsed for hours. We had Japanese Pizza, Sweet Potato Latte, Curry (the Japanese love it) and much more. Lessons in history, cooking, cul-
Great Eastern Dim Sum