Is there anything better than a good loaf of bread?

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Tartine Country Loaf. This is cult bread. The beautiful book that describes how to make this bread inspired me to raise my own sourdough starter. This is the kind of bread that people line up for, with the line snaking out the door and down the sidewalk.

Standing in line for the bread was totally worth it, but if you don’t have the time, at least pick up a croissant if you happen to be in the Mission. You won’t regret it.

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Posted in: dining out, travel | Tags: bakery, bread, cafe, california, croissant, food, food photography, mission, northern california, pastries, photography, san francisco, summer road trip 2013, tartine, tartine bakery, tartine bread, travel | 2 COMMENTS

I love this city so much. It has such a distinct look and feel, and we were lucky enough to experience it on a warm and sunny weekend.

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Posted in: travel | Tags: bay area, california, mission, norcal, northern california, photography, pier 39, san francisco, summer road trip 2013, travel, vacation | 5 COMMENTS

So, Pi.

SoPi. South Pigalle.

One of the big things that I miss about Paris is how a tiny sliver of the city can have its own distinct personality, completely different from its surroundings. South Pigalle, with its good coffee and music shops and its seedy past has that hipstery aura of fetishizing authenticity without going too far into the too-expensive bobo territory of the NoMa.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Marais — some of my favorite places are there, and in a very real way, it’s still my neighborhood. But it’s places like Glass here in SoPi, with its classy-ass drinks and artsy installations smutted up with just enough grunge, that had me switching to the metro line 2.

The art installation is embedded in the floor, to be danced and spilled on, if that gives you any indication.

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Posted in: dining out, paris | Tags: 75009, adam tsou, bar, carina tsou, cocktail bar, cocktail bar paris, cocktails, drinks, food, france, glass, glass paris, josh fontaine, paris, paris photo trip 2013, photography, pigalle, quixotic projects, sopi, south pigalle, travel | 4 COMMENTS

Sometimes, life hands you lemons. Other times, though, it hands you figs.

So check it out: I go to this greasy spoon diner called Rae’s every weekend. I’m a regular. I have a “usual,” and I get slightly annoyed when someone else is sitting in my spot on the bar. (I’m short, and my favorite chair is a little bit taller than all the rest.)

But it wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that I realized that the big tree growing just to the left of the building is, in fact, a fig tree. A fact I learned by stepping (and almost slipping) on an overripe fig on the ground. I took a few photos, then a nice old lady came out to tell me that I could take some of the ripe ones if I wanted, since they would just go to waste anyway. So I did! Because despite figs being the sexiest fruit, beautiful just torn apart and eaten raw, I had a recipe I wanted to try up my sleeve.

I love a snacking cake. The kind of cake that you feel like you can eat for breakfast, or with a cup of tea, or as dessert. This cake is rustic and sturdy, requiring no creaming of butter or careful folding-in of ingredients. Just a quick mix of dry and wet ingredients, some pretty figs plopped on top, and half an hour in the oven. What a simple way to be happy.

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Posted in: cooking, desserts | Tags: almonds, baking, breakfast cake, cake, dessert, fig, fig cake, figs, food, joy the baker, joy the baker fig cake, photography, skillet cake, snacking cake, summer, sweets | 2 COMMENTS