Trish Rothgeb and Nick Cho, the dynamic duo behind Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters, have officially signed documents for their very first real-live stay-put coffeebar in San Francisco. Located inside gallery and event space Firehouse 8 (1648 Pacific Ave), the building owners have big plans for the future. Trish tells Sprudge, “Firehouse 8 is building a kitchen and a potential cocktail space. When that gets done, all that stuff is going to work together.” The building itself is almost 100 years old, operating as a firehouse from 1917 through the late eighties.
The cafe has been operating the last few weekends as a pop up, serving Wrecking Ball’s Pillow Fight espresso blend off of a La Marzocco GS3 and Kalita filter brewed coffee. Rothgeb & Cho plan to start serving pastries soon, and will be installing a two-group La Marzocco Strada EP in November.
We asked Nick and Trish if they were going to do anything different with their menu. Mr. Cho told us, “One thing that I want to do – because of Trish and her preference for certain things – is to make sure espresso drinks have the option for single or double. So much so there will be different size cups for a single cappuccino (5 oz) and double cappuccino (6 oz). In specialty coffee, so much of it is those little details. For us, it’s about wanting to make people yummy coffee.”
Future guests can also expect Wrecking Ball to offer a proper tea service, with offerings sourced by Highwire Tea. They plan to bring their cafe up to green certification standards, and once the bar is built, there are plans to place a three seat slow bar inspired by the Brewers Cup Competition and Youngmin Lee (South Korea’s “Top Barista“).
While hunting for the perfect location over the last two years, Nick and Trish have been working various pop-up markets around the Bay Area, and have been the target of numerous write-ups from publications like Men’s Health, San Francisco magazine, and Esquire.
For now, Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters will be open for retail every weekend from 10am-4pm. Starting November 1st they’ll be open daily from 7am to 2pm.
