Anna Roth

Chai-masala pot de creme with rose and huckleberry syrup from Marla Bakery.

There's been no shortage of deliciousness coming out of pop-up Marla Bakery, run by former Nopa pastry chef Amy Brown and Joe Wolf formerly of Wise Sons. But one thing that consistently stands out is baking duo's pot de cremes in various flavors. French for literally "pot of creme," it's a rich custard reminiscent of panna cotta or creme brulee without the sugar crust, and is usually pretty forgettable. Not here. The first time I had one was at the third anniversary of Pal's Takeaway -- it was chai-masala flavored, with just a hint of warming spices topped by a soothing rose and huckleberry syrup, and was startlingly good.

See also: Earl Grey and Panna Cotta Make Beautiful Music Together at Cowgirl Creamery

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Molly DeCoudreaux Photography

The stylish digs of the Mission's Dandelion Chocolate.

Good news, pie fans: The ladies of Three Babes Bakeshop will be heading into the kitchen at the Mission's newish chocolate factory, Dandelion, next week. Instead of focusing on chocolate, they'll be making fruit-focused desserts adorned with nibs, chocolate shavings, and more -- but chocolate fans don't fret, there will be a chocolate cream pie with whipped cream spiked with Almanac's Biere de Chocolat. Yum.

See also: Dandelion Chocolate Smoothies Contain Real Cacao Fruit
Almanac Pairs with Dandelion Chocolate For New Biere de Chocolat
Dandelion Chocolate: Now Open!

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Chuck Siegel, the owner of Charles Chocolates, says he couldn't be more delighted with the neighborhood where his business recently opened. The retail space, café (coming soon), and kitchen, where customers can watch his pavé, bars, and pastries being made, have taken over the 7,600-square foot space on Florida and Mariposa that used to house the Potrero Brewing Company.

See also: Chocolate Lab: An Elegant Extension of Recchiuti Brand
Dandelion Chocolate: Now Open!
Biere de Chocolate: Almanac and Dandelion's New Blend

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Flickr/yummyporky

Belgian waffles at Grand Lake Farmer's Market in Oakland.

Handheld waffles are big business in Belgium, and they're reaching critical mass in San Francisco. This morning brought news via Inside Scoop that Anthony Myint of Mission Chinese, Commonwealth, and Mission Bowling Club, is teaming up with coffee roaster Andrew Barnett (formerly of Ecco, which is now Intelligentsia) to open Linea Caffe, a little espresso/food stand in the Mission, right next to Duc Loi supermarket.

Sounds like the cafe's focus will be on espresso instead of pour-over coffee, but the bigger news is that Myint will be trying out a few new concepts: GreenSalads.org, which comes with its own manifesto, and Lt. Waffle, which will be offering sweet and savory Brussels-style waffles.

See also: B.street Waffles: Hearty Hand-Held Waffles an S.F. Hit
Three Places to Get Your Waffle On
The Waffle-gato: The Off-the-Menu Item at Blue Bottle You Haven't Heard Of

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Chile Pies

Rejoice, for it's everyone's favorite sweet, nerdy holiday, Pi Day (3/14, 3.14, get it?). We aren't usually in the business of celebrating estoteric food holidays like National Fettucini Alfredo Day or National Lucky Charms With All The Marshmallows Picked Out Day, but Pi Day is something else: It was invented right here in San Francisco at the Exploratorium, and its origins are geeky and earnest at heart.

The best way to celebrate the day is, of course, with a slice of pie. We've rounded up a few places offering special deals. (Know more? Leave 'em in the comments.)

See also: Desperation Bakehouse Introduces The Shirt Pocket Pie
Summer Ends on a Sweet Note at Mission Pie

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Anna Roth

Edith Heath bars, found exclusively at Blue Bottle's Mission location.

Blue Bottle is known for its coffee, but its pastry program -- headed up by Miette alum (and wife of owner James Freeman) Caitlin Freeman -- is starting to get a following in its own right. The team makes beautiful, art-inspired desserts at SFMOMA and thoughtful, rustic cookies and cakes for its cafes, including the newest concoction: Edith Heath bars, a take on the Heath candy bar. Blue Bottle invited us into their kitchen for the day to watch pastry manager Alyssa Meijer Drees make the newest member of the lineup.

See also: Blue Bottle at SFMOMA Rolls Out New Artistic Desserts Ahead of Cookbook
The Off-the-Menu Item at Blue Bottle You Haven't Heard Of
"Craft of Coffee": Checking Out Blue Bottle's New Book

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See's Candies

Your particular brand of chocolate-flavored nostalgia probably has a lot to do with where you grew up -- kids from Chicago have their allegiance to Fanny May and so on -- but my parents are from California and so holidays were always about See's Candies. And I looked forward to Easter almost as much as Christmas because it meant a See's "Chocolate Butter With Walnuts" egg in my basket.

The egg-shaped sugar bombs are about the size your fist, filled with chocolate buttercream and a smattering of California walnuts, and coated in dark chocolate. They're so rich you can't take one down in one sitting without going into near-diabetic shock -- when I was a kid I used to torture myself by slicing off a little at a time to make the deliciousness last longer, and judging from the comments on the See's website, many others had the same hoarding tendency.

See also: See's Candies Record-Breaking 7,000-Pound Lollipop
Littlejohn's Candies: Like Great-Great-Grandma Made

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Blue Bottle/SFMOMA

The new Rothko-inspired toast at Blue Bottle in SFMOMA.

The artsy Blue Bottle cafe in SFMOMA has rolled out a line of new desserts inspired by works in the museum's permanent collection. The rooftop cafe started with a Mondrian cake and has since offered rotating specials geared toward the museum's ever-rotating shows, but in celebration of the current "Selected Histories: 20th-Century Art From the SFMOMA Collection," the pastry team is offering sweet responses to old standards.

See also: Drink in Art: Blue Bottle's Glittery Ice Cream Float at SFMOMA
At SFMOMA, These Works of Art Can Give You a Sugar Rush
Blue Bottle's New Book Features More Than Coffee

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Janine Kahn

20th Century Cafe bake sales are Sundays through the end of the month at State Bird.

Range's acclaimed pastry chef, Michelle Polzine, is converting a Hayes Valley laundromat across the street from Rich Table restaurant into a new Eastern European-influenced hideaway called the 20th Century Cafe. It's coming soon, but Polzine isn't ready to divulge how soon.

"I don't want to say [an opening date] because I have jinxed it before by doing that," Polzine admits. "Let's just say 'spring!'"

See also: Pancakes Are for Dinner at State Bird Provisions

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Tamara Palmer

Cacao fruit smoothie by Dandelion Chocolate.

The Mission's new bean-to-bar chocolate factory, Dandelion Chocolate (740 Valencia), opened its café component last week. Included on the menu of hot chocolates (served by the cup or pot) and European drinking chocolate is an extra unusual item: cacao fruit smoothies.

This is a rare opportunity to taste the flavor of cacao fruit pulp, which Dandelion likens to lychee (we think it is slightly more tart). If you have traveled to South America or Africa, maybe you've had this fruit, but the only time we've previously spotted it in San Francisco was at one of TasteTV's Chocolate Salons, when sample tastes of fruit flown in from South Africa were offered.

See Also: Dandelion Chocolate: Now Open!
Inside Dandelion Chocolate's Dogpatch Factory

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