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Photo Essay: San Francisco's Chinatown
January 18, 2006 | by Heidi | Filed under
No recipe today, just a few snapshots I took while on a walk through San Francisco's Chinatown over the weekend. I thought you might like to see a few of my favorite places there. These Chinese lotus cakes are proudly displayed in the front window of the Eastern Bakery.
The windows and walls of this bakery are littered with homemade fliers singing the praises of the Eastern Bakery's freshly cooked lotus bean fillings, or offering free samples of numerous Chinese New Year treats: Mooncake, Tikoy, Radish Cake, and others.
It is hard not to love this place. Not only is it the oldest Chinese bakery in Chinatown, but there are signs just about every where you look that won't let you forget it. "We were here before the Great Depression, The Bay Bridges, World War II, etc." The etc. was their touch, not mine.
This is a shot where I'm standing just in front of the counter getting ready to pay for my short stack of almond cookies. If you look closely, you'll also notice it is an accidental self portrait (I caught myself in the mirror). Behind the counter every flat surface is littered with classic pink bakery boxes, more signs, the day's outgoing mail, and god only knows what else.
The walls are highlighted with poster-size portraits of Bill Clinton. They looove Bubba at the Eastern Bakery. There are little notes all over the Presidential posters that share with you all the details of his visit. We learn President Clinton tasted a genuine lotus paste mooncake, and that he visited the bakery nearly ten years ago. Other note-worthy text: "He shook hands with everybody inside our bakery. All of us, our customers and employees were thrilled, and it was just like a short but big, exciting and memorable party!!!" I'm a little weirded out by the Chinese-style sausages in the display case right next to the eight-layer cakes, but maybe that's just me.
We also popped into the Wokshop, another Chinatown establishment. This is a snapshot of the wall behind their register. They must offer a selection of thirty or more spatulas. Notice the pepper mills, tiny tin cutters, and daily mail.
The ceiling in the Wokshop must is populated with many, many colorful lanterns.
We made our way through the northern edge of Chinatown toward the Italian establishments of North Beach. It was right in this area that I experienced a strange collision of gelato and Americana - in a tapioca/bubble tea drink shop - Budweiser gelato.
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jzb said:hmmmm... my husband and i were just discussing our endless long walks through sf chinatown... the many and memorable strolls we used to take when we lived there... nostalgia, i suppose... what a lovely coincidence that you would post something so beautiful to compliment our impromptu dinner discussion!
I love your photos! I really must visit San Francisco again -- soon! (BTW, I'm new here, but have been lurking for awhile)
this picture essay is so nice. my first to san francsico was in 1960 and i was 18 years old and it was so memorable for me that all other subsequent trips blur out when i remember the first one. the san francisco girl scouts were such great hosts! thanks and I always keep your recipes...
Paz (which means Peace)
Wow! the photos are very pretty, it's making me want to take a trip into Syndey's Chinatown!
I'm just getting used to cooking and have recently been obsessed with food blogs. Yours has the best photos hands down. Thanks for giving soooo much attention to your site.
Wonderful photos, but -- you do know most Chinese pastry is made with lard, right? Most almond cookies are, as are those little custard tarts. They're wonderful, but not even vaguely vegetarian.
I love your photos and would love to see more of everything. Now that I am living in Israel I do miss Chinatown and their goodies and the great variety of cuisine in N. America. Thanks for your column and great recipes. Have a great day! Judith
Hmmmm Budweiser gelato sure is not a frozen treat that would pass my lips anytime soon.
Are you sure that was Bud gelato? Looks like someone was left it there, in the coolest place they could find, before downing it.
Waaaah! You make me miss Chinatown... and SF!! Great photos, btw!
I am new to your site and think it is very innovative. I was introduced to your site by my dear niece Aylise. What a wonderful gift. Thanks to you and your gift of photos also.
Nice shots, Heidi. I used to love a particular chinese bakery (can't remember the name, I'm sorry to say) that had the most perfect coconut buns and some fairly impressive egg tarts. I was in in for the buns, though - I would eat 4 or 5 at a time, and they weren't small!
Wayne said:Heidi asked for a sample of the Bud gelato and that is in fact what it was. I asked her if she would consider, on a hot day, having an entire serving of it. She said it was refreshing and maybe. "It tastes just like Budweiser"
PeggyNC said:this evokes warm memories with my friends... thanks for sharing these great pictures
I want to go to SF now. I love so much chinese lotus cakes.
The 'self portrait' of yourself made me laugh, very clever and i wouldn't have noticed your presence if you hadn't told us...
Love
fanny
I love to wander Chinatown when visiting SF, your photos make me long to visit again. And you have visited my favorite spot-the Wok shop, source of my beloved flat bottomed iron wok! They are so helpful and knowledgable there- it is a treat of a shop, isn't it?
Hmm, I wonder what a Chinese Lotus Cake tastes like? Never had this before! I first thought it was Cheese, like Gouda you know! ;-)
J said:I was wondering what the Lotus Cake tastes like, too. Also, what is the texture?
I enjoyed your photo essay. I've walked through SF's Chinatown (I live in Berkeley) dozens of time and have never seen it like this. Thanks for the new perspective.
Heida,
What a lovely photo essay! You have brought back memories of my walk through San Francisco's Chinatown this past summer.
It was my first trip to San Francisco and I am still talking about it. Chinatown, in particular, left a deep impression. I bought a beautiful red decorative parasol that I have in my office at work. Everytime I look at it, I think of that great city!
Thanks again!
After watching countless episodes of Iron Chef where the ice cream maker is pulled out for anything from caviar to mushrooms, Budweiser gelato actually seems quite appetizing.
You've got something that's deliciously cold and crisp... only you've made it creamy and sweet.
...It could work.
What no egg rolls? Pictures say so much. Very cool! Did you try the lotus cakes? they look like large cheese balls? Would love to know what they tasted like...
Did you try the Budwiser gelato? Hmm...welcome to America, n'est-ce pas?
Where exactly did you find the Budweiser gelato? I work near Chinatown and I would love to go get some this afternoon!
Where exactly did you find the Budweiser gelato? I work near Chinatown and I would love to go get some this afternoon!
All your photos are from the same vantage point. Good subjects just try variety.
I love that bakey. I was in there two years ago on a trip to San Fran. There's some confection there that I just could not get enough of. My hotel was only a few blocks from Chinatown and I would walk over everyday to get a pastry. Yum!
Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
-B-
Great photos, Heidi. I love the Wokshop. There's also that great hardware store further up on Grant closer to Broadway that sells cookware.
Bud gelato? Combine that with a scoop of guacamole gelato in a cone made out of fried corn tortillas and you have Super Bowl party flavored ice cream cone....excuse me, I have to run to the copyrights and trademark office.
What wonderful pictures, truely capturing the feel of Chinatown. Would love to visit SF
Hi from the UK
E
xx
Chef-ette said:Can you enlighten us on the difference between lotus cakes and moon cakes?
(Have tasted durian flavoured moon cakes and loved them.)
uhmmm... photos are so nice. I would like to eat all of them. (this is a joke that you know)
Chef-ette, I'm really not an expert in traditional Chinese desserts, but maybe there is someone else here that can answer some of the above questions with more authority.
Stefanie, I think the name of the bubbletea/gelato shop was yogogo gelato (on Broadway I think).
Hope you all have a good weekend. -h
i love that you chose to highlight a chinese bakery. any chinese bakery, particularly the ones in ny's chinatown, is on my list of favorite places.
regarding the difference between a moon cake and a lotus cake, they are essentially cakes w/ the same filling but different pastry. and don't let the word "cake" fool you: the filling is a firm, sweet paste made of mashed lotus seeds. you can find lotus cakes year-round, but once fall arrives, the bakeries begin making moon cakes, too, in preparation for the august moon celebration (one of my favorite childhood holidays!).
the pastry for a moon cake is similar to a thin layer of dense cake, and after it is placed around the filling, the product is set inside a wooden mold with beautiful etchings inside, and the chef pounds the mold against the table top a few times to imprint the picture on the cake.
the lotus cake pastry is very flaky, and it is not subjected to an embellished mold.
don't attempt to eat one of these cakes alone b/c they're quite rich. in fact, at home we used to cut one moon cake into quarters; each quarter being one serving. i really recommend trying a wife cake--those are my favorite chinese pastries, but every bakery is a little different.
jta
Julie, thanks for the fantastic (and informative) overview! -h
Growing up, my mom always stuffed me with moon and lotus cakes, so I'm not a fan, but I recommend them to anyone who's never tried. It's also better with a cup of tea.
Heidi, I love this, not only for all the wonderful photographs and hilarious particular details, but also because I could really sense you in these words. I'd love to stroll down these streets with you, buying spatulas as we go.
Hi There!
Your feature on San Fran's Chinatown was fascinating and interesting. It reminded me of my (year-long) stay in Mainland China (Nanyang City, Henan).
But it also shows the richness of this magnificent, multicultural city. A place I would surely love to live in.
Great work!
Paul
Hi There!
Your feature on San Fran's Chinatown was fascinating and interesting. It reminded me of my (year-long) stay in Mainland China (Nanyang City, Henan).
But it also shows the richness of this magnificent, multicultural city. A place I would surely love to live in.
Great work!
Paul
Chinatown in Philippines
I think Chinatown all over the world have a common denominator and that is the delecious food and snacks they are serving
we call the Chinese lotus cakes in the Philippines hopia and it has two forms one made with pork fat and the other munggo beans . Just to think that my uncle who migrated to Australia the first food he miss and wants to taste was this hopia, there is also Tikoy here. But I love vey much siopao in two kinds chicken and pork. In my place in Iloilo Kongkee restaurant serves the delicious siopao.But in Manila there are plenty of Chinese restaurant serving Chinese food and it has become a part of the Filipino life to order chopsuey, pancit, bihon in times of birthday, or special occassions.
Wow Heidi! That happenstance self-portrait is really astonishing!--great looking photograph too! thanks for sharing. It's a keeper--one ups and combines the Robert Rauschenberg china photos (and much cooler too since its in your hometown) with Cindy Sherman altered by chance of Gysin cut ups. p.s. love your updated portfolio too--looks great. Interested in seeing one of your closer shots of the shells too.
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