Tasting day

Shell Bean Stew at 20th Century Cafe

Eastside Road, September 13, 2013—

A DAY DEVOTED to tasting — not a bad way to spend a nice day. We drove down to San Francisco to visit two bakeries we'd read about; then drove across the beautiful new transbay bridge to try a restaurant new to us.

All three were brought to our attention by Patricia Unterman's newsletter Unterman on Food, which we've read for years now. I like her and I like her writing, always detailed, always enthusiastic. She rarely bothers to publish negative reviews, wisely leaving unsatisfying experiences in limbo. There are so many good bakeries, restaurants, cafés, bars, shops, stands, and carts to write about, why waste space, time, energy, and ink on anything less?

So today we stopped in at b. Patisserie for pastries we'll have with breakfast tomorrow. I can only discuss their visual appeal, which is considerable, and the marvelous look and impression of the shop and staff, clearly serious and informed but just as clearly dedicated to pleasure.

I can report, though, on the baguette we bought there, because I couldn't resist breaking a piece off the end and sampling it immediately. A really delicious bread, with flavor on the surface of the golden crust, another flavor in the soft yet substantial white interior. It'll make lovely toast tomorrow morning.

Then we had lunch at 20th Century Cafe, where the feel is Eastern European, perhaps as it's represented in Vienna. Here I had stewed butter beans and romanesco greens, with a good-sized toast spread with smoked puréed eggplant. I can't tell you what was in that stew apart from the beans and greens — a little paprika, I think, some tomato, salt and pepper of course — it was a subtle and complex stew, thoughtful and delicious.

I had apple strudel for dessert; Lindsey had this "honey cake," nine thin layers of delicate spongecake separated by honey-flavored buttercream, a unique cake dedicated to pure pleasure.

Dinner at one of the pert hip spots enlivening a new Oakland downtown, edging it toward an urbane Portland-style city devoted to strolling, drinking, grazing, socializing. Hopscotch calls itself an upscale diner, not that far off the mark — seating only a couple dozen at a time, and a few more at a bar offering smooth, complicated cocktails and a number of Scotches, some paired with beers — hence the name.

I had pickled sardines, quite straightforward, with a chiffonade of Fresno chilis and green onion; and then the tastiest hamburger I've had in years, maybe ever. The beef is chuck, ground in house, and the generous patty is topped with a thin slice of beef tongue seared on the griddle — a brilliant idea. Pickled onions and potato chips are the garnish; the bun is a big, soft, sesame-flavored roll.

Dessert: fig tart with ice cream, quite up to the standards we'd met in those bakeries across the bay a few hours before. What a day.

Strehn Deutschkreutz Blaufranisch, 2011 (lunch); Côtes du Rhône, 2011 (dinner) — and a fine Martini before dinner and, I'm afraid, a smooth and tasty Napoli (Fernet, Averna, lemon) afterward

• b. Patisserie, 2821 California Street, San Francisco; 415.440.1700 

• 20th Century Cafe, 198 Gough Street, San Francisco

• Hopscotch, 19115 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland; 510.788.6217

• Unterman on Food, c/o Hayes Street Grill, 320 Hayes Street, San Francisco, CA 94102