North Beach - Day Four

While on the bus we passed a place named Italian and French Bakery, those are magic words. We got off at the next stop, Columbus Ave. Talk about kismet! We walked until we came to Petite Deli, it was a few minutes before they were scheduled to open. Along the way, we were tempted by several other eateries. So, we considered going elsewhere, but then a friendly older Asian man opened the door and invited us in. Young, the owner, was behind the counter prepping for the day. She couldn’t have possibly of been more sweet. She welcomed us as if we were guests in her home. We ordered an Italian Hero to share. That way we could eat again, shortly.

Young made us one of the most delicious sandwiches we’ve ever tasted. Ingredients were as fresh as can be, it had your typical Italian meats, but it was her special mustard, vinegar and basil that made it special.



Young wished us well and we were on our way. We couldn’t help, but stop at Piazza Pellegrini for a bite. Nevermind, that we literally had just eaten. Frank ordered eggplant parmesan; it was wonderful. I had homemade crab ravioli. It was incredibly delicious. We had no trouble finishing both dishes.





Next we walked all around the North Beach area. We quickly fell head over heels for this neighborhood. The corner bakeries, cafes, meat markets, etc. a little slice of heaven, it was.











We stopped at that Italian French bakery and bought a few goodies: Danish, Florentine, Croissant, and cinnamon bun. We ate them later in the hotel room, everything was a big disappointment. Fortunately, while walking around we found Victoria Pastry Co. We stopped in for a cappuccino and were unable to resist a chocolate mousse napoleon and a made to order cannoli. Absolutely scrumptious! Pure bliss.





We continued onward and ran into Chinatown. We knew that meant Cable Cars were near, so we caught one back to the hotel. On the way we realized that North Beach is only a few blocks from the hotel. The other day, we were a block away from Petite Deli. We felt so silly, we thought we were so far away – the bus had us both disoriented. The good news was our favorite neighborhood was practically around the corner!

Rather than exploring more, we went back to the hotel to rest up before the Bears game.

Bears vs. 49ers up next…