Every year, the San Francisco Street Food Festival comes and I get all excited. But then I miss it. Not by choice, but because I’ve always had to work on Saturdays. But this year, The Bold Italic was invited to the SF Street Food Festival’s media preview dinner at Fort Mason. I finally got to taste some of the amazing food that’ll be at the fest. And even cooler, I met the vendors and heard more about their cuisine and how La Cocina has helped them grow their businesses which for some have turned into a brick and mortar.
SF Street Food Festival is put on by La Cocina, an incubator kitchen that teaches, fosters, and develops street food vendors (mainly minority women) who make amazing food but who need a little business help making their culinary dreams come true. La Cocina’s annual festival is giant block party in the Mission featuring more than 85 street food vendors and well-established restaurants from all over the city with over 80, 000 guests in attendance. This Saturday, August 17 marks the fifth annual SF Street Food Festival and the full lineup is insane. To help navigate the food extravaganza, La Cocina developed an app that breaks down each vendor, what they are serving, and where they are located.
In addition to the festival on Saturday, La Cocina will have a Night Market at the Alemany Market on Friday evening. This year vendors will be divided into six geographical regions — América Latina, American South, Europe — East & West, East Asia & China, Southeast Asia, and Africa & The Mediterranean. They are also pairing high profile chefs with La Cocina entrepreneurs like David Barzigan of Union Square’s The Fifth Floor with Donna Sky of Love & Hummus. They of course couldn’t make the evening only about food so they have incorporated regional games, music, and karaoke to keep you dancing and having fun all night long. What’s more, La Cocina knows that the Alemany Market is a bit hard to get to so they are providing free transportation to and from the event.
If you’re planning to attend the Street Food festivities, stop eating now! You’re going to need a completely empty stomach to enjoy all of the delicious eats that’ll be available. Or, you can be selective about what you stuff into your face. I spoke with events and marketing coordinator Michelle Fernandez about some of her favorites and together we created our top 10.
Michelle’s Top 5:
Chicken Yakitori from Aedan Fermented Foods
Mariko Grady is one La Cocina’s newest entrepreneur and her specialty is shio-koji, a type of fermented rice fungus marinade that she sells to Bar Tartine and other San Francisco restaurants. I’ve had this dish about a million times in the office thanks to recipe testing and I love it every time. This will definitely be my first stop.
Hand-pulled garlic bread with burrata from State Bird Provisions
Everything listed in that menu item just screams to my stomach. Plus, the reviews from when they served it last year all say it was amazing.
Ceviche from Los Cilantros
Dilsa Lugo is another La Cocina entrepreneur who worked for some time with Joanne Weir at Copita. She’s now back to working on Los Cilantros and I couldn’t be more excited. I somehow missed this item at our preview to the festival and the next day, this ceviche was all anyone could talk about. This year, I have a plan and I will eat it!
Grilled Baby Octopus from Rice Paper Scissors
I started following the girls behind Rice Paper Scissors (owners Valerie Luu and Katie Kwan) when I first moved to the Bay and pretty much went to every pop-up possible. I think in many ways I’m nostalgic about those first early eating days in San Francisco, but their food is also amazing and I can’t wait to try the octopus.
Gourmet S’mores from Kika’s Treats
Something about melted TCHO chocolate sandwiched between caramelized graham crackers and vanilla bean marshmallows just says “come to me.”
My Top 5
Vegetarian Momo from Bini’s Kitchen
Binita Pradhan’s signature dish is a momo, or Nepalese dumpling. She serves a pork one, but I was quite partial to the vegetarian momo that’s served with a spicy cilantro sauce. The momo’s texture reminds me of dim sum — doughy and slightly chewy — but its clean and intense flavors put the momo in a category all its own.
Traditional Tamale from El Buen Comer
Isabel Caudillo’s cooking is warm and inviting, representative of authentic Mexican cooking. Born in Mexico City, Isabel serves a traditional tamale made with organic masa and guisados — slow cooked sauces with rich, earthy flavors that make the El Bueno Comer tamale one of my favorites.
Spicy Bacon Kamikaze Taco from Onigilly
I thought I had tasted a lot of Japanese food, but somehow I had never tasted a onigri, or a rice ball. Onigilly offers onigiri, but they also serve Kamikaze Tacos. Made with a sheet of nori for the shell, the Japanese style “taco” was filled with spicy bacon simmered in garlic, chili, and sake.
Photo: Sweets Collection Facebook
Jelly Shot Sweets Collection
Sweets Collection gets serious points for originality. They essentially make Jello shots, but the end result is so much more than that. Each individual piece is an elaborate piece of 3-D art set in a shell of gelatin. Made with tequila, these are the most beautiful margaritas I’ve ever seen.
Zakuski from Anda’s Piroshki
Anda’s Piroshki’s zakuski, or Russian-style hors d’oeuvres, are meant to chase (and complement the flavors of) an ice cold shot of vodka. I had a fermented herring zakuski served with beet horseradish and pickled apple on a potato. Despite being a huge mouthful, its flavors were excellent with the vodka.
Main photo via SF Street Food Festival Facebook
