Locomotoring

Store front on Columbus Ave

David Lebovitz says that some of the best artisan chocolatiers these days are from America. So, we decided to bring to you as many of them as we can find in San Francisco.

We start with XoX Truffles – a friendly shop for a cup of coffee and some handmade truffles.

• Location: North Beach, San Francisco
• Coffee: Espresso
• Chocolates: Handmade truffles

The store front is unpretentious, the coffee delightfully strong, and the handmade truffles are small nuggets of perfection. These truffles have won so many awards that the list of awards exceeded our attention span.

They give away a free truffle for every cup of coffee you buy. Our plan is to sample all their truffles for free. OK, we lie. We buy them too. This time we bought a few Earl Grey truffles.

The truffles are intensely flavored and creamier than a chocolate bar, as truffles are wont to be. We had some hazelnut ones too, which were very good, but the nuts did not seem to be at the peak of their flavor. In my humble opinion, to get the best hazelnut flavor, one should roast them, make a nut cake  e.g. recipe from Sally Schneider’s A New Way To Cook and eat it right away. They just aren’t as ferociously flavorful otherwise.

Some photos from a recent trip:

Touch of Paris

Watching the world pass by

Espresso and Truffles

If you are visiting North Beach…

Telegraph Hill is a perfect little hill to hike. Click here to read more on the hike. A tiny mom and pop sandwich shop, Just a Bite, fits the lunch needs perfectly. And Washington Square Park is a perfect spot for dozing after lunch. Graffeo is where you buy your week’s coffee supply. So, have an espresso, hike the hill, eat a sandwich, take a nap, have another espresso, buy some coffee and head back home… Read more about a neighborhood walk of North Beach here.

For more of our explorations of San Francisco, with photos, maps, walking tours, click here.