San Francisco / San Jose.

San Jose.

San Pedro Square Market (87 N San Pedro St)

Voyager Craft Coffee / Wherever you go becomes a part of you. I tried the Tokyo latte made with espresso, oat milk, & cherry blossom water. When I looked up coffee in the area, my search led me to Voyager’s beautiful latte art for this drink (which 100% influenced my decision to order it). Unfortunately, since I ordered it to go I wasn’t able to appreciate any latte art in my to go cup. Nevertheless, it was still delicious! I could definitely taste the subtle flavor of the cherry blossom water, which was pleasant and not overwhelming floral tasting. I paired my tokyo latte with a ginger molasses cookie that was incredible, just the perfect consistency of softness/chewiness. I would 10/10 return to Voyager to try another one of their specialty lattes.

Pizza Bocca Lupo / When I approached the pizza store front a bystander told me this is the best pizza in all of San Jose. Well.. I don’t have any other pizza experiences in San Jose to compare this to BUT it was quite good! I mean look at that beautiful crust. I ordered the Joe’s Special because I absolutely love mushroom on pizza. If you don’t mess with mushrooms, I don’t mess with you. Just kidding :) But seriously, mushrooms get so much hate and I really don’t get it. They are a wonderfully versatile for so many amazing dishes. Anyways, I digress.. We all know that fresh pizza tastes best when it is exactly that. Fresh. Piping hot out of the oven! However, I visited San Pedro market during the covid pandemic when there was no indoor or outdoor dining in the area. So I took this hot baby for a long stroll to the park to enjoy! It had gotten a bit cold by then but heck. It was still good. Pizza really is my one true love that I know I can rely on because it seriously hits the spot every.single.time. I would love to take another visit to San Pedro Square Market to explore the other eateries and immerse myself in the full experience. Fortunately I was able to order everything to go during my visit but eating in a loud, bustling food hall is truly 80% of the experience. It is definitely worth checking out next time you’re in San Jose!

SOMISOMI (2855 Stevens Creek Blvd)

Dessert / Ice cream is hands down my absolute favorite dessert. I don’t care how many times I complain to you that I am extremely full and can’t take another bite of my food. I will ALWAYS have room for ice cream afterwards. Somisomi is quite a dessert experience! Enjoy a cup of soft serve with taiyaki (a fish-shaped waffle cake/cone). You have a choice of filling for the taiyaki such as red bean, nutella, etc. And don’t forget to add your toppings! I went for a matcha soft serve with a custard filled taiyaki, topped with cereal crunch & a macaron. Honestly the custard taiyaki was my favorite part about this and I also would’ve enjoyed having just that.

San Francisco.

Goody Cafe (Landmark Building C, 2 Marina Blvd)

Coffee / During my trip to SF we first conquered the famous Lombard Street by foot and while we were on the way to the Golden Gate Bridge we stumbled upon the Fort Mason Center Farmer’s Market, which was an absolutely great detour! The farmer’s market was widespread with a great selection of local produce, crafts, and food vendors. If you’re in the area on a Sunday definitely go check out the farmer’s market. Featured here is my lavender oat milk latte from Goody Cafe. Grab your beverage of choice, some ingredients or cooked food from one of the vendors and go enjoy a picnic with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Truly sounds like the best way to spend a Sunday to me.

Frankie’s Pier 43 (Pier 43 1/2 The Embarcadero)

Lunch & Dessert / featuring sourdough bread bowl clam chowder with fresh beignets (unfortunately not pictured) for dessert. No trip to San Francisco is complete without stopping by Fisherman’s Wharf. Do some window shopping, admire the cutest sea lions, and eat some clam chowder! The weather was a little cold and rainy the day that I visited and this big bowl of hot clam chowder was absolutely perfect. & the fresh beignets heavily dusted with powdered sugar for dessert just can’t be beat. Frankie’s Pier 43 is just one out of many restaurants in the area with a killer clam chowder bread bowl. Next time I’ll be checking out Boudin Bakery Cafe

Urban Ritual Cafe (488 Fell St)

Craft bubble tea / featuring a matcha toffee with strawberry syrup & boba. This drink was definitely a tad on the sweet side for me but that’s partly because I got way too excited and may have overdone it.. no regrets though. Urban Ritual’s menu is unique with drinks like Strawberry milk bar, creme brulee, and bae-sil lemonade. Grab your drink and take a stroll around the area filled with cafes, restaurants, & bars or even window shop at one of the clothing stores. Also as an East Coast gal, California in December was such a weird feeling to me. I mean the leaves still have the beautiful fall color to them meanwhile in the tri-state area all greenery is dead all winter! In my opinion, Christmas in California really doesn’t feel the same either without some snow. Also I just realized this bubble tea is basically like a Christmas drink! But tastes more like summer if that’s your vibe :)

Thank you for reading along and following my food travels! More to come in the future! Feel free to send me a message with your feedback or recommendations for places to explore/food to eat.