Inย the atrium of the recently renovated San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, visitors are greeted by a massive black-and-white mobile, an untitled work by famed American sculptor Alexander Calder. Itโs something elseโhulking and friendly, familiar yet exciting.
Continue past the Calder, scale three flights of stairs, navigate throughย the museumโs permanent photography exhibition, and youโll spyย what to coffee fansย might be an even more familiar vision: Sightglass Coffee. The fourth location in the city for the roaster, this cafe boasts the same irresistible scent, killer coffees, and San Francisco-chic lookโthe design is by Boor Bridges, the architecture firm that also designed Sightglassโs Mission and SoMa locationsโas its siblings.
โPeople are primarily going to the museum and then discovering us along the way,โ says Sightglass co-owner Justin Morrison, who adds theย important point: โProbably about 90 percent of the people who come through would not otherwise have come into one of our stores.โ
By replacing SFMoMAโs pre-renovation Blue Bottle Coffeeย shop, Sightglass is now available to an entirely new clientele. โThe museum saw it as an opportunity to bring in some different amenities,โ says Justin Morrison, making it clear the museum simply wanted a fresh partner for its relaunch. โIt wasnโt anything crazy.โ
โThe museum itself is such a destination, and people from all over the world are visiting,โ explains Justin’s brother and business partner, Jerad Morrison. โThat means we get to serve them our coffee, which is great. It’s different.โ
Differentย is the operative word there. When I visited, I got an espresso that was, predictably, delicious. Like the majority of Sightglass’sย drinks, it was prepared by a barista with the intense concentration of a goth teen reading a Ouija board and made withย the shop’s MoMA blend, one thatโs specific to this cafe. It’s just a hair heavier than what you might getย from the city’s comparatively light roasters (such as Ritual), and darker than the espresso roast at the other Sightglass outpostsโa very fine adjustment possiblyย put in place to appeal to the museumโs wide audience. It tasted syrupy, like super-ripe fruit, and I made a mental note to order a cappuccino next time: this was a shot that could handle a cup of milk.
So while it was a distinctly Bay Area, distinctly Sightglass espresso, the overallย experience was a new one. In place of aย baristaโs vaguely recognizable (but choice) soundtrack, the ambient noiseย of the museum cafe consists ofย patrons chatting about photography that looks vaguely recognizable. Instead of banter between baristas and regulars, thereโs a pack of German tourists softly, gutturally explaining the menu to their dad. Rather than a gritty alley, the shop backs up to framed Man Ray photos. Even the typical La Marzocco machines are replaced by new, foot-pedal-instead-of-steam-wand-dial Kees van der Westens.
But then thereโs the warm, familiar Sightglass espresso, meticulously sourced. There are the same Square cash registers, the same impeccable service. The cups and saucers are the same as theย other branches too. (Although, in a museum of this caliber, you could be served a tepid “expresso” inย a rusty tin can and it will usuallyย at least feel more high-brow.)
The conclusion I’ve reached is that thereโs a connection to be made about drinking a favorite brand of coffee in a new environment and seeing a well-known work of art in real life. So, in the spirit of observing art and enjoying it for what it is: itโs the same Sightglass. Itโs great. And it feels a little different.ย Familiar, yet pretty exciting.
Laura Jaye Cramer is a freelance writer based in San Francisco, and has written for SF Weekly,ย GOOD, and PAPER Magazine. Read more Laura Jaye Cramer on Sprudge.
Photos courtesy of Michael O’Neal.
