Big news out of San Francisco – Andrew Barnett, founder and former owner of Ecco Caffe, has teamed up with Anthony Myint of Mission Street Foods to bring the world a new line of meticulously sourced, carefully roasted coffees…with salad and waffles?
Mr. Barnett teaming up with Mission Street Foods makes this story an instant news flash for foodies and coffee nerds alike. There’s probably no restaurant group more blogged about or web-adored than MSF, and for good reason, because they’re smart and cool about being successful, their NYC expansion was a world-conquering hit, and also seriously, have you had those Mongolian beef cheeks? Mr. Barnett meanwhile is one of the more respected green coffee sourcers in the specialty coffee industry; he made a name for himself at Ecco by finding sparkling, unique coffees, and he’s on the board of the Good Food Awards coffee judging committee.
Since Ecco’s operations in Santa Rosa, California concluded in early 2011, industry speculation as been rife as to what Mr. Barnett’s next move would be. Details are still scarce, but here’s what we know from our conversations with Mr. Barnett:
- The cafe space is called Linea Caffe. It will serve coffee roasted and branded specifically for this project.
- The cafe space is located in the Mission District of San Francisco, right around the corner from MSF’s flagship Mission Chinese Food.
- Andrew Myint of Mission Street Food will operate a salad and waffle service in the same space at Bar Linea, under the buttery, syrupy brand name of “Lieutenant Waffle” and GreenSalads.org.
- The space will is tentatively scheduled to open in May. Coffees for the project are currently being roasted at Highwire Coffee in Emoryville.
Here’s some quotes from our conversation with Mr. Barnett. On the Mission Street Food component to Linea Caffe:
“I think Anthony has a sweet side and a savory side. Lieutenant Waffles will be buttery, with maple syrup. They are grossly addictive, and like Mission Street Food, there will be charitable contribution component to the business model. Also daily waffle specials!”
On some of the coffees we can look forward to when Linea Caffe launches:
“I’m lining up a handful of gorgeous new crop coffees to launch with. Flying to Brazil after the Good Food Awards ceremony and will be judging at the Late Harvest CoE. Looking for a gem or two to round out our opening line up.”
The idea is for Linea Caffe to be an incubator of sorts. To start, Myint will offer a pair of concepts: Lt. Waffle and GreenSalads.org. The former will offer Brussels-style waffles, which include both sweet and savory crisp waffle goodness. The latter will be salads, tossed to order and available to go; continuing with the charitable mission of Myint’s other restaurants (Mission Chinese Food, Commonwealth and Mission Bowling Club), $1 from every salad will go to 350.org; you even read Myint’s salad philosophy here.
They’re hoping for a late spring opening (May perhaps). Hours will be 7:30am to 2:30pm.
We’ll be speaking with Andrew about his new project at the SWRBC. Stay tuned for more Linea Caffe coverage on Sprudge.com.
