L'ACAJOU BAKERY--HALF BAKED IN SOMA

L'acajou Bakery is a tiny corner shop located at 9th and Bryant just across the street from Bed, Bath and Beyond.  We were out Christmas shopping and wanted to get a quick bite before diving in to the hectic mess and hitting up the Renegade Craft Fair.  I'd seen this place every time I came to the area and had wanted to check it out so I convinced the partner to give it a shot.  Having seen their menu in the window previously I knew they served sandwiches so I thought it would be a good place to pop in and get it to go.  There were a handful of folks in line before us and the place is small.  There are 3 tables and a couple of high round bar tables along with the kitchen area you see above and a think a small prep room somewhere in back.  It took a few minutes to move the line to order so we had time to decide on the Moroccan lamb for my partner and the Southern spicy pork for me, since I'm always looking for good pork.  From the time we ordered to the time we got the sandwiches I'm gonna say it took about 15-20 minutes which was odd considering there were 3 people working the kitchen plus a prep cook-for now I'm just going to chalk it up to catching them at a bad time but still--you shouldn't have to wait that long just for a sandwich.  So here's a picture of what I got:

KASA INDIAN EATERY--IT'S AN INDIAN BURRITO

Kasa Indian Eatery isn't quite new, but when I first ate there it had been open only about 6 months at it's Castro location on the corner of 18th and Noe.  At the time it was a new concept serving kati rolls, a type of Indian street food originating from Kolkata, India.  The place got a bit of press when they first opened so when I went I was surprised it wasn't very full, which was fine by me, crowds in small restaurants are too noisy and not fun.  It allowed me to order, eat and enjoy in relative peace.  Since that first visit I have been back on several occasions and yes I really like this place.

IT'S A PIE-VOLUTION AT CHILE PIE

***AND ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST IN THE CASTRO AS CHILE PIES IS CLOSING THIS LOCATION. BOY WILL I MISS THIS PEANUT CHOCOLATE PIE***

In the old No Name Sushi place at the corner of Church Street and 15th Street sits a new small shop that is part of the new pie rage here in San Francisco that's trying to push out the cupcake craze as so 3 years ago.  It's called Chile Pies and they specialize in just pies (and sometimes ice cream) in both sweet and savory editions.  This is actually their second location technically as they are an offshoot of Green Chile Kitchen located at Baker and McAllister in the Western Addition.

They are different from 3 Babes Pies in that their savory choices are more pot pie than one large pie you slice from.  Now, while I enjoy a good savory pot pie kind of thing, on 2 separate visits I decided to stick with the sweet choice and specifically the peanut butter pie with the chocolate cookie crumble crust.  And on both occasions I was not disappointed.  The place itself is small and quaint with wood paneling, a very small counter with stools to sit at (if you stay) and metal plate bowls which are meant to give it that old-school homestyle feel.  It sort of works but you know I'm not all about ambiance, for me if the food is good, what the place looks like doesn't really matter--to me at least.

But back to the pie.  If you have a severe sweet tooth this pie will more than take care of it.  The filling looks exactly like fresh ground peanut butter with its rough looking texture but it tastes and feels smooth and creamy without all the stick to the roof of your mouth.  The crust looks like a chocolate version of a graham cracker crust like you see on a cheesecake but the flavor is more akin to the cookie part of an Oreo, though not an actual Oreo.  It's crumbly, chocolatey, tasty and mixes well with the peanut butter filling.  Slices of pie are $5 and this time well worth it.  For $1 extra you can add ice cream but to be honest I'm not the biggest fan of ice cream so I skipped that this time.  Though maybe a dollop of fresh cream would have been nice but again that's just me, I still totally enjoyed each slice without it.

If you are in the mood for a little pie, or a whole one, they sell those too, stop by Chile Pies and have a slice or two.

CAKO BAKERY...THEY'RE CUPCAKE-A-LICIOIUS

Cako Bakery is the purveyor of cupcakes.  Yes there are any number of cupcake bakeries around these days especially here in San Francisco where they were all the rage a few years ago and some of the places have managed to hang around even with the recent surge in pie as being all the current rage.  If the food is good you can overcome the ebbs and flow of popularity and Cako is one of those places.  I've been a fan for sometime and sadly for my waistline even have one of their frequent buyer cards--5 punches gets you a free cupcake.  Let's just say I've had several.