Craftsman and Wolves

http://www.craftsman-wolves.com/

(and specifically... or is that "pacifically"?)

http://www.craftsman-wolves.com/caw-pacific/


Place: Craftsman and Wolves
Location: 1643 Pacific Avenue (between Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street)
Hours: open Monday - Friday at 7:00am, Saturday and Sunday at 8:00am 
Meal: (off the Good Morning section of the menu) market-driven quiche,  pickled things ~ today's pickled thing(s) was sweet potato, this also includes Swiss chard (How can you tell the difference between Swiss chard and German chard? The Swiss chard always maintains a neutral flavour.), onions, and goat cheese (I think the counter-person guy said it was a Humbolt Fog[1]); (off the the Counter section of the menu) thai scone ~ green curry, candied ginger, coconut; (also off the the Counter section of the menu) morning bun ~ créme [ sic ][2] fraîche, grains of paradise[3], muscovado[4]; and a cuppa (very excellent)
Highwire Coffee Roasters Tightrope

http://www.highwirecoffee.com/collections/coffee/products/tightrope

(Do I really have to explain today's EweToobular juxtaselections? 

Okay, fine. It is a well-known fact that Los Lobos really enjoy fresh-baked goods and locally roasted Coffee.)


Much like last Sunday's breakfastary bakery visit, I was very happy to eat at Craftsman and Wolves this morning. (I am just curious as to why "Craftsman" is in the singular and why "Wolves" is in the plural; plus, it is interesting to see they have "and" spelled out and not with an ampersand.) They now have two locations in San Francisco. This second (newest; open since just December 2015 or so) location is just down the street from where the old Henry Africa's[5] (one of the original "fern bars" in San Francisco in the 70's) used to be (on the corner of Pacific and Van Ness Avenues). 

This location isn't very large, but I expect most people just get their fresh-baked goods to go/take home. There is (stool-style) seating for twenty-two among five bench-tables. Their original shop in the Mission is a little larger and has more of a neighborhoody coffeehouse flavour to it (see 'blog-entry from August 3rd, 2013).

This morning I tried to make sure to get a nice diverse selection of baked goods. There were still several other good ideas from which to choose: smoked cheddar, hot pepper gougère[6]; twice baked croissant (hazelnuts, flying disc ranch dates, whiskey; I was thinking of getting this instead of the morning bun for my sweet choice, it looked very good, too); and (of course, this one would not be for me, but I would expect this is a great one for those of you that partake of the dead, decaying grounded-up porcine bits) the rebel within (Asiago, sausage, green onion, soft cooked egg [which would be inside the baked good; think 'merican/Californianized version of a Scotch Egg ~ just baked, not deep-fried]). 

stupid parklet mini-rant

i happened to see yet still another new one of those stupid urban parking obstructions located at the corner of pacific avenue and polk street in front of a local deli/cheese purveyor-place (henry wensleydale would never go for that! public dancing and bouzouki music, sure, but never a stupid parklet.). really?! is this even necessary? (mini-rant over... for now)

The quiche was good, but I don't usually get quiche, so I really don't have much with which to compare it. I asked for it cold, but they will (re-)heat it for you if you like. I particularly liked the two sweet potato pickle spears alongside the quiche; I would love to see vlasic® make those. The thai scone was just a mini-scone (two or three bites worth), but I liked the flavour and it was not rock-hard like many places serve. Of the baked goods items, I think I liked the morning bun the best; mainly because I liked the interesting flavour of the grains of paradise (which is not your typical spice used in most bakeries).

I was most impressed this morning with the brand of Coffee that they serve. Highwire Coffee Roasters turned out to be a very excellent cuppa. I realllly liked this Coffee that I had this morning; I am not sure if I have ever had this brand before, but the name sounds familiar. They used to have Sightglass Coffee (which also happens to be a great local roastery) at their location in the Mission; however, it looks like they now exclusively serve this newer roastery brand at both locations. 

I didn't bother to ask (nor bring any of my own hot sauces) what Craftsman and Wolves might have in the way of condimentary supplements. I figured it was mainly a bakery-joint and I wouldn't get much use for any hot sauces, anyway. I suppose some hot sauce would have gone well with the quiche, but it was not really needed.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: market-driven quiche,  pickled things ~ 6.4; thai scone ~ 6.7; morning bun ~ 6.8; Highwire Coffee Roasters Tightrope ~ 7.4

___________________

1. http://www.cheese.com/humboldt-fog/

2. Ooh! Soooo close! They used the incorrect accent aigu, not accent grave. This is funny because (unlike many places that would simply omit it) they did get the correct circumflexy hat accent on the "î". Don't worry, no Glen Bacon Scale Rating points are ever deducted for mîspèlïnks.

3. http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Afra_mel.html

4. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/muscovado

5. Lemon Drop, anyone?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_Drop

6. Qu'est-ce que c'est?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goug%C3%A8re

(I would just like to point out that they do use the correct accent grave here on the menu, so it's not as if they couldn't have used it for "crème", too. Nitpickery? Peut-être.)