Tony's Pizza Napoletana

Pinot Noir, Honeybuck, and Champagne Cocktail

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Bread and Olive Oils 

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Rosemary, White Rose Potato, & Chorizo: rustic medium crust with mozzarella, white rose potatoes, rosemary, calabrese peppers, cowgirl creamery's fromage blanc, lavender sea salt, two quail eggs  

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White Anchovy: rustic medium crust with mozzarella, arugula, italian white anchovy, piave, calabrese peppers, fresh lemon

The eponymous owner of Tony's apparently shamed Italians, Chicagoans, and New Yorkers alike by being the first American to win the Pizza World Cup with his margherita pie. Besides wondering how we could snag seats as judges at such a tournament, Cheney, Rosie, and Victoria were keen on going, but too greedy to order something as classic and elegant as a margherita pizza. The walk to North Beach was  torture as we were all ravenous and had to pass a slew of tempting dim sum places and delis in Chinatown, all with wonderful aromas wafting out their doors. Our seat in the sun, included a table that insisted on leaning sharply to the left, though Victoria managed to fix its wobble (Hence the tilt present in all pictures and liquids above). We chose two pizzas fired in the 900 degree wood oven and stared hopefully and hungrily as the waiters brought other patrons their food.  The spicy chorizo was Victoria's favorite, with its paper thin potatoes and dollops of mozarella, while Rosie and Cheney loved the sharp tang of the anchovies matched with the acidic lemon juice. Both pizzas dripped with spicy orange chili oil, which led to lots of poised and dignified mopping, and then the eventual familiar feelings of sleepy contentment that signal the conclusion of another overindulgence.

Eggs Benedict Galore at Mama's

Iced Tea and Lemonade

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Shrimp and Avocado Benedict with Grilled Tomatoes

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Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict

After nearly a month without consuming much dairy, Rosie's first meal with Cheney upon returning from China was perhaps overambitiously, Mama's. We share a marked weakness for seafood eggs benedicts and spared ourselves the decision of deciding between shrimp and salmon by getting one of each and sharing. While Rosie was compelled to excavate the rich avocado from between the gooey egg and heavily-hollandaise-soaked biscuit in order to mitigate the deluge of butter, Cheney nonchalantly polished off everything on her plate and declared that she felt great. Sadly, Rosie's body rejected the good old hearty American food and she had to retreat to the North Beach library bathroom to stave off a wave of nausea. Luckily, though, nothing soothes the over-stimulated palate like a stroll through the charming magnolia and mosaic-lined steps of Telegraph Hill.

Hong Kong Megapost

Two days in Hong Kong meant a flurry of Japanese style izakaya, French macarons, and Cantonese clay pot homestyle cooking. There were blocks and blocks of specialized street markets and luxury stores both, as well as alleyways brimming with activity and life. In a city flush with boba milk tea, bakeries, and skewered street food, however, Rosie also had the worst pizza of her life. The toppings were curiously underneath the cheese, so that they were undercooked and mushy, while the cheese had congealed into a plasticky mass. Oh well, she assumes that the famous cooked goose, congee, and buffets she hadn't had the time to try more than make up for it.

Shanghai and Chengdu Megapost

Rosie was in China for three weeks, where much food was eaten with family for Chinese New Year's and birthdays. There's nothing quite like vermicelli or frog doused in chili pepper, Sichuan peppers, and spicy oil for comfort food. The milder Shanghai fare was amazing as well, with duck noodles in rich broth and the famous soup dumplings. Having the above lamb skewers near a Buddhist temple in the countryside may have contributed to her contracting a fever however, and consequently being subjected to the vagaries of needle-happy Chinese treatment of illnesses.

Chairman Bao

Pork belly steamed bun with pickled daikon

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Braised pork steamed bun with savoy cabbage and and preserved mustard seeds

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Bao chips

The apex of our obsession with pork products might be Chairman Bao, peddled from the roving food truck we were first introduced to at Off the Grid Fort Mason. As it swung by our neighborhood today, we couldn't pass up the chance to snag a few of our favorite buns. Rosie greedily opted to get two pork belly buns and a braised pork bun while Cheney had two pork belly buns and a bag of Bao chips, which were deliciously greasy deep fried wonton skins with nori. As always the pork belly was heavenly, with crisp skin, incredibly juicy meat, and a layer of velvety fat. Offset with tart and crunchy daikon and the soft bun, it was perfect. The braised pork bun was good, but less memorable. Without the benefit of the pork belly's sauce, it had a drier texture while the shredded cabbage seemed a little limp. Satiated, we left the Civic Center in such a state of glazed happiness that even seeing a dead pigeon and what might have been human feces on the way home (Oh, living in the Tenderloin) couldn't completely shake it.

Pizzeria Delfina

Pizza Carbonara: scallions, guanciale, farm egg, pecorino, black pepper

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Pizza Margherita: tomato, fior di latte mozzarella, basil 

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Ginger ale

On yet another unseasonably beautiful afternoon, we met up at Delfina before Cheney's Spanish class, in which she is in constant fear of lapsing into French. True to our blog name, upon being informed that each pizza feeds one and a half people, we shamelessly and immediately ordered two pies. While the margherita was a mandatory classic, the revelation that guanciale is heavily seasoned and cured pig jowl cinched the fact we had to get the carbonara. Noticing that our table's breadsticks were pressed flush against the none-too-clean looking wall, Cheney quipped that Mission-dwelling hipsters probably didn't care about such things. Rosie thought that it was kind of a paradox that hipsters, those favorite whipping boys of the 21st century, are associated in stereotype with both snobbery and with dirtiness. She was then amazed when Cheney, picking up a slice of carbonara pizza, saw that some of the perfectly gooey egg yolk had fallen onto the table in transit, and unhesitatingly scooped it up and plopped it back onto its parent slice. Good lord that pizza was delicious, though. While neither of us usually enjoy scallions, the flavor blended perfectly with the rich moistness of the egg yolk and the tender and salty guanciale. The margherita was simple and fresh in contrast to the carbonara's decadence, with perfectly tangy tomato sauce pulling the whole pie together. Our waitress commented that since she started working at Pizzeria Delfina, she sometimes found herself eating an entire pizza by herself at 11 PM, five times a week. Rosie suppressed the urge to ask if they were hiring.

Fiona's Sweet Shoppe

Gummy raspberries // Maynard's wine gums // Rhubarb and custard hard candies // Sugar-dusted chocolate toffee almonds