Street food is one of our absolute favorite things about traveling abroad.  It's the fabric of a culture...what ties communities and generations together while allowing locals to make a living and share their authentic food with those who come to visit.  Eating street food is like drinking locally grown wine...it allows you to taste and get a sense of place.  Terroir, if you will.

The relatively recent swell of food trucks in our own country brings this glorious tradition to our own backyard...but even a die-hard foodie like me found it hard to keep up with all of the different trucks and be where they happened to be just at the right time.  So for the first couple of years when food trucks were all the rage, I kind of missed out which was frustrating!  But who has time to chase trucks all over town just to show up right when they're running out?  So when Matt Cohen founded Off the Grid, which brings food trucks from all over the Bay Area together into centralized locations I was thrilled!  Finally, an efficient way to sample from many food trucks and support my local food scene.  It's like I'm traveling & eating all around the world right in here in San Francisco.

This short video takes you on a tour of the Fort Mason Off the Grid market...take a quick look and then swing by this Friday and check it out yourself!

When we first moved to the Marina almost two years ago we were pretty happy with our decision after 3+ years of noise & shenanigans in the TrendyLoin, TenderNob or whatever you wanted to call our old ‘hood. However, there were two things we really missed...diversity (of both cuisines and people) and the fabulous Heart of the City Farmer’s Market in the Civic Center that we used to walk to each Sunday.

  For our first 6 months in the Marina we were shocked to find that there was no Farmer’s Market at all within walking distance (with all of us yuppies? what gives?!) but then last summer the Fort Mason Farmer’s Market opened up on Sundays from 9:30-1:30 for the summer only. Lucky for us it was such a success that they decided to keep it open year round and it is still going strong 1 year later.

As I was walking towards my neighborhood Fort Mason Farmer’s Market this weekend I felt a certain buzz in the air as I approached.  There were more people, more smiles, more laughter and a general uplifting feeling.  As I looked a bit more closely I quickly realized why...the start of the summer produce has arrived!

I grew up in Massachusetts, so to be clear eating only what produce is in season is not something that I was brought up doing but after 8 years on the West Coast this has become second nature to me (well except for my bananas and the occasional pineapple which are never in season here but I can’t seem to give up!).  In climates a bit less forgiving than CA, eating only what is in season is admittedly not quite as easy but I truly believe that it is still a worthwhile and rewarding effort...why?  Well, my reasons are...

Who doesn’t love a Pop-up Pie Shop?  Seriously...what a great idea.  I have to admit, I’m definitely more a pie-gal than a cake-gal anyway, so the fact that PieTisserie has “popped-up” right around the corner from my work for the entire summer is dangerous.  Bikini season ain’t looking so good! PieTisserie’s owner, Oakland resident Jaynelle St. Jean, has been making pie for years...first starting out by staging a window of her mother’s home and giving away slices to friends of the neighborhood.  She must have quickly realized she was on to something as she soon set her mission to fill the need for unique and delicious pies, or, Random Acts of Sweetness as her tagline proclaims.

A friend of a friend recently opened up Smitten Ice Cream shop in Hayes Valley...the first shop to be opened in the much anticipated Proxy Project to be exact.  If you’re not familiar with the Proxy Project, it’s a temporary two-block construct with a focus on sustainable design intended to house retail, art galleries, gardens, community use spaces and of course restaurants.  Keep an eye on this project, folks, it’s sure to be a foodie focal point being right down the street from the original Blue Bottle, across from Millete and soon to be next door to planned Proxy inhabitants such as Suppenkuche’s Biergarten, Ritual Coffee (in Blue Bottle’s territory?  Neat!), Delfina Pizzeria, 4505 Meats and more!

But I digress...back to the first Proxy Project opening, Smitten Ice Cream.  While this is Smitten’s first “permanent” location the ice cream has been being sold by founder Robyn Sue Goldman via her Radio Flyer wagon and Kelvin (more on that in a minute!) since 2009.  Where?  Well, Robyn has been quite industrious in getting the word out and a following for Smitten Ice Cream while the details of a shop location were in the works.  From samplings on the streets of San Francisco to Bay Area festivals to corporate events, Robyn has been wowing ice cream enthusiasts everywhere with her fresh and innovative take on ice cream.