Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, San Francisco

An unexpected bonus of a travelling north in winter is catching a second taste of summer. Just as the fruit and veg at home starts getting dreary, along comes another hit of sun blushed abundance.

Late spring in San Francisco dished up all-you-can-eat cherries, asparagus and artichokes. We also gorged on fresh dates and beautiful beetroots. The Rainier cherries in particular were a burst of sunshine in each mouthful. At $7 a pound for organic, they were also way cheaper than at home during our short cherry season.

I only made it to the smaller midweek market at the FerryPlaza, the Saturday one is much larger but was suitably wowed by the variety and quality of the produce. 

Blue Bottle Coffee (they also have a permanent stall inside) sufficiently caffeinated me to Melbourne levels. Toby had given me a heads up to look out for them in the US and their cafes are liberally sprinkled throughout San Francisco and New York.

There were liberal opportunities to taste the market goodies; I just wished I’d left room for the hot tamales. Once we’d had our fill outside, there were the wonders of the ferry building itself to explore. You can read omni blogs about the infamous Cowgirl Creamery and the shop specialising in ‘tasty salted pig parts’ but it was Far West Fungi that had me drooling. Their array of wild and cultivated mushrooms had me crying out for a kitchen but I almost howled at having to forgo experimenting with fiddlehead ferns.

I got over my woe with cleansing ale at MarketBar, one of a number on upmarket restaurants in the building, then jumped on the Sausalito ferry (it is a commuter terminal after all) to escape the madness of downtown San Francisco. Like all great cities, a little distance never hurts to help you enjoy it, just a little bit more.