For many Americans (and visitors from abroad as well, for that matter), wine tasting in the US means a trip to Napa Valley and maybe Sonoma County if they’re adventurous. There are other vineyard areas dotted around California, but these are surely the Big Two. If visitors do not reside in Northern California, they probably arrive by air, usually at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Then, as we often do, they drive north to either the Golden Gate or the Bay Bridge, barely passing through San Franciso itself.
Photo courtesy of the Ferry Building Marketplace.
That’s a shame, because San Francisco is a beautiful city with many attractions. It’s worth taking a day or so away from wine tasting and stop at the City on the Bay. (Actually, there are two; Oakland is on the same bay. But as Gertrude Stein said of the second city, there’s no there there.) We’d like to present one of our favorite stops in Frisco (a San Francisco term the locals hate): the Ferry Building.
It is a handsome building with a clock tower that once was a highlight of the San Francisco skyline. All the tall buildings obscure it now, but it still is a central part of the harbor. Its original use, as the name implies, was to provide an entry point to the city for ferry boats arriving and departing from all points of the bay. At the height of its usage, thousands of passengers passed through every day and the grand hall of the building, known as the Nave, was used for baggage and freight handling.
When the two bridges were erected, ferry traffic abated and the Ferry Building fell into disrepair. Then in the early 2000s, the building was lovingly repaired, restored and reopened as a marketplace, while still acting as the terminus for ferry traffic, which has once more picked up in popularity.
Photo courtesy of Project for Public Spaces.
Today, the Ferry Building is a foodie’s wonderland. There are a few bakeries (think sourdough), a charcuterie, a fromagerie (cheese shop) that sells all the Cowgirl Creamery cheeses and a shop that sells just mushrooms. Don’t overlook the chocolatery, the patisserie, the empanada maker, the Japanese deli, and, and, and…Oh, yes, and the wine shop.
The Farmers Market is open year-round on Saturdays and hosts more than 100 stalls featuring the produce that Northern California is famous for. (Yes, they grow fruits and vegetables there, other than grapes.) One nice little feature of the Saturday market is what they call the Veggie Valet, where you can temporarily drop off your purchases, while you dine or tour around. There are also smaller markets on Tuesday and Thursday markets. The city estimates that 25,000 people shop at the Farmers Market every week.
There are a number of restaurants in the Ferry building that we have enjoyed, although each visit seem to offer a different roster. One of them is the same Gott’s Roadside that we enjoy in St. Helena in Napa Valley. We miss the Slanted Door, our favorite Vietnamese restaurant anywhere, that didn’t make it through the pandemic. We understand that there are plans to reopen it soon.
Sure, we understand the urge to get right out to the vineyards. But give your heart a chance to be left in San Francisco as well.