SFoodie's countdown of our favorite 50 things to eat and drink, 2012 edition
Everyone in San Francisco, it seems, has his or her favorite kind of focaccia from Liguria Bakery. Some will defend to their death the honor of the rectangles dimpled with green onions, others the loaves thickly speckled with rosemary leaves. The plain focaccia toasts up into a great sandwich bread. The olive is ridiculous topped with summer's freshest tomatoes and slices of fresh mozzarella. But SFoodie likes best to snack on what the bakery calls "pizza focaccia."
Baked in an ancient brick oven by the Soracco family, who have owned Liguria for 101 years, the focaccia is deftly sliced and wrapped in white butcher paper and tied with twine. But when you unwrap the bread, that's when things get messy. Slathered in a thick tomato sauce and freckled with green onions that have wilted in the heat, the bread has a Midas-like ability to turn everything that touches it crimson. Your fingers. Your lips. The napkins you quickly run out of, and then your shirt. Stains be damned, it's impossible to stop eating it -- the puckered, inch-thick bread is so puffy, so soft, the richness of the olive oil in the dough cut with the tangy tomato and the occasional bite of onion. Liguria's other focaccias you bring to parties to impress your host. The pizza focaccia, you eat for yourself.
Liguria Bakery: 1700 Stockton (at Filbert), 421-3786.
Other favorites in this series:
11: Wing Wings' chicken salad biscuit
12: Pamonha de sal from Pamonha's
13: Kasa Indian Truck's gobi aloo kati roll
14: Delfina's trippa alla fiorentina
15: Truffled tater tots from Leatherneck Steakhouse
16: Baia Pasta's durum-wheat pastas
17: Z&Y's flaming fish with chile oil
18: Auntie April's fried catfish
19: None but the Brave from Heaven's Dog
20: Saha's vegan kibbeh
21: Starter Bakery's hazelnut kouign amann
22: Pupusas at Cafe and Restaurant Montecristo
23: 2 a.m. apple fritter at Bob's
24: Le Sanctuaire's vadouvan
25: Crab louis salad at Nettie's Crab Shack
26: Soy sauce chicken from Happy Bakery & Deli
27: Locanda's Jewish-style artichoke
28: Local: Mission Eatery's asparagus-egg sandwich
29: Memphis Minnie's 18-hour brisket
30: Custard buns from City View
31: Mission Chinese Food's kung pao pastrami
32: Panisse frites from Frances
33: Izakaya Yuzuki's chawanmushi
34: Fatted Calf's chorizo
35: Silvanas from House of Silvanas
36: Linden Street Brewery's black lager
37: Aged oolongs from Red Blossom Tea Company
38: Broken Record's crawfish grits
39: Cebiche mixto from La Mar
