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The Independent UK

Travel

Ellie Seymour

Say hello to the newest San Francisco foodie craze: It’s toast, but not as we know it

San Francisco The Mill California

“Whipped ricotta toast for Ellie?” said my waitress, putting a plate of toast – but not as I know it – on the table in front of me. It was a work of food art: a double-doorstop-thick slice of buttermilk bread, slathered in soft white ricotta cheese, topped with glossy orange marmalade, a drizzle of lavender honey, a handful of purply-green pistachios and some edible nasturtium leaves.

I took in its beauty for a moment before tucking in, tentatively, not wanting to disturb the creation. It was surprisingly spongy and more cake-like than I’d imagined, the golden crusts ever so slightly crispy. The tangy sweetness of the marmalade and slight sourness of the ricotta complemented each other beautifully. This is toast at its most decadent, putting the usual waify, done-to-a-crisp, British offering to shame (and, at $14/£11.30 a slice, giving my wallet a run for its money, too).

It was 9.30am on a Saturday morning and I was in one of San Francisco’s legendary artisan bakeries, Tartine Manufactory, in the eclectic Mission District. The high-ceilinged whitewashed warehouse space I sat in was buzzing and starting to fill up. Fifteen minutes since I arrived, already a line had begun snaking out the door. The distinctive scent of sourdough filled the air. As I savoured my toast, I watched a baker coaxing batches of fresh loaves out of an industrial-sized oven onto a conveyor belt and into crates.

Kaya toast at Breadbelly (Ellie Seymour)

This was my first stop on a mission to explore the city’s gourmet toast – and artisan bread – scene that my stateside friend, Jeneane, had alerted me to. She lives in lush Marin County across the Golden Gate Bridge but loves bringing guests here specifically for the toast.

“The bread in San Francisco is so good that when my parents visit me from Chicago, they fly home with San Francisco sourdough in their suitcase,” she said, before mentioning she’d booked us a table at a place called State Bird Provisions. “It’s such a fun restaurant, with a surprise on the menu.” Could it be toast, I wonder?

Read more on California travel:

Although soured bread can be traced back to Egyptian times, sourdough has a rich history in San Francisco, dating back to the Gold Rush era of the mid-19th century. At this time, it was a snack of choice for prospectors. Since then, the city has become a magnet for artisan bakers, which some say is due to the city’s famously foggy climate offering the perfect conditions for the wild yeast cells and naturally occurring bacteria that give sourdough its characteristic flavour. Either way, there’s no disputing that artisan toast is the new trend for bakers to showcase their wares.

The bread in San Francisco is so good that when my parents visit me from Chicago, they fly home with sourdough in their suitcase

Sourdough doesn’t stop with bread, either. During dinner at beloved Italian restaurant Che Fico, I discovered life-changing sourdough pizza – also with connections to Tartine. “When I was setting up Che Fico, a friend working as a baker at Tartine offered me some of their sourdough starter – the special mixture that makes sourdough bread rise,” said the owner David. “Using it to make our pizza dough, we get to celebrate one of the most important bakeries to come out of San Francisco, if not the whole country.”

A few doors down from Che Fico is The Mill, another legendary San Francisco bakery. Here I found seven toast toppings on the menu. “Who doesn’t like toast?” said co-owner Josey Baker (yes, that is his real name). I couldn’t agree more as I bite into an immaculate thick slice of their bestselling cinnamon sugar toast: country bread, perfectly cloaked in butter and sprinkled in brown sugar, cinnamon and a few crystals of Maldon sea salt.

“It’s food that people all over the world remember fondly from their childhood,” he said. “But it’s not often given a ton of care and attention, it’s more of an afterthought or side dish, and most often it’s made with stale bread.” This is why toast is the main dish at The Mill, made with real attention to detail. “We try to serve the best toast we can make and hope it’s the best toast you’ve ever had.” It could well be.

A celebration of bread at The Mill (Julia Stotz)

A local, Madeleine, walks past holding a portion of bestselling “egg-in-a-hole”. It is what it sounds like: a thick slice of multigrain bread slathered in garlic and sage compound butter, with a soft poached egg in a hole in the middle. “I’ve only been here once before but I’ve come back for toast, particularly this dish,” she said. “Egg-in-a-hole is where it’s at,” said another local, called Abby. “I’ve been coming to The Mill since 2018 and it’s all about the toast. I’ve just started seeing someone and he’s never had the toast, so I’m thinking of bringing him here to try it.”

Then there are the other bakeries thinking outside the box, like Asian cafe Breadbelly in Richmond. “We like to do things a little differently here,” said owner Clement Hsu, who talks me through their bestselling kaya toast: house-made milk bread, griddled on both sides with butter, and topped with kaya, a pandan-coconut egg jam. “Pandan is a tropical, sweetly fragrant plant that has the aroma of jasmine rice and vanilla ... it grows like a wide blade of grass and imparts a deep green colour when used to make kaya jam,” he explained. It’s warm and spongy, sweet and indulgent.

Toast with a difference at Tartine Manufactory (Ellie Seymour)

My last night in San Francisco came all too fast, but it meant it was time for dinner at State Bird Provisions. The surprise? The A5 wagyu toast: shaved cabbage, shiitakes and ginger-soy glaze. When I thought I’d hit peak toast, and my trousers could not get any tighter, once again I slipped into gourmet toast heaven.

Five best places to try the craze for yourself

Mazarine Coffee

This casual coffee shop in Union Square – named after a Parisian public library, apparently – serves nine types of toast, including one topped with organic fresh fruits, ricotta, honey, sea salt and pepper.

Jane the Bakery

This female-owned chain of seven bakeries has seven types of toast on the menu, including peanut butter and banana, and is the cheapest I discovered: $3 for two thin slices of sourdough with butter and jam.

The Mill

Mix and match your savoury and sweet toppings – including smashed avocado, almond butter, strawberry and blackberry jams, cream cheese, and a house-made version of Nutella – on a variety of artisan bread at this NOPA – north of Panhandle – neighbourhood favourite bakery, also the home of “egg-in-a-hole”.