Today’s Chronicle article about the Mission District’s, um, “sugar trail,” was a good reminder that the neighborhood has become a great dessert destination. The piece provides an excellent roundup of the neighborhood’s brick-and-mortar sweet shops, but in this age of prolific street food, we thought you could use a summary of the mobile vendors hawking desserts in Dolores Park and Linda Street. Check out our own roundup of the Mission’s more transient treats.
• Mission Street Food: While the party migrated out of the taco truck and into a Chinese restaurant after the first few servings, we’re including this project by former Bar Tartine lead line cook Anthony Myint because its crazy popularity pretty much started the most recent street food trend. Dessert has always been a big part of their menu, from the early brownies with brie to the current malted vanilla ice cream with cherries and port.
• Creme Brulee Cart: The pastry man with the propane torch seems to be a lightning rod for coverage of this trend, in part because creme brulee is such a downright strange thing to be selling on the street, and in part because he seems to be a good interview. Curtis, who doesn’t give out his last name, wears a tall, white chef’s hat and serves a variety of creme brulee flavors, but he’s currently on his honeymoon, so no sweets for a while.
• Amuse Bouche Guy: Amuse bouche technically comes before a meal (usually dinner), and this guy often sets up by BART in the morning as a quick breakfast option, so the name’s frankly a little confusing, but all the same, he comes up with muffins and a hot drink for $2, and you can’t go wrong with that, especially with the freezing fog of summer coming on.
• Gobba Gobba Hey: This is a new option, created by Warmest Room in the House author Steven Gdula (and featured Monday on SFoodie). Gdula has only sold them on the street once, but the concept is taking off: Gobs are a regional sweet from Pennsylvania with cake on the outside and frosting inside. And don’t you love the Ramones?
• Bike Basket Pies: Another new-ish option, we don’t know much about this vendor except that they are velo-centric and sell Strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry-mango-coconut, and mixed berry free-form rustic pies for $3 in Dolores Park. [Via Mission Mission]
• Cookie Wag: A couple of folks from Mission Street Food have come full-circle and are back on the street, selling ice cream sandwiches and cookies.
• SF Moo Moo Cakes: They do ice cream sandwiches, popsicles, organic ice cream in Dolores Park and apparently have a pink cart. That’s all we know.
• Thai shaved Ice: When it’s really hot out, this is the jam: They smartly debuted during Bay to Breakers but now haunt Dolores Park. Get a big cup of shaved ice with fruit syrup. Can’t be beat.
• Helados guys: The original street sweets, these are the guys you see all over town when it’s warm out, pushing their little two and three-wheeled freezer carts. Just buy a rocket pop, already, you know you want one.
[Photos: Via Cookie Wag, Bike Basket Pies, SF Moo Moo Cakes, Thai shaved Ice]
