Story: Welcome to Food Heaven

There's samples of Fatted Calf jerky made from grass-fed beef flavored with bourbon, organic blackstrap molasses and sea salt. The vendor over at Sukhi's Indian Foods offers a taste of whole wheat naan bread smeared with fruity chutney.

The air smells of bacon and hot corn tortillas. Rose Pistola's café sells breakfast scrambles; Primavera offers freshly made tacos and tamales.

Welcome to food heaven: San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace and Farmers Market.

As I stand on a dock overlooking the Bay's greyish-blue waters, a sax player hits the high notes of "I left my heart... ." This is all so good I might as well get a cappuccino at the Blue Bottle kiosk, sit down and watch the people go by.

From a wooden park bench facing the ferry arriving from Alameda, I note the number of customers waiting for a table at The Slanted Door. It's 11:00am and two groups of four wait patiently to try Vietnamese crêpes or perhaps Shaking Beef made with garlic, watercress and red onion. Outdoor tables at Hog Island Oyster Company are beginning to fill and the first iced platters of impeccably fresh Tomales Bay oysters have arrived.

San Franciscans love to eat. Miss the Ferry Building Marketplace and Farmers Market and you miss a multicultural feast that spills outside a monumental Beaux Arts-style building onto pavement overlooking the Bay, the Embarcadero and Market Street.

Much has been written about this bustling marketplace that started as a tiny weekly organic food market held in a parking lot just down the street. After de-construction of the Embarcadero Freeway, the market expanded and moved into its beautifully renovated historic digs. The marketplace inside the Ferry Building is now open all week; the Farmers Market held outside is open on Tuesday and Saturday.

A walk through the Ferry Building’s light-filled central hall is a lesson in how food can bring people together. Locals and tourists alike come here to seek out Chinese tea, California wines, artisan French breads, exotic mushrooms, Italian pork products and farmstead cheeses.

Those in the know duck down side halls to one-of-a-kind shops like Boulettes Larder: A “well-stocked pantry” that provides home chefs with pre-prepared goodies based on the restaurant concept of mise en place. Here you can fill your market basket with custom spice blends (including a popcorn mix with sea salt and yuzu), flavored syrups, gelatinous chicken stock, brown butter, Tahitian vanilla beans and polenta integral.

Ravenous shoppers are better off heading to Mistral Rotisserie Provencale where the cooking has already been done and take-home or box lunches can include ratatouille, potatoes roasted in chicken fat, macaroni and cheese or Moroccan-style Lamb Stew. Service is fast and the eating is easy at Mistral's two small tables or benches located outside the marketplace.

Eating this way is also an easy way for tourists to meet locals. Ask to share someone’s bench or picnic table and they may also share a tidbit or two about their favorite market gems. When I mentioned how I hoped I had room for dessert after my spicy bowl of lamb stew, seat-mates told me I couldn’t leave the marketplace without trying Miette’s Parisian Macarons. They pointed me back in the direction of the central market hall where I found an adorable, pink-decorated pâtisserie with sweets of all types displayed on old-fashioned glass cake stands.

After a ten minute wait in line -- which gave me another opportunity to ask my neighbors for tips -- what I got at Miette was a soft, chewy almond-meringue cookie tasting of nothing more than fresh, sweet cream butter and pistachios.

Heaven.

Ferry Building Marketplace & Farmers Market
One Ferry Building
San Francisco, California 94111
415/693-0996

Market Place: www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com
Farmers Market: www.ferryplazafarmersmarket.com