Best Ways to Finish a Meal

Dessert tasting, Campton Place
340 Stockton St. (at Sutter), 415-955-5555, www.camptonplace.com
Northside’s Best Pastry Chef, Boris Portnoy, rouses your palate and seduces your senses with six, ever-changing courses of mind-bending desserts, each one matched by a spectacular dessert wine. (Upon request.)

Goat cheesecake, Sociale
3665 Sacramento St. (at Spruce), 415-921-3200, www.caffesociale.com
Goat cheesecake is usually way too tangy; Sociale’s version is anything but. It’s creamy, subtle, and just dense enough, with a thick, buttery crust and a thin layer of lip-smacking lemon curd on top.

Orange and sweet ricotta fritters, Luella
1896 Hyde St. (at Green), 415-674-4343, www.luellasf.com
The fritter bandwagon is crowded, but Luella’s are some of the best. Ethereal orbs of ricotta cheese dough are deep-fried, then drizzled with wild honey. They disappear fast, so order enough for the table.

Lemon tart, Vivande
2125 Fillmore St. (at California), 415-346-4430, www.vivande.com
Just like my great aunt Margaret, Vivande hand squeezes their lemons. The tarts are big enough for two, with a perfectly balanced curd and crisp crust.

“Tin Roof” sundae, Scala’s Bistro
432 Powell St. (at Post), 415-395-8555, www.scalasbistro.com
This is an exception to the “brownie sundae as overkill” rule. Scala’s starts with a butterscotch blondie and fudge ripple gelato, and then adds ribbons of caramel, thin shards of chocolate, and housemade peanut brittle.

Get Across Town

50-50 buttermilk panna cotta with mango and passion fruit, COCO500
500 Brannan St. (at 4th,) 415-543-2222, www.coco500.com
Lush panna cotta is layered with tropical mango and passion fruit gelée in a simple dessert that is far more than the yum of its parts.

Get Outta Town

Yogurt gelato and grapefruit sorbetto, Gelato Milano
2170 Shattuck Ave (at Center), Berkeley 510-649-1888, www.gelatomilano.com
One bite of this gelato, made fresh according to Old Country traditions, and you’ll find yourself driving across the Bay Bridge again and again.

Best Chocolate

TastesCharles Chocolates peanut butterfly, CocoaBella Chocolates
2102 Union St. (at Webster), 415-931-6213, www.cocoabella.com
This is what would happen if the French had invented the peanut butter cup. A creamy, crunchy peanut praline center is enrobed in bittersweet or milk chocolate – your choice.

Beer and hot cocoa, Silks
222 Sansome St. (at Pine), 415-986-2020, www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/51900039.asp
Instead of pretty petits four, Silks ends your meal with a teacup of silky cocoa and a chaser of crisp, cold beer. Surprising and refreshing.

Chocolate chai, Bittersweet Café
2123 Fillmore St. (at California), 415-346-8715, www.bittersweetcafe.com
Bittersweet makes hot chocolate for adults by combining spicy chai with a custom blend of bittersweet chocolate. No marshmallow required.

Midnight cake, coffee ice cream, whipped cream, Terzo
3011 Steiner St. (at Union), 415-441-3200, www.terzosf.com
Forget those ooey-gooey versions – this is chocolate cake like your grandmother use to make. A thick slice showered in powdered sugar is just this side of sweet.

Get Across Town

Chocolate ice cream, Nopa
560 Divisadero St. (at Hayes), 415-864-8643, www.nopasf.com
It’s the lightness of a mousse married to the richness of ice cream. Whether it’s scooped up with brandied cherries or hazelnut toffee, it’s a treat.

Get Outta Town

Chocolate bar with Montmorency sour cherries, Michael Mischer Chocolates
3352 Grand Ave. (at Elwood), Oakland 510-986-1822, www.michaelmischerchocolates.com
Mischer crafts every truffle and bar himself with Grand Cru chocolate made from rare, South American criollo cacao beans.

Best Year-round Farmer’s Market Finds

All at the Ferry Building Plaza,One Embarcadero (at Market)

Fleur de Sel caramels, Recchiuti Confections
415-826-2868, www.recchiuticonfections.com
Flakes of sea salt highlight notes of burnt caramel and bittersweet chocolate. Pure genius.

Burrata cheese, Cowgirl Creamery
415-362-9354, www.cowgirlcreamery.com
Gioia Cheese Company makes burrata by filling fresh stretched mozzarella with more fresh cheese and cream, and Cowgirl flies it up from L.A. a day after it’s made. Enjoy it with tomatoes and basil or prosciutto and lemon zest.

Grapefruit and Meyer lemon marmalade, June Taylor Jams
510-548-2236, www.junetaylorjams.com
The Jam Goddess uses only fresh, seasonal, organic fruit in her small-batch jams. This exquisitely tart marmalade will convert even the sweetest sweet tooth.

Pasture-raised eggs,Marin Sun Farms
415.663.8997, www.marinsunfarms.com
Heritage chickens roam the land, laying eggs with rich orange yolks and creamy whites that taste like Mother Nature intended.

Charcuterie, The Fatted Calf
510-653-4327, www.fattedcalf.com
Everything is good at this artisanal charcuterie maker, from the lamb crepinettes to the duck rillettes to the incomparable bacon.