San Francisco is one of the best cities in the country for confections and pastries, so if you’re looking for a sweet Valentine’s or Anti-Valentine’s Day gift for a loved one (including yourself), you’re already in the right place. Add in the well-researched advice you’re about to receive and you’ll be imbued with sugar game.
Cute and new: Trū Lab is offering Valentine’s bon bons per piece, as well as boxes and strawberry rose heart bars for delivery or pickup in SoMa. This is an especially nice option to consider if you like to support brand new businesses and introduce your beloved to something fresh on the scene. I really enjoyed the Maraschino cherry-filled lips, the strawberry rose love bon bon (a mini version of the heart bar), and the colorful passion fruit capsule.
You can even eat the dishes! The Valentine’s Day Collection Edible Chocolate Box from Charles Chocolates has long been the local pinnacle of VD sweets in my book. Raspberry, mojito, and passion fruit hearts are packaged in a box made of bittersweet and white chocolate. This would be especially fun for a Valentine’s get-together or poly celebration.
Tried and true: You can’t go wrong with the classic red heart boxes from See’s Candies. The Nuts and Chews assortment was my pandemic Valentine last year, and I shot it in red light to show how romantic a gift it is, even if you give it to yourself. Listen, I’d be more than content for this to be my date every single year.
Vegan love: TCHO recently switched to an all-vegan product line, offering bars made with oat milk and other natural ingredients. Treat yourself or someone special to a six-bar box, or just pick up a few — highlights from samples the company sent over here are the Toffee Time, which uses 53% cacao, and the almond butter-filled Aww Nuts!
Sting like a bee: Clandestine lamination specialist Baker Doe is making honey lavender bee sting croissants and other creative one-off pastries for San Francisco delivery on Sun/13. To catch it, set an alarm for 1:30pm on Fri/11 to see the menu and make an order in the few minutes it’ll be up before it sells out.
Dealer’s choice: It’s easy to find something beautiful and special for Valentine’s Day at Jack Epstein’s Noe Valley shop Chocolate Covered (4069 24th Street). His selection encompasses independent local makers as well as national and international candymakers and chocolatiers. One idea would be to bundle up some bars from around the world—just ask Epstein for recommendations, and follow them to the letter.
