7 Incredible Ideas to Steal From San Franciscan Chefs

We scoured the tasting tents at Eat Drink SF this weekend to bring you incredible ideas you'll want to steal from San Franciscan chefs. From pancetta-wrapped dates to bubblegum macarons, each of these gourmet dishes and desserts will put a little spring back in your kitchen routine.

Tortilla Chip "Crostini"

Tortilla Chip "Crostini"

Who needs crostini? Many chefs over the weekend, including Tacolicious's chef Telmo Faria, opted for a thick, crunchy tortilla chip as an appetizer base. He served his with sushi-grade tuna dressed in toasted sesame oil with sriracha mayo, guacamole, and fried shallots.

Pancetta and Dates

Pancetta and Dates

Chambers Eat + Drink chef Trevor Ogden served Cana de Oveja-stuffed Medjool dates, wrapped in lamb pancetta and garnished with romesco and lemon thyme. Even if you can't procure lamb pancetta, go ahead and gourmet up bacon-wrapped dates by subbing in pork pancetta.

Bubblegum Macarons

Bubblegum Macarons

Yigit Pura's Tout Sweet Pâtisserie has developed a macaron flavor to make any '90s kid's heart sing: bubblegum with rainbow sprinkles. Re-create the idea at home with our homemade macarons recipe, this bubblegum flavoring, and rainbow sanding sugar.

Honeydew "Sushi"

Honeydew "Sushi"

Chef Matthew Harley of Rebecca Jean Catering employed an inventive wrap for raw tuna: thinly sliced honeydew! But if those knife skills seem too ambitious, it's still a great pairing to try. He topped his with fried frizzled ginger and miso cream.

Goat Cheese Fondue

Goat Cheese Fondue

Fondue is making a resurgence in the food world. We recently made Tupelo Honey Cafe's pimento cheese version, but we can't help but dream of whipping up this goat cheese fondue, served by chef Mike Yakura of Dobbs Ferry Restaurant. He dolloped it over roasted cherry tomatoes and crostini.

Thai Tea Frozen Custard

Thai Tea Frozen Custard

Jason Angeles of Frozen Kuhsterd has come up with our new favorite custard flavor: Thai tea. Since the orange-hued tea is typically ultrasweet and made with condensed milk (or half and half), it seems like a no-brainer to turn it into frozen-custard form!

Pickled Blueberries

Pickled Blueberries

We've never thought to pickle blueberries before, but thanks to chef Kevin Tanaka of Navio at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay we now know they offer a tart, slightly sweet complement to raw fish like yellowtail.