Nancy Pelosi Eats Dark Chocolate Ice Cream For Breakfast, Every Day

Life as House Minority Leader can be pretty stressful, which may explain one of Nancy Pelosi's unusual quirks: she eats dark chocolate ice cream every day for breakfast, and has for years. "I don't see it as different from having a cup of coffee," Pelosi told Food & Wine, citing Three Twins' Bittersweet Chocolate and Double Rainbow's Ultra Chocolate as two of her favorites. "The flavors keep getting darker and darker, which I love." She even has a preferred vessel: "Sugar cones are my thing."

Pelosi, who's been SF's representative in the House for 27 years (and has lived in the city for 45), also told Food & Wine about her favorite spots around town, both of which are in Cow Hollow: "Rose's Café is fabulously yummy for brunch and Sunday dinners. Then right down the street from that is Balboa Café. So if I'm not cooking on a Sunday, I'll be in one of those. Rose's has a chopped salad that's heavenly, and Balboa has the best Caesar salad." Her family also loves to go to Yank Sing for Sunday-morning dim sum. "Their dim sum is out of this world. They use lazy Susans on the table, and it's such a competitive thing-you have to stake your claim on your favorite dumpling!"

Pelosi, who was born the youngest of six in an Italian-American family in Baltimore, also has a wide range of culinary interests, from Ethiopian food ("I love it") to California cuisine (she describes Alice Waters as "spectacular.") And though she used to cook for her five children, she says they're proudest of her for quitting. "When I went to Congress, my daughter Alexandra said to me, 'Mom, I'm very proud of you.' And I said, 'Why, because I'm a woman member of Congress?' And she said, 'No, you used to cook, and then you stopped. Well, now nobody cooks, and you were one of the first to stop!'"

In case you're curious what brand Pelosi prefers, Bloomberg actually put her through an ice-cream taste test: