We flew to San Francisco at the end of March to attend two Artisan bread baking courses at the San Francisco Baking Institute. San Francisco is one of our favourite cities and we were very excited and happy to go back. The last time we were in San Francisco was for our honeymoon, so this trip brought back lots of happy memories.
Our bread baking courses ran from Monday-Friday and from 7am-3pm for both weeks, but we did manage to do a little bit of sightseeing in-between.
The Fairmont San Francisco
The Fairmont San Francisco is located atop of Nob Hill and is one of Fairmont's flagship properties. It is one of the city's historic buildings and has been the hotel of choice for kings, queens, celebrities and presidents. While in San Francisco for our honeymoon, we stayed at the Fairmont San Francisco and we had a wonderful stay. That said, we were very happy to return and make this our home away-from-home for two weeks (unfortunately we forgot to take photos of our room, so we have none to share).
The Golden Gate Bridge
Constructed in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge is the iconic symbol of San Francisco. Also known as the "Gateway to the Pacific", it connects the northern tip of San Francisco to Sausalito and the rest of Marin County, California. This iconic suspension bridge is 2.74 kilometres long and spans over the waters where the San Francisco Bay flows out into the Pacific ocean. On our second last day in San Francisco, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and made a stop at some of the viewing points for gorgeous views of the bridge and bay, before making a quick visit to Sausalito.
Lombard Street
San Francisco is known for its steep streets and Lombard Street is no exception. While Lombard street is not the steepest street in the city, it is famous for having a steep, one block section that has eight tight hairpin turns.
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks are two hills in San Francisco that offer some of the best views of the city. Both hills have an elevation of approximately 922 feet, which makes them two of the highest points in the city. Fortunately on the day we drove up to Twin Peaks, it was blue skies and clear, so we got some amazing views of the city.
Chinatown
Chinatown in San Francisco is one of the oldest Chinatowns in North America and one of the largest. It is also one of the top tourist attractions in the city. Chinatown is located a few blocks from Nob Hill and The Fairmont San Francisco, so late one afternoon we took a walk there and ended up having dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
Chinatown in San Francisco is one of the oldest Chinatowns in North America and one of the largest. It is also one of the top tourist attractions in the city. Chinatown is located a few blocks from Nob Hill and The Fairmont San Francisco, so late one afternoon we took a walk there and ended up having dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
Cable Cars
San Francisco is famous for its cable cars and we got to ride them a couple of times. As much as we love walking and never turn down a good walk, some of the steep streets in the city were just too much, especially when we had to make our way from the waterfront back to our hotel atop of Nob Hill.
The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
While some women enjoy shopping for clothes, or handbags, or shoes, I love shopping for local, fresh and good quality organic food. So I am really in my element at a farmers market. That said, we both enjoy visiting farmers markets when we travel and this farmers market is one of the best we have been to. It is no wonder that it is renowned throughout the U.S. as one of the top farmers markets to visit (it is highly acclaimed for quality and diversity). The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is only open 3 days a week and yet on any given week it attracts approximately 25,000 shoppers.
Located in front of the Ferry Building along the Embarcadero and in the rear plaza, it is a shopper's paradise for someone like me. I was smitten with all the fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs from local and regional farmers, most of whom are certified organic. David and I were saying that we would love to have access to a farmer's market like this one, instead of having to shop at a grocery store where the produce has travelled thousands of miles (especially in our case) and is not half as fresh as what is available at a place like this. Needless to say we had a really great time visiting this farmers market.
Ferry Building Marketplace
The Ferry Building Marketplace is located within the historic Ferry Building. The Ferry Building houses a collection of beautiful small and large shops selling an array of goods from artisan breads, cheeses and jams; to herbs; to olive oils; to pastries and cakes; to pottery; to speciality meats. There is literally something for everyone and the quality is exceptional. The Ferry Building is also home to restaurants that serve a wide variety of foods.
Tartine Bread
A visit to San Francisco is not complete without a visit to Tartine Bakery. Tartine Bakery is co-owned by Chad Robertson and has been consistently voted one of the top 10 bakeries in the U.S., along with another bakery that we are familiar with, Berkshire Mountain Bakery in Housatonic, Massachusetts. We were fortunate enough to visit Berkshire Mountain Bakery during the time I was studying Macrobiotics at the Kushi Institute in Becket, Massachusetts in 2010. It was here at Berkshire Mountain Bakery that we got our first introduction to true artisan sourdough bread. Incidentally, Chad Robertson and our instructor Mac at the San Francisco Baking Institute, both trained under Richard Bourdon, the owner of Berkshire Mountain Bakery. Needless to say, they are a talented group of artisan bakers.
On our second last day in San Francisco, we visited Tartine Bakery and purchased a loaf of their famous artisan country sourdough bread. We arrived there just after 4:30pm and were able to secure a loaf (Tartine bakes a limited number of loaves per day and these are ready in the afternoon at around 4pm, only thing is you need to arrive early because they sell-out very fast).
So what makes Tartine's sourdough bread so special? In the first place it is made the old fashioned way with a sourdough starter and then the actual dough batter that they use is very hydrated. The high hydration level of the dough makes a difference to the whole end product, especially the crumb (the inside of the loaf).
At this point we were in a better position to assess the bread, especially after all that we had learnt from our bread baking classes at the San Francisco Baking Institute. That said, after trying some of the loaf, we both agreed that this is excellent bread and we are not surprised there is a daily demand.
With the higher acidity levels present in sourdough breads from the naturally fermented starter, we knew our Tartine loaf would keep for a fairly long time, so we brought half the loaf back with us to Singapore and have since eaten it and enjoyed it.
A visit to San Francisco is not complete without a visit to Tartine Bakery. Tartine Bakery is co-owned by Chad Robertson and has been consistently voted one of the top 10 bakeries in the U.S., along with another bakery that we are familiar with, Berkshire Mountain Bakery in Housatonic, Massachusetts. We were fortunate enough to visit Berkshire Mountain Bakery during the time I was studying Macrobiotics at the Kushi Institute in Becket, Massachusetts in 2010. It was here at Berkshire Mountain Bakery that we got our first introduction to true artisan sourdough bread. Incidentally, Chad Robertson and our instructor Mac at the San Francisco Baking Institute, both trained under Richard Bourdon, the owner of Berkshire Mountain Bakery. Needless to say, they are a talented group of artisan bakers.
On our second last day in San Francisco, we visited Tartine Bakery and purchased a loaf of their famous artisan country sourdough bread. We arrived there just after 4:30pm and were able to secure a loaf (Tartine bakes a limited number of loaves per day and these are ready in the afternoon at around 4pm, only thing is you need to arrive early because they sell-out very fast).
So what makes Tartine's sourdough bread so special? In the first place it is made the old fashioned way with a sourdough starter and then the actual dough batter that they use is very hydrated. The high hydration level of the dough makes a difference to the whole end product, especially the crumb (the inside of the loaf).
At this point we were in a better position to assess the bread, especially after all that we had learnt from our bread baking classes at the San Francisco Baking Institute. That said, after trying some of the loaf, we both agreed that this is excellent bread and we are not surprised there is a daily demand.
With the higher acidity levels present in sourdough breads from the naturally fermented starter, we knew our Tartine loaf would keep for a fairly long time, so we brought half the loaf back with us to Singapore and have since eaten it and enjoyed it.
