When I was in San Francisco last, I made an intentional trip to Farm:Table before my flight out because sometimes you need just one human moment when you travel for a reason that is not VACATION.
As is true for most big cities, San Francisco has strong neighborhood identities. Farm:Table is in the Lower Nob Hill neighborhood, where Tenderloin meets Nob Hill. (They have a coffee called Tender Nob, which is a nickname for this particular part of this neighborhood and which I think is funny. They also have a coffee called Verve, which could have nothing to do with the neighborhood, but could awesomely be a reference to The Verve Pipe. Remember those guys? No? Ok, moving on.)
Oh gosh. This place is so, so tiny. When I stepped out of my car, I gasped. No kidding. This should be a definite expectation reset for many of you. If you are expecting to do brunch here with a group of six, you'll be disappointed. However, if you want to have a little moment for your self and one other person, that could maybe possibly sometimes work. There is one community table inside (implying: make friends!), a ledge (do I put my coffee there? Or my bag? Or...?), and a couple of small tables outside. Essentially, you are (1) grabbing food and going or (2) you are making new friends because you are sitting on top of these strangers while eating something crumbly or (3) you are about to passive aggressively battle to the end with people you have never met before because you all just want to eat your delightful breakfast food in a little of your own personal space. Don't you want to find out which group you fall into? I did, so I decided to stick around.
I placed my order with a kind of slightly frazzled woman, who seemed to care less about me and my order than whatever was on her screen. There weren't many people in line waiting to order, but she seemed flustered and the kitchen was busy, so I ordered multiple things out of something akin to stress-and-judgment-laden-creativity (that's a thing, right?) and headed outside.
The first thing I ordered that came out was an almond milk latte. They use HOUSEMADE almond milk, which is gritty and very almond-y compared to mass-produced almond milk- and they seem capital-P proud of it. I imagine some guy spends his Tuesdays soaking almonds and using cheesecloth made from Tibetan monks to strain this mindful and special almond milk the right way. Whatever the backstory, this was not expensive for a latte. Really, everything here is not expensive (all of the food items are under $8). Yes, there are a small number of offerings on the total menu, but what they do (excuse where this is so obviously going), they do well.
As I was enjoying my HOUSEMADE almond milk latte, I started to really take a look at the food that was coming to the communal table and the tiny tables outside and it looked awesome. Ridiculously awesome. It was at this point that I praised my excellent (if not stress-and-judgment-laden-creativity) in ordering multiple breakfasts just for me. I definitely have self-congratulatory moments throughout my day and this was a big time smirking-and-head-nodding one. Multiple orders is the WAY in some places. Multiple orders is not the same as second breakfast, which is more of a time reference; as in: you eat second breakfast later in the day (a 10-10:30am situation, if you will). Ordering a second breakfast at the same time as the first one is a different situation completely. It is actually pretty baller, if you think about it.
As I was HOUSEMADE-almond-milk-latte-toasting-my-own-greatness, my first food order came out: The (Holy) Daily Toast.
The Daily Toast is a sea salt foccacia topped with sweetened mascarpone cheese, seasonal fruit and pistachio nut meat. It is like the best fruit pizza you've ever had. The mascarpone is sweet and the focaccia is crunchy and the fruit design is like art. Spectacular.
The Daily Toast was so good and filling- and I needed to head to the airport- so I had my second order, the Egg on Croissant, wrapped to go. The Egg on Croissant is a hard cooked egg with ham and Havarti on a toasted croissant with greens and fruit. It is a flaky croissant that is somehow substantial enough to hold the ham and eggs. The crumbly eggs and the tree-trunk like ham make for the right balance of tastes. Even when I ate it cold an hour later at my gate, it was still incredibly good.
I could call Farm:Table a "little gem", a "hole-in-the-wall", or give you some extended metaphor highlighting that great things come in small packages, but instead, I'll say that this is a lovely red-paneled place that, in the morning, has the most beautiful light and I'll say that you should definitely order a few breakfasts here for yourself just because. Whether you find a seat or not, you'll enjoy it. read more