Established

Everyone's got their favorite spot. Favorite coffee shop, favorite ice cream shop, favorite pizza place. I know I do! Last weekend, however, I was on a mission to try three new places I'd never been before. I was still on a high from my recent (and very first) trip to Flour + Water, an Italian restaurant in the Mission that specializes in homemade pasta. We had an entree of rigatoni with rabbit polpettine, summer peppers & garlic flowers that would make my Italian ancestors cry. With such success with the new, I couldn't get enough.

Rewind to last Sunday, the "Saturday" of Labor Day Weekend. I began my day of trying new things in SoMa (the South of Market neighborhood in San Francisco). I've been wanting to try Sight Glass, ever since the beautiful Joanna sent me a review of it a few months ago. It's a relatively new coffee shop that boasts a vintage coffee roaster and refers to its product as seasonal fruit. I also once passed their location while it were under construction and I could tell it was going to be a gorgeous space. I was not let down:







I ordered their specialty coffee, a blend that celebrates the flavors of milk chocolate, sweet citrus and stone fruits. While reading the Sunday paper and sipping on my cozily hot drink, I watched as the hipsters passed, walking their dogs, holding hands and flipping their skateboards.



Later in the day, I met up with a friend in the Dogpatch. She suggested we pop into Mrs. and Mrs. Miscellaneous (is that a great name or what???) for some refreshing ice cream. This place was full of sweets. You weren't waiting in line for half a second before peanut brittle and chocolate chip cookies were in your line of vision.



But we were there for the ice cream! Business must be booming because they ran out of multiple flavors just while we were waiting in line. It was as if it was someone's job exclusively to keep the chalk board up to date. The flavors they offered were a good combination of the old and the new.



Since I'm a rather traditional girl when it comes to ice cream, I went with a classic: chocolate and vanilla.



YUM! After ice cream, we walked our dairy off and stumbled upon a delightful park. We laid on the grass under the hot, laborious sun. As dogs galloped around us, we read Miranda July stories aloud to each other from the collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You.





Once we came down from our sugar high, it was time for dinner (naturally). There's another place in the Dogpatch I'd been wanting to try: Piccino, a pizza spot in a beautiful yellow building on the corner of 3rd and Minnesota. They specialize in pizzas, pastas and salads -- all made from fresh ingredients straight from local farms. It was so exciting to try my 3rd new place in one day!



Primi: Summer beans, treviso, ricotta salata and roasted cherry tomato vinaigrette.



Pizza: the salsiccia (house made sausage, mozzarella and red onions).

Days like this feel like a vacation in my own city. San Francisco is SO on board for a good time. I love it. Good food, good company, good times.