San Francisco Walking Tours
Despite its many hills, walking is by far the best way to see San Francisco. And if you combine a walking tour with something San Franciscans do best—eating—you have a recipe for a marvelous day's outing.
Ramekins Chinatown Tour:
Joyce Jue has had a long successful career as a cooking teacher, food-writer and television cooking personality. But what makes her saunters through Chinatown exceptional are the vivid reminiscences she brings into her narratives. She grew up here and shares delightful girlhood memories of shopping along Grant Street with her mother, parading paper dragons down Waverly Street with her brothers and sleepily savoring barbecued duck and spicy greens with her father after midnight at the all-night Chinese delicatessen.
Whether it's Chinese "extreme cuisine" you're interested in, or simple and sumptuous village-style clay-pot "beef in two-root nest," you'll learn the secrets of preparation and find where to shop for 24-inch woks, cleavers, steamers, garnish cutters, Mongolian grills and even mooncake molds. Please check the Ramekins web site for tour dates or give Wendy a call at 707-933-0450 ext. 3.
Mexican Culinary Tour:
Chef Augustin Gaytan leads a leisurely browsing, shopping and tasting tour of the Mission District with the grinning finesse of a boy who wisely never strayed far from the kitchen or the apron strings of his native-Mexican grandmother. The itinerary includes visits to six family-run businesses where you will see whole families working, from kids at the cash register to mothers and daughters-in-law chatting and patting out handmade tortillas.
Gaytan hands out his personal recipes for dishes such as tamales stuffed with snapper or sea bass, shrimp wrapped in chard leaves, salsa ranchera with avocado and Mexican wax-blond chiles and even nopalitos cocidos (cooked young cactus). As an unexpected bonus, see the lovely local murals down Balmy Alley, rarely seen by tourists. These popular tours take place once a week throughout the year, usually on a weekday; they fill up rapidly, so if you're interested, book early.
Mangia North Beach:
GraceAnn Walden's tour of San Francisco's Italian enclave of North Beach is not unlike her recipes for rum/coffee/chocolate tiramisu or amaretto yams—rich and heady with an undercurrent of unexpected flavors. Reservations are a must so contact her directly via Email or at 415-927-3933.
Walden is also a regular at the 90-year-old Liguria Bakery, where the only product they produce is pizza bread, which you can sample in five varieties—plain, green
onion, tomato with green onion, raisin or garlic. And you'll even visit O'Reilly's pub, an Irish "island" in a sea of Italians, its bar and stained glass brought from Ireland in 1823. Here you'll sample Irish soda bread and Murphy's stout.
You'll learn the history of three local coffee roasters—Trieste, Roma, and Graffeo—as well as hear stories about the "beats"—Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti—who hung out here. Lunch is at Enrico's, renowned for people-watching and for dessert you’ll stroll over to XOX Truffles for hand-rolled, bite-sized, chocolate nuggets. Tours take place every Saturday.
— Passport Newsletter
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