This is more or less a quick note to let people know about something really important, if they happen to be (a) hungry and (b) in need of fresh, light, sustainable fare (and here I mean in terms of you being sustained for the day) and (c) in the vicinity of the Ferry Building, San Francisco's new-ish culinary destination point (OK, the Ferry Building itself was built in the late 1800s. So it's not new. But all the stuff inside it kinda is.) This is what you need to know: you may walk by the Farm Fresh To You storefront, thinking it's merely a grocery store, but there is a menu inside and on that menu is something called the Apple Walnut Raspberry Salad. And that salad is absolutely delicious. With a base of mixed greens, deliciously fresh and finely pared apple slices (I want to say they were Golden Delicious but what I'll really just say is that they were green apples, not red), chicken, dried cranberries, raisins, walnuts, bleu cheese and a raspberry vinaigrette.

Does it sound awful fancy? Does it sound like nothing spectacular, considering how blessed California is with the produce so frequently available to us, all year round? Does it sound worth writing up a blog entry about? Well, I don't care what you think. (Note to Editor: Please don't fire me.) My friend and I walked around one weekday afternoon looking for the perfect lunch, as we were about to embark upon some serious walkin' up some serious hills, and when we happened to venture into the FFTY store and saw their offerings (that salad, along with my friend's chicken Caesar salad, is a menu item but you can also create your own salad, as well as your own sandwich) we were sold. And further sold by how delicious everything was. No wilting lettuce, no base of iceberg topped with a few sad cherry tomatoes, a smattering of grated carrots and—BLECH—slices of red onion. (Good grief. Who puts red onion on a salad?)

The storefront, I will also add, is very cute, with lots of fresh grocery produce and other edibles for sale (dried fruits, delicious-looking preserves, chocolates and sweets). It shares the gigantic warehouse space with the Golden Gate Meat Company's meat counter, as well as two restaurants, Hog Island Oyster Company and Ferry Plaza Seafood--and, of course, the doors in back lead straight out to the pier where you can enjoy the sunshine (if there is any; let's face it, it's San Francisco), look at the rather murky water, the bold and hungry seagulls and the people. Ah, the people—usually the best and the worst part about venturing into any city other than your own.

But back to the salads. Did they sustain us? Why yes indeed. They sustained us through a walk up the Filbert Steps, up to Coit Tower, down and then back up Lombard Street, down toward Ghirardelli Square and back around the Embarcadero to Montgomery and Market, where we had started. Yes, there was coffee along the way and yes, there was a little bit of Ghirardelli chocolate. But we never would've made it without those salads. —A.C.

Posted on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 in Permalink