San Francisco: Mission food crawl

Continuing to recall the start of this month, when I was up north....The afternoon of January 2 was sunny and clear, and so Andrew and I drove up to San Francisco for some fun.  First, we soaked up the gorgeous weather and worked up a bit of an appetite by meandering around the SF Botanical Garden.  Then, we drove down to the Mission, parked on Valencia, and walked east on 24th Street toward our first stop, Dynamo Donut & Coffee.  Below is the "Hibiscus heart beet" donut, which was indeed a little tangy with hibiscus flavor and pinkish from beet juice.  Look at the cute little heart!

The donut was very tasty for a baked good and great for a donut, but not mind-blowing.  Then again, my expectations may have been too high, especially as they were almost sold out by the time we arrived (there were only two flavors left).

Then, retracing our steps backward, we stopped at La Palma Mexicatessen and ordered chiles rellenos stuffed with meat.   I had never had chiles rellenos before, and these turned out to be a messy, delicious concoction.

Third stop: Humphrey Slocombe.   We shared an ice cream sundae of one scoop "Secret Breakfast" (bourbon caramel) and one scoop of balsamic caramel, with a brownie, whipped cream, and preserved cherries.    This was certainly some of the best ice cream we'd ever had, and not cloyingly sweet despite the two caramel flavors.

Our final stop, up on 18th Street, was Pizzeria Delfina, where we shared one tricolore salad with grana padano and one margherita pizza.  No pictures, but we'd been before.  This time we were seated cozily at the bar, where we could watch the pizza makers moving rapidly and gracefully around each other in the small kitchen, somehow managing to avoid collisions.

After pizza, we headed home.  The grand total for this culinary adventure: just under $50, and worth every penny.  We'll have to do it again sometime!  There are plenty more donuts, Mexican food, ice cream flavors, and pizza to enjoy along that same route.