Jeremy Tooker is clearly an impatient coffee pro. We first met him in the alley behind Four Barrel Coffee in 2008, when he set up a temporary coffee bar before the roastery/cafe opened in full. He took a similar approach with The Mill, the coffeehouse/bakery he’s opening with baker Josey Baker, who comes by his name honestly. They installed a temp coffee bar and toaster in front of the construction zone. As we learned, impatience can taste good.
The space touts two stools at a wooden ironing board, stacked bags of flour, and an outhouse in a wood shack out front. A boombox and tapes top shelves of Four Barrel coffee. After all, as barista Tim Griffin said, “Tapes are the new vinyl.” Maybe so.
Thankfully, their coffee equipment is more progressive, with a pourover station and a pair of one-group La Marzocco espresso machines that frame a Mazzer grinder.
Elicia Battaglia and Tim Griffin were my enthusiastic baristas/toast masters.
Tim Griffin’s opening a shop in Mosier, Oregon, a popular stop for skiers, snowboarders and kiteboarders. He’ll feature coffee, bread and soups and compared his concept to Outerlands.
Ethiopia Wollega Wato was the coffee of the day on Fetco, but I opted for pourover Kenya Barichu Gatomboyav ($3.50) pourover that displayed some convincing berry notes.
Battaglia’s shot of Friendo Blendo ($2.25) was fairly sweet and bright and minimally bitter.
Friendo Blendo also factored into Iced Coffee (2.50), a 12-hour cold brew.
Griffin slathered a slab of Baker’s toasted sesame wheat bread ($3) with McClelland’s butter, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and finished with Maldon sea salt. We should have stopped at butter, since cinnamon sugar and sesame weren’t exactly harmonious.
The baristas slipped me half a slice of another day’s special, toast with River View Orchards almond butter, finished with Maldon sea salt, which was more complementary.
The Mill already houses an Austrian flour mill and a Bassanina deck oven from Italy, which will fuel a full pastry line-up from Baker.
Baker spent 1.5 years at Mission Pie and has been baking at Nopa and Little Star leading up to his soft opening.
Based on our first bites and sips, we can foresee The Mill becoming a morning destination in Nopa.
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San Francisco: A Toast | BHH
July 8, 2013 at 11:11 AM
[…] Bottle at SFMoMA before it closed for renovation, and the cult classic hipster toasts from The Mill and Trouble Coffee. My favourite was Bar Tartine‘s avocado […]