So I was inside Bi-Rite buying cheese the other day, and I was asking for some cheese recommendations and mentioned also that I just got a loaf from Tartine. The cheesemonger proceeded to tell me that if I was visiting, then there’s some fantastic local cheese from Nicasio Valley.
Later I ran into the cheesemonger again and asked her where the house made tapenade went since I couldn’t find it in the cold case. I mentioned to her that I bought it frequently and she mentioned to me that she hadn’t seen it for months, and proceeded to recommend the McEvoy tapenade, and described McEvoy as a very well known Northern Californian brand.
I get that there probably are quite a number of tourists who get their Tartine fix down the street, but are there no locals who buy bread from Tartine any more?
Hmmph, do I look that much like a tourist? (Yes, I was with the kids…)
Hah - were you wearing a cheap fleece from fisherman’s wharf and shorts?
I haven’t been to the original Tartine since the Manufactory opened because I can’t deal with the lines at the original location. Maybe it is mostly tourists these days.
I remember the first time I was in SF as a tourist, I wore my basketball shorts to the wharf, thinking that its just as warm as Socal in the summer. Froze my ass off the entire time, especially during the wait for the street car back to Union Square. I should have bought a cheap fleece then.
Maybe I should bring out my basketball shorts again and head back to Bi-Rite.
That said, at 7pm, the line at Tartine was inside the shop. I wonder if this was the norm before the Manufactory opened.
The firs time I visited SF before I moved here it was from winter in NY and I thought the weather was great. It was several years before I even really wore any kind of coat after I moved here. Now I have gone soft and think the weather here sucks (in the summer anyway). This morning when I left my house it was 52 and I actually turned the heat on yesterday for 20 minutes.
I moved to SF from Chicago. I will take the SF weather as a whole over Chicago’s, but the SF summer does suck. Its not even hot most of the time. My perception was exacerbated when my first residence in the city was a few blocks from the beach.
I guess though, locals go straight to the register to grab their (reserved) bread, while the tourists line up.
The cheesemonger may have something there, but bear in mind that there ate tourists and then there are gastrotourists. The latter, I dare say, is a badge of honor. What higher purpose can there be in travel than seeking out the finest foods of the region?
Furthermore,. if you are only in town for a short time, what’s 30 minutes in line compared to the time and hassle involved in figuring out how the hell to get to the Tartine Manufactory?
It always surprises me that Tartine bakery is a 12 minute walk from Bart. The manufactory takes about 17 minutes from Bart, but its isolation makes it a bad choice for a bread pickup, better choice for a meal and then bread pickup.
For a tourist intent on hanging out on that 18th st corridor, I’d advocate going to Bi-Rite and getting a Josie Baker loaf.
Wait… There’s nothing more pleasant than having 60 degree weather! After visiting some friends and family in the central valley where its currently around 100F this is great weather! Also SF’s true summer is really in the fall lol. And to stay on topic… yes, yes you have become a tourist.
