Humphry Slocombe – San Francisco

Humphry Slocombe Secret Breakfast Vietnamese CoffeeHumphry Slocombe Ice Cream
2790 Harrison St
(between 23rd St & 24th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission

Rated: ♣♣♣

In the height of Bi-Rite‘s popularity, another Mission district creamery attempts to steal the crown. Humphry Slocombe made its debut to the masses on this years 7×7 100 Things to Try Before You Die list for its Secret Breakfast ice cream (bourbon with corn flakes). Unlike Bi-Rite’s tasty-sounding assortment of flavors, Humphry Slocombe is famous for their more unusual flavors such as Boccalone Prosciutto, McEvoy Olive Oil, Foie Gras and Peanut Butter Curry. When comparing the 2 creameries, both are great but I’d much rather go to Bi-Rite to satisfy a craving for ice cream.

The scene:

There’s no way there could NOT be a line at this place, especially with flavors like that. K and I waited about 40 minutes before we got to the front of the line. In the meantime, we were serenaded with “I Should Tell You” from the musical Rent by other ice cream-goers.

The reason why the line takes so long is because everyone is tasting 3-4 flavors of ice cream at the counter. Humphry’s has about 10-12 flavors a day and rotate through an array of 100+ flavors.

The food:

We tried several flavors such as Balsamic Caramel, Cinnamon Brittle and Jesus Juice (Coke and red wine) before deciding on Secret Breakfast and Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee. What’s great about Humphry’s ice cream is that they really capture the fresh flavors of their ingredients. It’s almost as if you’re eating the real thing not in ice cream form. However, a downside of their ice cream is that there’s so much butter fat from the cream, it created a film on the roof of my mouth.

Secret Breakfast – This is Humphry’s signature ice cream flavor. Blue Bottle actually sells a scoop of this ice cream with a shot of espresso, called an “Affogato.” I give Humphry’s kudos for their originality, but I really didn’t think all too much of this ice cream. It could be because I’m not a fan of strong alcoholic flavors in my desserts.

Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee – Definitely my favorite of the two. The coffee is very strong, it’s almost like drinking a creamy frozen Vietnamese coffee.

Humphry Slocombe is probably not a place to frequent often, but it’s a definite must-try for its gimmicky flavors. It’s also fun to walk around that area of the Mission to discover other hidden neighborhood gems. There’s even a luchador (Mexican wrestler) mask store a block away! Fun!

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Rick Steve's Rome 2010 – Night Walk Across Rome

RomeNightWalkMap

Rick Steves is one of my heroes.  He seems like the nicest person on earth and he’s traveled to so many great places in Europe.  I’ve basically read Rick Steves’ Rome 2010 twice within the past 2 weeks and now I’m finally taking notes.  Follow along with me as I jot down his popular walks and tips.

Campo de’ Fiori

Start at the Giordano Bruno statue.

What to see: Theater of Pompey where Julius Caeser was assassinated.

What to eat: Forno – hot Pizza.

Piazza Navona

What to see: The Four Rivers Fountain – Statues of four river gods support an Egyptian obelisk.

What to eat: Tre Scalini – Famous for their rich chocolate ice cream

The Pantheon

What to see: The Pantheon – It will be beautifully flood lit.

From the Pantheon to Piazza Colonna

What to eat: Tazza d’Oro Casa del Caffe – granita di caffe con panna (coffee slush with ice cream)

What to see: Egyptian obelisk – Taken by Augustus after his victory against Mark Antony and Cleopatra

What to eat: Giolitti’s – Rome’s most famous gelateria.

The Trevi Fountain

What to see: The Trevi Fountain – This was built to show off the abundance of water brought to the city from the great aqueducts.  The statue depicts the figure of Ocean at random areas of his watery Kingdom.

The Spanish Steps

What to see: The Spanish Steps – Named for the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican which has been around for the last 300 years.

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Philz Coffee – San Francisco

Philz Coffee Jacobs Wonderbar TesoraPhilz Coffee
3101 24th St
(at Folsom St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission

Rated: ♣♣♣♣♣

Coffee has become a very interesting subject for me. It’s so complex that any minor change in the roasting or brewing process can drastically change the flavor and aromas of a cup of coffee. I’m still new to the coffee scene, but I’m very intrigued. Other than Blue Bottle, Philz is my 2nd taste of gourmet coffee. I’ve been twice in once week and I’m eager to taste more.

The scene:

I went to Philz very first location in the heart of the dirty Mission. This part of the Mission district isn’t like the trendy hot spot where Farina and Bi-Rite are situated, this is the area you’re told to stay away from after dusk. A few trendy hipster spots have been popping up in this part of the Mission by 24th and Folsom, but it still has that gritty ethnic San Francisco feel. I love San Francisco because of this.

About the coffee – We stood at the counter overwhelmed by the different types of coffee on their menu. We were greeted with a warm welcome by Jessie, our barista and shamefully admitted we were somewhat new to Philz… and coffee for that matter. He began asking us a ton of questions to get a feel of what we like. “Do you like a dark or medium roast? Strong or weak? Sweetened or non-sweetened?” I really couldn’t answer any of the questions except for the last. All I knew was that I love lattes with a hint of sugar.

The coffee:

Tesora – Because I’m nearly a coffee virgin, Jessie recommended the Tesora. He said it was a good first-timer’s coffee because it’s not as strong or bitter as the other coffees. He made me a Tesora latte with real cream even though I asked for non-fat milk. No wonder it tasted sinfully delicious! The cream is so fresh, they have too shake it before they pour. He apologized for the mix-up and offered to buy me a coffee the “next” time I come in. Some reason, I don’t think that’ll happen. Anyway, that wasn’t really a big deal. The coffee itself was nutty and chocolatey with a hint of caramel flavor. It is undoubtedly strong compared to what I’m used to, but it was probably the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. Sorry Blue Bottle! I’m still a fan.

Jacob’s Wonderbar – Jessie recommended this one for K. He took it black so he can really taste the coffee for how it’s supposed to taste. Jacob’s Wonderbar is a non-flavored dark roast. It’s so rich and pure. After your first sip, you automatically understand why it doesn’t need anything added to be perfect. It’s just a good cup of honest coffee.

For you Starbucks lovers out there, you will not find any syrups or whipped cream anywhere close to this coffee joint. You’ll just have to enjoy a good ole cup of joe the way it’s supposed to taste.

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Meeting Anthony Bourdain

Me and Bourdain

Here I am meeting the greatest food critic of my time. (I’m really bummed this picture is blurry.) Tony Bourdain has a pretty tough act on his show, but I was truly impressed by how genuine and down-to-earth he is.

First of all, he was scheduled to show up at 10am, but instead, he came at 9:30 and began signing. I arrived at the Book Passage in the Ferry Building at about 8:30am and was the 20th person in line.

I was so nervous when I met him, I made some lame small talk about how I have a food blog and that I started it because of him. He asked me what the name of the blog is and told me he’d check it out. Of course, I know he won’t since I’m sure 100 other people told him they had a food blog, but it was just nice that he offered.

Anyway, I walked away a very happy Bourdain fan and with 2 signed books! BTW, he is TALL!

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Planning For Our Trip to Europe

Let’s begin planning for our trip, these are the main topics we are focused on right now:

  1. What is our budget?
  2. Where are we going?
  3. When are we going?

Budget

moneySince S and I do not want to use up all of our vacation at once, we decided to take a 2-week vacation.  So, we now know the length.  Next we asked some of our friends how much a typical 2-week trip to Europe was. Most people mentioned around $5000 a person if we are staying in hotels and $4000 if we were staying in Hostels.  Since I’m traveling with S, I want to make sure she’s safe throughout the trip, so Hostels (cue the movie) are out of the question.  I don’t want to have to worry about someone creeping up on her in the middle of the night, or having our luggage stolen from us when we’re in the bathroom (this may happen, but European backpacking is usually safe for men and women).  Therefore, we decided to stay within a $5000 budget range per person.  That’s $10,000, which I hope we do not completely spend.  Here is our proposed budget:

Flight 2 x $1000 $2000
Accomodations 14 x $150 $2100
Food 14 x $75 $1050
Transit (Trains, Buses, Taxis) 14 x $50 $700
Shopping 14 x $50 $700
Attractions 14 x $30 $420
Leftover for everything else   $3030

I highly doubt we would spend this much, but it’s always good to plan a little extra just in case.

Destination

So, knowing how much we wanted to spend, now it’s time to figure out where we want to go.  Since this is my first time going to Europe, I wanted to go to the more touristy areas.  When Western Europe comes to mind, I think of London, Amsterdam, Rome, and Paris.  S has already been to Amsterdam, and London seems too much like many American cities. So, the logical choice was Paris and Rome.  S also mentioned that she really wanted to go to Barcelona in Spain.  Looking at the map of Europe, it doesn’t look like any of these cities were really that accessible to each other.  My imagination of traveling through Europe was through trains thanks to the great game of “Ticket to Ride”.  With further research, though, we’ve found that flying is another economical and efficient manner of traveling between cities.

Here’s our list of cities we would like to go to: Barcelona, Paris, and Rome.

Date of Travel

Timing this trip can make or break our budget.  If we decide to fly out in High Season for any of the countries, we’d be paying a pretty high premium for flights and lodging.  Plus, we’d miss people-watching many of the locals (that would be no fun).  We decided to choose our dates based on weather, middle to low season, and work schedules.  The best time for us is October.  Fall weather should not be too bad, and a majority of the tourists are long gone.  Plus we should be saving almost half on airfare and lodgings.  We also decided to maximize our savings by flying out on weekdays so we’re selecting dates on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

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