Foodie sites, bakeries

[cherylb]

Hi. I'm visiting san francisco in august. We own a small bakery and looking for some good off the beaten path place. Have already read about all the "big" places to go...ferry building, tartine, citizen cake, etc. I'm looking for small "non-famous" places to go. Cheese shops, bakeries, cooking stores, etc. Thanks for any recommendations.

[Xiao Yang]

Are you looking for particular types of bakeries? We have Italian Bakeries, French Bakeries, Chinese Bakeries, Irish Bakeries, Latin American Bakeries, Japanese Bakeries, Russian Bakeries, etc. Pastries, cakes, cookies, or breads? Sweets or savories?

[wolfe]

Grand Bakery, Oakland, Kosher.
http://www.chow.com/places/8487

[Nancy Berry]

Some suggestions:

The Wok Shop -- great place for Chinese cookware -- they also have a very nice website: http://www.wokshop.com

Cookin' -- a shop that specializes in antique and used cookware -- fascinating to those of us who are interested in food history and useful for picking up some interesting pieces.

Thorough Bread and Pastry -- a brand new artisan bakery in SF -- operated by The San Francisco Baking Institute (www.sfbi.com) -- most of the product is baked there.

Cafe Bakery -- a very good Chinese bakery in SF -- great char siu bao -- note that the bakery has a different entrance from the associated restaurant next door.

Arizmendi Bakery -- a San Francisco co-op bakery that came out of The Cheese Shop in Berkeley. They make some very nice breads and scones. www.arizmendibakery.org/

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Cafe Bakery
1365 Noriega St, San Francisco, CA 94122

Wok Shop
718 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA

Thorough Bread and Pastry
248 Church Street, San Francisco, CA

Cookin'
339 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA

[Atomica]

To tag along with Nancy's post, Cookin' is a must. At Arizmendi, also have a slice of their chocolate cake. It's the best basic chocolate cake I've had in SF. I also suggest visiting Mission Pie.

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Bike Basket Pies
San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA

[Xiao Yang]

Gin Wall Hardware has even more exotic Chinese cookery items than the Wok Shop, and lower prices, but not much of a didactic aspect.

Cafe Bakery, while favored by many for their baked cha shao bao, is something of a lonely outpost, while there a several good Chinese bakeries in Chinatown within walking distance of each other.

Biordi Imports, on Columbus Avenue, has some of the most beautiful Italian ceramic kitchenware you'll ever see, if you are interested in that.

[peppatty]

Gin Wall also has some interesting cookbooks as well. You can get chinese knives, sets for fancy garnishing, moon cake molds and every size of steamer you can imagine. Also go across the street for the pastries, especially the gai may bow "cocktail buns".

[ChowFun_derek]

My personal favorite......

"GOLDEN GATE BAKERY" on Grant Ave. in Chinatown....warm egg custard tarts, superior flaky coconut tarts, GREAT chewy and crispy macaroons...and gristle'less Char siu bao. Many posts on this place, it is an institution...when there was a rumor last year that they were closing, I started wearing black!

[Ruth Lafler]

Are you going to be able to go outside the city? Because there are some excellent bakeries in the East Bay (Crixa, Sweet Adeline, La Farine, Bakesale Betty's) plus the Cheeseboard, which is both a great cheese shop and a bakery (although it can't count as "non-famous"). There are some some speciality bread bakeries like the mothership of Acme, the Bread Garden and Semifreddi's. And in Alameda, there's the Alameda Marketplace, which has both a great cheese shop (Farmstead Cheeses and Wines) and a great bakery (Feel Good). There's also a very good "classic American" bakery down the street called the Boniere -- I'm addicted to the doughnuts. If you want to sample the wares of several bakeries, the best option might be one of the larger farmers' markets, where there are always several bakeries, some of which have storefronts and some of which don't.

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Farmstead Cheeses & Wines
1650 Park St, Alameda, CA 94501

Acme Bread
1601 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702

Bakesale Betty
5098 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609

Bread Garden
2912 Domingo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705

Crixa Cakes
2748 Adeline St, Berkeley, CA 94703

The Cheese Board Collective
1504 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709

Boniere Bakery
3249 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA

La Farine
3411 Fruitvale Ave, Oakland, CA 94602

Feel Good Bakery
1650 Park St, Alameda, CA 94501

Sweet Adeline
3350 Adeline St, Berkeley, CA

Semifreddi's
3084 Claremont Ave, Berkeley, CA

La Farine
6323 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618

[Robert Lauriston]

Around here, anyplace with superior food quickly becomes famous.

When you're at the Ferry Plaza market on Saturday, don't miss the Della Fattoria and Downtown Bakery booths.

[lmarie]

Pasta Gina is an excellent small Italian deli that makes its own pastas, sauces, side dishes and salads. I had a meatball sandwich there that was one of the best sandwiches I've ever eaten.

[madriver]

You may already be here in the SF area??? But in case you are still seeking recommendations, I have to agree that La Farine is excellent. The Rockridge location is probably the most charming. The bread is just amazing-- better somethimes than Acme, which is very hard to beat.
You might also want to check out the Cheese Board, if you are interested in pizza baking. They have a huge following. .. on shattuck ave in Berkeley.
Another idea is the bakery on Domingo Ave across from the Claremont hotel--- I think it is called the Bread Garden.

[Robert Lauriston]

Note that the Cheese Board and Cheese Board Pizza are closed for vacation, they reopen next Tuesday.