Sweet Tooth

Now, usually I don't have much of a sweet tooth. I save that job for my fiance. I do enjoy the occasional slice of cheesecake or bowl of ice cream, and we decided to use the Eat Local Challenge this month to try out two of the Mission's best kept secrets. These places are local in all of the best ways: They are small shops who believe in the benefits of using locally grown organic food for all of their delicious treats, and they are home-grown stops who have managed to make names for themselves in a city filled to the brim with gourmet bakeries, pastry shops and eateries.


Bi-Rite Creamery & Bakeshop, an annex of the Bi-Rite Grocery on 18th Street, (pronounced bee-rite, if you are my fiance) serves seasonally-flavored ice creams, sorbets, and specialty items made from locally produced organic ingredients. You can call to find out what flavors are in season, or just drop by and try out whatever sounds good. We got a scoop each of the Balsamic Strawberry and Raspberry with White Chocolate, both of which were some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted. It was so good, I had no problem eating ice cream at 7 'o'clock on a cold and foggy San Francisco evening. Check out their website here: www.biritecreamery.com



Next stop on our search for tasty local treats in the Mission was Mission Pie, a tiny shop on the corner of 25th and Mission. These folks make some amazing pies, made with care by hand with locally grown ingredients. This little pie shop has created quite a following of its own; in fact a lady in line in front of us was buying two pies but for no other reason that she couldn't get enough of their rhubarb. The pie shop is an extension of the Pie Ranch, an organization deditcated to locally produced food and urban renewal. They have recently purchased a ranch on the San Mateo coast to be the headquarters of their production and education programs. The storefront on 25th street sells the final product of all of their hard work. The Pie Ranch organization is the embodiment of local food; a group dedicated to education, sustainable agriculture, and ensuring the fewest steps between the earth and your stomach. Oh, yeah, and they make one hell of a pie. I reccomend both the walnut and the rhubarb. Maybe grab a slice of each. They're just calories, right? Check out the websites here: www.missionpie.com and www.pieranch.org.