Last weekend Matt took me to SF for the day to celebrate by birthday (belated).  His gift to me was a walking and tasting tour of the Mission district of SF and then a stop at La Cocina for a Latin fusion cooking class with a group called “Parties that Cook”.

First stop: Mission Minis for some itty-bitty cupcakes.  This guy is known for the “$1 mini cupcakes).  A portion controlled treat to start the tour – love it!  I had the honey lavender and Matt had coconut

The next stop was my fav: Mr. Pollos. This place has been on TV! …but that’s not why I liked it.  It was because they cook from scratch daily with whatever inspires them at the daily farmer’s market AND they are growing their own peppers and spices to become an authentic Venezuelan restaurant.  It’s a tiny eat-in restaurant but I think you can do take-out and I hear that lunch isn’t as crazy busy as dinner.

But really why I loved it is because of the cormeal empanadas. Flour-free and FANTSTIC!!

Next Stop: Humphry Slocombe Ice cream
Why two desserts before the main lunch?  I have no idea but I was beginning to like the way this tourguide thought.  Yes!  It was a beautiful warm October day in the city, so why not have ice cream, right?

This is me dying and going to heaven with their salted licorice flavor:

One more stop at a really famous-but the name escapes me tortilla shop and we were off to cook.

The menu:  Fish tacos with chipolte crema, smoked chicken quesadilla with tomatillo salsa, and two other things I can’t recall the names of.  One was an appetizer: pork carnitas cups with lime and avocado  and the other was this magical corn cake lightly fried and topped with jalapeno jelly.   I was so sad that I wasn’t really hungry anymore by the time we made these dishes because I would have absolutely feasted they were so good.  But don’t worry, I got my fill.

Our feast!

   

Thanks to my husband for a fantastic, delicious and memorable birthday present!