It's summer sauce season. Here are our favorites. Check out the rest of our Best of the City picks here.
Smoke and Fire
Talented chef Charlie Kleinman of Wexler's makes this excellent sauce with roasted Fresno chilies and carrots, as well as a healthy dash or two of vinegar. Find it on his Scotch eggs but also tossed with chicken wings (and a little butter). We put it in our Bloody Mary. wexlerssf.com
Heat of the Moment
Take two Youkilis brothers—the chef from Maverick restaurant and an all-star first baseman from the Red Sox—add three chilies from Mariquita Farm and you get Youk's Hot Sauce. The 2009 vintage is the best yet. A sprinkle on your eggs hits it out of the park. youkshotsauce.com
Hell of a Time
Inspired by local Indian cookbook author Niloufer Ichaporia King's pickled eggplant recipe, Let's Be Frank's Devil Sauce is a little sweet (brown sugar) and full of spice (fennel, cumin), making it as great of addition to a grass-fed hot dog, but also good with just about anything. letsbefrankdogs.com
Salsa Dance
Papalote Mexican Grill's salsa (grilled tomatoes being the only confirmed ingredient of the secret recipe) was famous long before the taqueria whooped Bobby Flay in a burrito challenge for Throwdown—it just made us like it that much more. paplote-sf.com
Ligurian restaurant Farina's award-winning pesto (as in Pesto World Championship) doesn't have to stop on the restaurant plate. Bring it home to sauce your own pasta like a champ. Made fresh every evening, it's available for sale on a daily basis. farinafoods.com
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