A Foodie Tour for Kids and Teens in San Francisco

Have your kids ever seen a cranberry bean?

We've never seen so much luscious and unusual produce in one place—heirloom tomatoes, white peaches, plums, big and tiny grapes, almonds, walnuts, various varieties of chili peppers, eggplants, potatoes, all kinds of apples. Welcome to the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market on San Francisco's wharf.

It's a California Certified Farmers' Market, held on Tuesdays and Saturdays, that connects consumers with California producers. You have to be a farmer or a member of a farmer's family to sell your produce here. A group of school kids are running around trying to identify several varieties of apples (one grower has 60) and beans. There are samples everywhere—apples, dried fruit, nuts, delectable nut and chocolate concoctions. There are cooking demonstrations and periodic tours to area farms.

The beautifully restored Ferry Building Marketplace, built in 1898, is a must see for foodies of all ages. There's Acme Bread, classic Italian gelato, and Cowgirl Creamery cheese. A cheerful staff hands out all the samples we want! There's Far West Fungi, devoted to mushrooms, as well as Hog Island Oyster Company, overlooking the San Francisco Bay, where we ate first-rate chowder and the best grilled cheese sandwich my daughter, a grilled-cheese aficionado, ever had. (It features four different cheeses!)

Here's the place to buy California olive oil, Mexican tamales, and salsas made locally. You can also find flowers and plants from Sonoma, California-farmed caviar, handmade chocolates, Vietnamese soup, organic meat, Chinese tea....

But to me, the real reason to bring kids here is the chance to connect with farmers who are glad to chat, giving out-of-towners the sense of exactly how those apples, beans, and nuts get to your local grocery store.

"Since the farmers' market is open all year, you can visit whenever you're in San Francisco," says Dave Stockdale from the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture. In the summer, there may be up to 75 farmers and 30 vendors on hand. On the day we visited, there were probably 30 to 40 farmers selling everything from honey to the most luscious-looking tomatoes I'd ever seen. (Did you know there are more than 100 varieties of tomatoes sold here, as well as more than 200 varieties of stone fruits like plums and peaches?)

"This is the real thing," says David Winsberg of Happy Quail Farms.

"We think it is important for everyone to understand where their food comes from and how it is grown," adds Stockdale. And that includes kids, so they can make better eating choices and perhaps try something new on a restaurant menu.

First Lady Michelle Obama certainly thinks so. It was front-page news recently when the White House announced that a new organic garden—the first White House vegetable garden since World War II—would provide food for the First Family. Every family member, including the president, she said, will pull weeds. "At a time when childhood obesity is a growing concern, the most important goal," Mrs. Obama told The New York Times, "will be to educate children about the pluses of eating healthful local fruits and vegetables."

However, if you can't have a garden where you live, visit a farmers' market where you travel. At a market, kids can learn that food in season is more nutritious and tastes better because it is fresh. They can "eat greener" by opting for foods that are local, rather than flown or trucked across the country.

At the San Francisco farmers' market, you can taste a kind of pear you've never seen, ask the farmer how it's grown, and how you can cook it. "You see all the seasons in the market," he explains. Come early on a Saturday morning and you might see local chefs shopping for their restaurants; visiting kids may see what they'll spot on menus later!

San Francisco, of course, has long been a Mecca for gourmands—city officials boast there are some 5,369 places to eat, more per capita than any other city. The San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, in fact, has just launched a new taste micro site and blog for foodies.

But what everyone doesn't know is that junior foodies are just as welcome. Kids can watch bakers craft bread into alligators and crabs at the Boudin Museum and Bakery Tour, taste San Francisco's sourdough bread afterward, or be treated like VIPs at the historic Top of the Mark with its sweeping views at the venerable Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill.

Take the kids out for Sunday brunch. They can chow down on Caesar salad, a four-ounce steak, mashed potatoes, and a hot fudge sundae from the kids' menu at Lark Creek Steak in the downtown Westfield San Francisco Centre. Eat free on Sundays at Fior d'Italia, which claims to be the country's oldest Italian restaurant, or if parents want to take the Napa Valley wine train, take the kids along for free on family date night. While the kids are entertained, parents can relax with good eats and good wine.

For dinner one night, we headed to Russian Hill—no tourists here, though the cable car goes right by Luella restaurant. The husband-and-wife team who own this place run Little Luella Sundays from 5 to 7 p.m., complete with Shirley Temples, fresh pasta or pizza, and ice cream sundaes for dessert. By the way, the grown-up food was great, too, especially the restaurant's signature Coca-Cola-braised pork shoulder. Yum!

We joined tourists eating seafood at Neptune's Palace on Pier 39. While you're there, spend some time ogling the sea lions that live on the rocks. It won't cost you a penny and may be the best show in town.

Another day, we headed to the historic Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant. The 20-somethings who joined me especially liked the handcrafted ale for lunch; younger kids will love the beach right outside. The restaurant is located just above Golden Gate Park. You'll also be treated to the wonderful frescoes created by Lucien Labaudt as a WPA project in the '30s. The kids will love trying to pick out all of the sites they've seen—Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, and more.

No matter how picky your eaters, this is a city where they'll be inclined to try something new, like dim sum in San Francisco's famous Chinatown. Or, take the kids to the hole-in-the-wall Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.

I love that San Francisco is affordable. You can find hotel rooms for $100 or less these days. Check out the "Family Fun" package at the new Hotel Americania, where kids get jelly beans on check-in; rates start at $89 per night.

Alcatraz, anyone? Pick up a CityPass to save big bucks on attractions and museums. Or, just enjoy some outdoor fun—ride bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge or fly a kite in Golden Gate Park.

Pick up the fixings for a picnic at the farmers' market and go out and eat lunch watching the bobbing sailboats. Don't forget the cupcakes—Kara's Cupcakes is right in Ghirardelli Square. I can vouch for the red velvet.

Read Eileen's blog and more Taking the Kids at TakingTheKids.com.