Gearing up for the San Francisco Street Food Festival on August 16? This year, it will be held on a mile-long stretch on Folsom Street between 20th and 26th. La Cocina, nonprofit restaurant incubator kitchen and the organizer behind the delectable festival, says this will be their last year in the Mission District and will be moving to a bigger venue to accommodate the festival’s growing popularity.
7×7 recently published their top eight must-try treats – and it’s mouthwatering. Here’s a taste:
Cotton Candy, Sugar & Spun ($3)
Put a wad of this grownup cotton candy on your tongue, and feel it melt almost instantly. Dots of cayenne fleck the light yellow Spicy Salted Mango which makes it look more menacing than it tastes. Biscoff Spread and streaks of ground Oreo-like cookies (Sugar & Spun uses the 365 brand from Whole Foods) look like black pepper riddling the Cookies and Cream flavor. Find pre-packed containers of the above as well as Peanut Butter & Jelly. Or, order yours spun on-the-spot in options that include Nuetella strawberry, chocolate black sesame, and matcha green tea latte.
Doughnut Sandwich, Frozen Kuhsterd ($6.50) Excess, meet your incarnation. Build your own frozen custard sandwich starting with one Dynamo Donut split and stuffed with your choice of frozen custard and toppings like cornflakes, ube sauce, and nutter butter. Too tired from all that eating to make a decision? Go with the famed “Mission Style” sandwich. A bacon doughnut stippled with apple bits that have been cooked in bacon fat pairs with Four Barrel coffee frozen custard and a glaze of burnt caramel. It’s a smokey, caloric monstrosity that somehow doesn’t taste heavy. You can also grab plain scoops as well as old fashioned chocolate sodas composed of heavy cream, organic chocolate syrup, and carbonated water.
La Luna Cupcakes ($5 for 4 mini cupcakes)
La Luna’s customers clamor for tres leches. Rich vanilla cake soaks in three kinds of milk—evaporated, condensed, and regular—giving it a milky pocket that’s not quite wet, but goes a step beyond moist. At the festival, owner Elvia Buendia will also serve her popular red velvet with cream cheese frosting and smear of chocolate ganache (pictured), summery strawberry, and chocolate mint. For something more portable, try a cake pop. These orbs of blended cake and frosting served on a stick get dunked in white chocolate and sprinkles to resemble decorative golf balls.
The night before the Street Food Festival, La Cocina will also host a Fried Chicken Family Meal on August 15 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the SOMA StrEat Food Park. The event promises to have “every iteration of fried chicken from chefs all over the country,” along with an open bar, unlimited, food, live music and games.
But if you’re still craving more, La Cocina will also have an all-day Food and Entrepreneurship Conference afterwards on Sunday, August 17. The “Sunday Thoughtluck” will be centered around the future of food systems, alongside food entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, city officials, culinary experts, and community organizations from all over the world. Tickets are $100 but scholarships are offered.