#9 of 50 - "The Rebel Within"

Gentle Friends.... another of the "50 Eats" is called the "Rebel Within."  Made at a lovely bakery called Craftsmen and Wolves on Valencia Street in the Mission.

....  the interior is bare and echoing.  It has a reputation as being very busy, and the crowds to get in can get daunting - I knew they open early and so we got there about 10 minutes after they opened to beat the crush of folks that always pack this place. 

We had tried to stop in for a lunch or a snack a couple of times but it was always packed both inside and out, so we just kept skipping it for other destinations.  But, when I read about one of things to "eat" from my list I knew then and there we would have to go really early.  The pastries they bake are lovely and displayed  nicely....

... the cold case is also quite attractive.....

I had done my reading and info gathering before going and knew a couple of things I wanted to try while I had the chance....  one was their "Twinkies"  the pale orange treat to the left of the picture....

... when ordering for breakfast Rico wanted to try the "Market-Inspired Quiche and pickled things" it was really quite tasty.....  we both had coffee

...  I also wanted to try one of the croissants, which btw are delicious, they do most layered pastries extremely well, and the reason for getting up early .... "The Rebel Within"...it's a savory muffin with a surprise inside....

... a soft cooked egg....  I'd seen that the egg was supposed to have a runny yolk, but I asked that it be heated up and that probably cooked the yolk, either way would have been fine as I do love poached eggs.  The "Rebel" comes with a little vile of Tabasco salt to sprinkle on top - a nice addition to kick up the flavour.  I really liked the "Rebel" a found it quite tasty.....

... we also got a couple of treats for later, Rico got a "Chocolate Croissant Stack"  pretty to look at and an interesting idea, but fell flat on flavour and was really dry and not worth  the hype....

I got one of the peach verbena "Twinkies"  - nice flavour, and much better than the stack.

.....  over all it was very expensive, to the point of over priced, but everything was of the highest quality and most of the things we tried we liked.  If I go back, I would get a "Rebel" but get it to go and skip the pastries, as I know lots of other bakeries near here that are better and sensibly price.

That's about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,
edgar

# 13 of 50 - "The Real Korean Taco"

Gentle friends... I've not done much stitching lately, my tendinitis has been acting up a bit ....  but that doesn't deter me from surfing the web.....  and in surfing about I found a list with the title.... "The 50 Things You need to Eat in SF Before you Die."  Now, if that doesn't sound like a challenge I don't know what does!!!!   - and - Rico and I had just been talking about how our life has been then same old, same old for so long and we need to break out of doing and going to the same places all the time.  Well, all this occurred in the the same week and now I determined that with a little push I'm going to see how much of the list I can try......

Fist up on the list took me about 20 minutes of circling block after block trying to find parking eventually I did find a spot, but I ended up 3 blocks away.  Located across the street from the newly renovated and lovely Dolores Park is the restaurant

 Namu Gaji........

.... the restaurant is on the small side but well lit with tons of natural light ...

... I went up to place my order of 1 real Korean Taco and I needed a drink, so I got a really delicious strawberry lemonade..  the gal behind the counter explained that the taco was on the small side and really an appetizer, I told her I just needed to eat the one and it would be fine.....

....  the taco consists of...."seasoned rice, kinchee remoulade, toasted kim, on nori with a choice of tofu, chicken or bulgogi beef, I chose beef  (bulgogi beef is Korean marinated and grilled beef) - let me tell you this damn thing was simply delicious!!!!  No two words about it, to die for and I could have eaten a couple more, but I was kinda in a hurry, but next time and there will be a next time!!

...  from where I was sitting I could look out onto Dolores Park ....

The whole experience was great, easy ordering, quick table delivery, but the down side is the parking and the restaurant is small, so I can see it getting crowded on the weekends and nice afternoons.  It is located next to another SF landmark of sorts, "The Creamery," a great place to get ice cream in the city!!

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Well sports fans, that's 1 down 49 more to go...... thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar