Mission melange: taste the many flavors of San Francisco's Mission District melting pot - Travel and Recreation

Every December I make a pilgrimage to San Francisco's Mission District, where I become a shameless callejera--a person who loves to hang out in the street. I prepare by putting on thick-soled shoes (for pounding the sidewalks) and hauling out an enormous mesh shopping bag for all the loot that I'll lug home. I ride the BART train to the 16th Street Mission station, where I ignore the pigeons, trash, and panhandlers and prepare myself for a day of poking into every storefront and taking in the characters in this lively theater known as the Mission. The timing of this little adventure is key: As Christmas nears, the streets here fill with the scent of tamales, the shimmer of candles and sacred hearts, and the sounds and flavors of "back home"--wherever that happens to be.

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For Savas Deligiorgis, a journalist as well as the owner of

Hellenic American Imports, home is Greece. Perfumed by the scents of oregano, incense, and feta, his shop offers sweet Christmas tsoureki bread and koulouria, holiday cookies "that every Greek lady makes at home," Deligiorgis says. At night he hosts a Greek American radio show, "so during the day you'll find me selling a pound of olive oil and interviewing the ambassador of Greece at the same time," he says. And if you show the slightest interest in anything Greek, Deligiorgis is likely to jump from behind the counter to wrap you in a bear hug.

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Next stop is Encantada Gallery of Fine Arts on Valencia Street, where shoppers are handed a cup of hot, fragrant, nonalcoholic ponche (punch) to sip while ogling the universe of toys and tin ornaments that fill every inch of wall. "It's like aromatherapy," owner Mia Gonzalez says of the spicy libation cooked up every December by her husband, Gonzalo. "It warms all the senses." If Gonzalo's ponche leaves you yearning for more, the gallery offers a December 14 cooking class ($65) in which you can learn to make it and Christmas tamales too.

This month the Gonzalezes assemble their annual tribute to Mexico's patron saint, La Senora de Guadalupe (her day is December 12). Paintings, carvings, and prints depicting the radiant saint make for stocking-stuffer heaven. If you're not in the market for saint paraphernalia, consider lead-free ceramics, cookbooks, Mexican wrestler masks, or nacimientos (creche scenes).

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Farther south on Valencia, Yaeko Yamashita bends over the sewing machine tucked in the rear of her shop, Laku. Yamashita stitches slippers, hats, and pillows with personality--whimsical inventions of velvet and brocade or fake fur and pompoms.

A moveable feast

At some point in the day, my thoughts turn to food. Twenty-fourth Street is one of the Mission District's shopping thoroughfares, and it's also my destination for the green plantains, malanga, yucca, and other Caribbean vegetables I need to make Puerto Rican pasteles, a seasonal delicacy that is the island's version of tamales. At Casa Lucas Market, manager Arturo Felix piles these essentials in enticing pyramids right at the entrance. Pinatas sail overhead. Terra-cotta comales (pans) and casseroles are stacked in towers, molcajetes (mortars) and tortilla presses hide in the shadows.

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If you're not gathering ingredients for cooking at home, walk across the street to La Palma Mexicatessen. The line at this grocery and take-out food establishment typically moves briskly as veteran shoppers order in staccato Spanish. In the background, women slap handfuls of masa into rounds and bake them on huge iron griddles. The Mexicatessen long ago expanded its menu to satisfy changing demographics; in addition to fresh-made tamales, pick up Central American nacatamales--tamales wrapped in banana leaves--and Salvadorean pupusas, thick corn masa stuffed with savory filling and pan-fried. Weekend specials include birria (goat stew) and fiery pozole.

Pan dulce (sweet bread) lovers have plenty to choose from in the Mission. At 51-year-old La Victoria Bakery, I find not only the sweet, traditional breads, but also gooey tres leches (three milks) cake and rosca de reyes, the egg yolk-filled bread decorated with fresh and dried fruit and eaten on Three Kings' Day (January 6). A baby Jesus doll is baked inside; whoever finds it has to host a party on February 2--the Candelaria holiday.

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One last stop is required, right about the time my feet begin to hurt and my shopping bag is dragging along the ground. St. Francis Fountain has fed generations of first dates, prom nights, and birthdays since it opened in 1918; when it closed briefly last year, its fans mourned the passing of its weathered wood booths and greasy grilled-cheese sandwiches. Peter Hood, who bought the place with business partner Levon Kazarian, says they worked hard to keep its original look while reviving it by adding a modern kitchen that specializes in "diner-esque American cooking"--burgers, grilled sandwiches, homemade soup, and a few oddities such as an ice cream float made with Guinness Draught. Me, I'll settle in with the hot vanilla shake, a blend of hot and cool, old and new, unexpected and tried-and-true--a lot like the neighborhood I love.