Food Tour Of Mission District | San Francisco

The Mission District has become a proving ground for San Francisco's most creative chefs, so much so that it's easy to walk from new restaurant to new restaurant until you can't walk anymore. A day's ambitious itinerary:

Breakfast: Craftsman & Wolves, which opened this morning, is the home of William Werner's rapacious pastry creativity. The Rebel Within, a savory muffin with a soft-cooked egg inside, is a cult favorite, but Werner also astonishes with his chocolate-croissant "stacks" and confitures de lait. You can pick up a jar of the milk jam as a souvenir or eat it in the café, smeared on brioche.

Lunch: We have a love affair with Namu Gaji's hot-dog-and-kimchi-studded fried rice as well as with the other neo-Korean dishes at this family-run restaurant. At lunch, the sticky Korean fried chicken is an essential order.

Drinks: You can eat a full dinner at St. Vincent, David Lynch's restaurant and wine bar; chef Bill Niles' Californian take on Kentucky burgoo (a type of meaty stew) is particularly rewarding. But Lynch's wine list is the draw. Lynch will open any bottle on the list if you order two glasses, and the craft beers he's collecting are fascinating.

Dinner: It's a 10-minute walk from St. Vincent to Central Kitchen, where Thomas McNaughton and his chef de cuisine, Michael Gaines, are cooking more elaborate food, including a deconstructed ham-and-cheese sandwich, pickled mackerel with celery and pine-nut mousse, and duck roasted over coals.