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The Mission District is filled with more bars, restaurants and gastronomic destinations than any other neighborhood in San Francisco. And it seems like they multiply in number and variety almost weekly. Where do you start? With this list of new, unique or re-imagined spots, beginning with the spectacular new digs of small-batch chocolate maker, Dandelion.
Located inside a 107-year-old building at the corner of Alabama and 16th Streets, the 30,000-square-foot facility includes a bean-to-bar factory with at least 15 tours offered weekly, chocolate classes —including some for kids and families — and a cafe and boutique, as well as an elegant chocolate tasting salon called Bloom.
Dandelion’s original Valencia Street shop is still open, but the new digs will allow the crew to triple production. And welcome legions of chocolate lovers.
Enter through the cafe and you’ll get a whiff of brewed cacao nib coffee ($4) — the world’s first — mingled with the buttery goodness of freshly-baked pastries. The inventive beverages, everything from a Frozen Hot Chocolate ($5.75) to a Nibby Horchata ($5) and a Cacao Fruit Smoothie ($7), belong on your Instagram.
So does Bloom, which is Dandelion’s answer to Angelina, the belle epoch tea room in Paris known for its hot chocolate. Bloom is more San Francisco, with mirrored walls, modern lighting and the skills of executive pastry chef Lisa Vega, previously of Gary Danko. The sit-down salon is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and reservations are recommended whether you go for breakfast, afternoon chocolate or ice cream service (yes, it’s totally a thing).
Before noon, order Cake for Breakfast ($10), an over-the-top chocolate-chip pancake cake with chocolate maple sauce, or nibble from a tower of small bites ($45), including a precious Chocolate Souffle served in a tiny copper pot. The tasting comes with a pot of tea or the hot chocolate of your choice. The cafe’s beverage menu is also available at Bloom, if you need a spicy Mission Mocha.
Walk off your indulgences with a guided tour (ages 8 and older, $15) on the factory floor to learn how they roast, crack, sort, winnow, grind, conch and temper small batches of single-origin beans into the stuff of dreams. You’ll taste cacao fruit and roasted cacao beans from different countries, warm melted chocolate as it is refining and, of course, a finished single-origin dark chocolate bar. It’s one of the tastiest finds in the entire Mission district.
Looking for other new or enticing Mission District eats? Here are five of our favorites, from a new rum bar to the renovated Bi-Rite Creamery.
Flour + Water Pizzeria
A decade after opening his pasta sanctuary, Flour + Water, chef and New Jersey native Thomas McNaughton has unveiled its sister pizzeria less than a mile away. Like its namesake, Flour + Water Pizzeria is a no-reservations spot. It features floor to ceiling windows, walnut tables and green Heath tiles. Guests can watch the 13-inch pizzas — known for their blistered crust and chewy centers — being made on the marble-topped counter and baked in the deck oven, sit outside on the patio or take that slice of heaven to-go.
The menu’s focus: Five red pies and five white pies, with large salads, seasonal marinated vegetable antipasti, soft-serve ice cream and a few nods to McNaughton’s Jersey roots, including mozzarella sticks and ricotta and prosciutto meatballs.
Details: Opens for business on June 3. Open daily from 11 a.m. at 702 Valencia St., San Francisco; www.flourandwaterpizzeria.com (under construction).
Bi-Rite Creamery
After a mandatory seismic retrofit, Bi-Rite has re-opened the neighborhood’s legendary organic creamery with additional upgrades, including more communal seating (no more sharing a tiny plank with strangers!), a vibrant mural and — wait for it — new ice cream treats.
Just in time for summer, look for vanilla soft serve-stuffed brioche doughnuts from Mr. Holmes Bakehouse paired with your choice of dipping sauces (hello, strawberry basil sauce), Good Humor-esque ice cream bars in flavors such as Vanilla Dark Chocolate with Puffed Quinoa, and new vegan flavors created with oatmilk and coconut milk, including Huckleberry Banana and
Cinnamon Maple Oat Crunch.
Details: Open from 11 a.m. daily at 3692 18th St., San Francisco; https://biritemarket.com/creamery/.
Obispo
Bar Agricole owner Thad Vogler’s long-awaited rum bar opened in January, and word of its “anti-tiki” bar vibe and tasty food has spread across the Bay Area. The bar’s name is taken from the street that houses the famed Floridita bar in Havana, and the decor at the dimly-lit Obispo draws similar inspiration, with blue-green tiles, large veladoras — candles — atop unfinished wooden tables and a mellow Caribbean vibe.
Look for serious rum cocktails ($9-$14) — no frou frou stuff — as well as a Mojito Criollo made with cognac and a boozy yet balanced brandy cocktail. Memorable Caribbean eats include Jamaican oxtail curry ($15/$28) and a slow-cooked and a perfectly marinated pork Cubano ($18), of course.
Details: Open 5 a.m. to midnight Monday-Saturday at 3266 24th St., San Francisco; www.obisposf.com.
Piri Picante
Originally Piri Pica, this colorful fine-casual restaurant is still the best and most affordable spot in San Francisco to get piri-piri chicken, the fiery Portuguese dish that gets its spice from the African bird’s eye chile. Open since September, the eatery offers the red, flame-grilled chicken atop salads ($8-$9), in wraps ($9) and on plates ($10-$15) piled high with tasty side dishes.
Cabbage-Herb Slaw ($3.95, single serving; $7.95 grande), which features shredded green cabbage, carrot, cucumber and fresh herbs in a roasted garlic vinaigrette, is a good bet to cool the palate. Wash it all down with a chilled passion fruit Sumol ($2.95), a Portuguese soda. Just in time for summer: new outdoor seating.
Details: Open from 11 a.m. daily at 590 Valencia St., San Francisco; https://piripicante.com.
Stonemill Matcha
Down the street, this chic Japanese cafe has been open since May 2018, but if you’re not an expert on the intricacies of fine matcha tea — the best stuff is shade-grown in Kyoto’s lush farmlands — you may not yet know about Stonemill Matcha. Consider it your library, where you can tuck into one of eight hand-crafted matcha drinks, including our favorite, the refreshing Sparkling Matcha ($4.50).
In addition to house-made pastries, like a matcha cream puff ($6) or slice of matcha cream pie ($7), you can get some of the city’s best Japanese milk toast, or shokupan, with matcha butter ($6), of course.
Details: Open from 9 a.m. daily at 561 Valencia St., San Francisco; https://stonemillmatcha.com.