"It's It"

We are heading to SanFran next week and read about a local dessert, "It's It".

What and where can we find this?

dendan - Looking forward to the trip.

http://www.sfist.com/archives/2005/02/02/its_what_its_the_essefficist_silly.php
this sound like a good opportunity to visit one of my favorite places, Mill Valley, home of Joe's Taco Lounge.

Every grocer in town!!! In the ice cream snack section right next to the normal ice cream sandwiches,Sundae Cups, Popsicles and push-ups--- & they're GOOD!

Tiki, I'm not sure about that anymore. What with vendors having to buy their spot in the freezer, I can imagine they are harder to find now.

We will put on our huntin' cap and head out across the Bay area and search it out. Sounds like many of the others on the market around the country....but always worth a try. :-)

Most other such ice cream cookie sandwiches use chocolate chip cookies. That's what makes the oatmeal cookie of an It's It unusual.

Yep, I see it now!!! Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by michaelgemmell

Most other such ice cream cookie sandwiches use chocolate chip cookies. That's what makes the oatmeal cookie of an It's It unusual.

quote:

Originally posted by bill voss

Tiki, I'm not sure about that anymore. What with vendors having to buy their spot in the freezer, I can imagine they are harder to find now.

I've never had any problem finding them at Safeway, Albertson, Bell or Cala.

That's interesting because one of the seminal battles here, with our expanding base of local food entrepeneurs, is access to local outlets of chain stores. Albertson's and Safeway are 2 of the worst offenders and won't let any local product in their stores. If it doeesn't come from their central warehouse, they won't stock it. This of course provides an opportunity to shop locally, which is what we do.
we used to see "It's It" up here, but not recently.

Well, we are bound and determined to find an It's-It while in the Bay area next week. Thanks for all the help.

The boxes of It's It might be too big for you at Costco. If you see an Andronico's or Molly Stone's grocery store, they stock the three pack. Basically, if you don't recognize the name of a grocery store, it's probably local and probably carries them. Also check snack bars at various Bay Area parks and such. The Albertsons here are terrible and have higher prices than Safeway and our local stores.

quote:

Originally posted by michaelgemmell

The Albertsons here are terrible and have higher prices than Safeway and our local stores.

Uh, oh! MG hasn't yet gotten over the loss of Faletti's (did I spell that right?)--nor have I. None the less, I don't find the Albertson that replaced it exactly "terrible". Just less interesting--and they do carry certain products I like that Safeway does not.

For those outside the Bay Area, Faletti's was a throwback--an old-fashioned grocery marketplace that had independently owned and run meat, seafood, cheese, wine and other sections under the same roof as a general grocer. It was where I always went when I wanted, say, soup bones or boneless poultry parts WITH SKIN because there you bought food the old-fashioned way: meat from a butcher who cut and trimmed it for you the way you wanted etc.

And it sat right there sandwiched between the Haight and Western Addition, convenient to a large part of the City.

But, Michael, it's gone. They bulldozed it for expensive condos and an Albertson. "Progress" happens. We can't really blame Albertson. And considering what they probably got for the land, I doubt the Faletti brothers are blaming anyone.

You must mean the Albertson's at Fulton and Masonic. It's quite awful and overpriced. By the time I moved here it was no longer a Petrini's, which is what you were describing. The last Petrini's was at Stonestown, and has been "replaced" with one of those chain bookstores with the "coffee shops" that only sell coffee. There is such a place as you describe still here, and that's Tower Market. Molly Stone's bought them but are keeping hands off.

dendan, Tower Market is on Portola near O'Shaunnessy and Woodside in SF, and they do indeed have the three-box of It's It.

My brother introduced me to the Its-It over 25 years ago on my first trip to SF. From my visit last April I can tell you that they are still pentiful all around the city. The cookie has an unsual clove taste to it that some people don't care for. I love them.

quote:

Originally posted by michaelgemmell

By the time I moved here it was no longer a Petrini's, which is what you were describing. The last Petrini's was at Stonestown, and has been "replaced" with one of those chain bookstores with the "coffee shops" that only sell coffee.

"Petrini's" was what all the locals called it, but the official name--such as was on my check-cashing card--was Faletti Brothers. The term "Petrini's" was generally used for the overall marketplace whereas I think Faletti Bros. was just the general grocery section since the meat, poultry and other sections were independently owned and operated. I have never been to any other "Petrini's" though I knew about them so I don't know if they are the same and I don't know what the connection with the Fulton/Masonic spot was, if any (other than, perhaps, historic).

Anyway, I can't agree that the Albertson's is "awful". Like I said, they do carry some products I am familiar with from the Southeast (where they have a lot of stores) that I can't get elsewhere in SF and my routes about town take me past there often enough that it's sometimes the most convenient place to drop in and pick up something. The alternative, for me, would be the Safeway at Geary and Webster which I don't care for and only use in a pinch. As you well know, there's plenty of public housing nearby there, the residents of which aften don't seem to care for people of my ethnicity and I have had a number of scary confrontations, in the store and in the parking lot. So I go to Albertson's more than I might.

Incidentally, while I blend in better at Molly Stone's, and I like their product mix and helpful staff, some of their Pacific Heights/Cow Hollow customer base can be as obnoxious as the Geary Safeway crowd and I don't call their prices "cheap".

Anyway, I mostly shop at the Market St. Safeway, but each of the other stores have enough to offer for me, including, I might as well add, "It's It," that I sometimes use them and don't find any of them "awful".

quote:

Originally posted by michaelgemmell

dendan, Tower Market is on Portola near O'Shaunnessy and Woodside in SF, and they do indeed have the three-box of It's It.

Two days and we will be in It's-It territory...hot on the trail of a regional treat! YAHOO!!! vacation!!

quote:

Originally posted by BT

quote:

Originally posted by michaelgemmell

By the time I moved here it was no longer a Petrini's, which is what you were describing. The last Petrini's was at Stonestown, and has been "replaced" with one of those chain bookstores with the "coffee shops" that only sell coffee.

"Petrini's" was what all the locals called it, but the official name--such as was on my check-cashing card--was Faletti Brothers. The term "Petrini's" was generally used for the overall marketplace whereas I think Faletti Bros. was just the general grocery section since the meat, poultry and other sections were independently owned and operated. I have never been to any other "Petrini's" though I knew about them so I don't know if they are the same and I don't know what the connection with the Fulton/Masonic spot was, if any (other than, perhaps, historic).

In some of the really old Petrini's markets, it retained a grocerystore structure, that was common during the first half 20th century, in which the store operated much like a department store. Faletti Brothers managed the groceries, while Petrini's managed the butchery or meats section. Petrini's started opening their own supermarkets in the 1940's. For more information on Petrini's, please see the the wikipedia entry.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrini's

quote:

Originally posted by dendan

We are heading to SanFran next week and read about a local dessert, "It's It".

What and where can we find this?

dendan - Looking forward to the trip.

Allmost next door to SFO, here is their website www.itsiticecream.com product is available at factory