North Beach
Not really a beach at all , the area traces its name to the 1850’s , when a finger of the bay extended inland and the neighborhood was a sunny shore between the Telegraph and Russian hill.s
Here in the center of the Italian community, are Italian bakeries, shops and delis as well as kitchen specialty stores. In the pasty shops, you fill find rum babas, marizipan and cylindrical cannolis filled with sweetened ricotta cheese and glaceed fruits.
The bakeries or bread shops , offer long loaves of sweet and sourdough French breads and penettone , a round sweet, Italian bread filled with raisins and glaceed fruits.
Kitchen specialty shops sell noodle machines machines, cheese graters, caffe expresso machines, ravoli rolling sticks. baking irons for pizzele and cialidi cookies , copper polenta pots and round bottom pans for zabaglione.
Excellent meals are served in the restaurants of North Beach. Beside the well known establishments look for modest , unassuming little one serving savory specialities.
For many years a flourishing colony of painters ,writers and craftsman has had its headquarters in the North Beach area. Once a year , usually around June , these artists display their crafts in a street bazaar that draws thousands to look or to buy.