Although I don’t spend much time in the kitchen, I’ve often heard that baking is more difficult than cooking. Why? Because baking is more of an exact science, whereas you can usually play around with ingredients when cooking.

So, when my husband and I recently hosted a little dinner party, we decided we would save ourselves the stress of trying to bake a dessert. Instead, we called on Sibby’s Cupcakery — which came through for us with mini-cupcakes that were as delicious as they were adorable.

We opted for the Sibby’s Sampler, which usually consists of 4-6 flavors. We were so happy with ours: carrot, gingerbread, Grandma’s teacake, mocha, snickerdoodle, and eggnog. (We placed our order around the holidays, hence the seasonal flavors.)

Because they have no storefront, Sibby’s requires a minimum order of 1 dozen regular cupcakes or 2 dozen minis. Delivery is available throughout the Bay Area for a fee, or you can stop by their San Mateo location and pick up your goodies. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.

Sibby’s Cupcakery
(415) 613-4373

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Finally! Just this month, the folks at NOPA decided to allow for reservations one month in advance. Previously, you had to call the same day, starting at 2pm. And the phone lines were *always* busy. In fact, when I called on Friday afternoon for a Saturday night reservation, it took me about 20 minutes to get through. And was it worth the trouble?

Absolutely.

Previously a laundromat and before that a Bank of America (the wine is stored in an old bank vault), the NOPA space is beautiful. Large windows, high ceilings, polished concrete floors, and who could forget the fantastic Brian Barneclo murals. I instantly liked this place before I even had a bite to eat. But don’t worry, the food ended up being phenomenal as well.

Since there was not a bad dish at our table, I’ll just give you a rundown of what was ordered:

• Small Plates - braised lamb riblets (my favorite of our starters); flatbread of bacon, carmelized onions, radicchio and gruyere; thick-cut French fries with harissa aioli (it’s a large portion); little dumpling squash and sage (delicious but not quite what I envisioned since the squash wasn’t wrapped in any kind of dough — more like wedges of squash pan-fried with sage).
• Entrees - pork chop with sweet cabbage, treviso and apples; London broil with potato gratin (such creamy goodness!) and red-wine butter.
• Dessert - warm doughnut holes with rum caramel; apple-walnut crisp and creme fraiche ice cream.

We were lucky that we had an upstairs table — overlooking the very busy kitchen — so the noise level wasn’t too bad for trying to have a conversation. We watched the downstairs dining room get more and more crowded throughout the evening. Be sure to call for a table, or else you may be one of the many hopefuls we saw lingering by the bar for a while, just waiting for an opening.

Tip: If you’re unable to get a reservation, the restaurant offers a rather large bar area and a communal table for walk-ins.

NOPA
560 Divisadero Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 864-8643

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