Rise & Grind

Richmond (District) Coffeehouses ~ 
33-1/3 rpm 

(No official web-site. Yet?)


Place: Rise & Grind
Location: 785 8th Avenue (near Fulton Street); phonicular contact: (415) 795-0724
Hours: open at 7:00am Monday through Friday; 
open at 8:00am Saturday and Sunday
Meal: Belgian Waffle ~ with powdered sugar dusted on top; (as a starter) a strawberry-banana muffin; and a cuppa Crème Brulee[ sic ][1] Latte (Yes, ferreals, a "Crème Brûlée" Latte!) made with Mr. Espresso® 
Espresso

http://mrespresso.com/

(My initial intention was to link li'l Robbie Zimmerman's original version of "My Back Pages" in honour of his recent [and, in my opinion, much deserved and long overdue] Nobel Peace Prize for Literature, but it is almost impossible to find any of his original music on EweToob; they never remain up for very long. Be sure to enjoy this ★ Stellar ★ version now while you can. In my opinion [and "my opinion" is all I ever listen to, anyway], "My Back Pages" might be one of the best [if not The Best] 'merican Folk Songs ever written.

The second song ain't none too bad neither...)


I am pretty sure that with today's breakfastary visit to Rise & Grind, thus concludes my Richmond (District) Coffeehouses Series (initial) entries (however, I am sure there will be many reduxes along the way). Rise & Grind is a brand-new coffeehouse and has only been open now since September 25th (exactly three weeks ago thusly). They have opened up in the location that was recently vacated by Cafe Muse (which I had planned on visiting a few months ago, only to find a sign in the door stating that they had closed after about twenty-five years in that location). That they are located just across the street (and a few doors down) from Golden Gate Park and are really the only place within walking distance outside that area of the park that sells Coffee, I expect that they will do a good business.

Rise & Grind has Superhero artwork on some of the walls (it looked mostly like DC characters, though). The first thing that I saw when I walked in the door was a large Green Lantern poster ~ and I just happened to be wearing my Green Lantern ring, à-propos-iately. The owner-manager-lady told me that some of the artwork is by a local cartoonist that lives right across the street from the coffeehouse.

Rise & Grind really doesn't offer much else in the way of food other than some pastries and baked goods at the front counter. I did speak with the owner-manager-lady further and she said that they will be offering some savoury toast-type foods later on once they are up and running more smoothly.

At least they do have Belgian Waffles (and these seemed to be a very popular choice as they had two waffle-grills going constantly the entire time I was there). The waffle was good. It was a waffle with powdered sugar on top; not really rocket-bakery stuff there, though. I hope that they might offer some fresh fruit to top these with in the future, too.

They get all their baked goods from Devil's Teeth Baking Company (over in the Sunset).

http://www.devilsteethbakingcompany.com/

Now, whereas the waffle was "just a waffle", I really have to give them extra points (No, really. I added another 0.2 to the Glen Bacon Scale Rating below.) for originality of this Coffee drink. It was absotively, posilutely, totally disgusting... meaning: I loved it! And I normally don't like sweet Coffee drinks. And it was truly brûlée-d, I saw the barista-guy using one of those small hand-held blow-torches to burn/crust the sugar on the top. Due to the originalness of this Coffee drink (and that it really was extremely good), I am calling this the Best New/Original Coffee Drink Find of 2016. This was so good (and sweet) that it could be ordered all by itself as a dessert. 

Because I asked, they told me that they use Mr. Espresso® Neapolitan Espresso (Medium-Dark) blend/roast in all of their Espresso drinks. When I first ordered at the front counter, they asked if I wanted this Coffee "to go"... Ha! I would love to see how they brûlée the top with a paper cup.

They also offer another completely disgusting-sounding WhOppers® Latte ~ with malted milk flavour. (I had to ask to make sure that this wasn't made with a flame grilled quarter-pound beef patty, sesame seed bun, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and sliced onion.) Of course, that will have to be tested/tasted on a future visit.

Also because I asked (if you don't ask, they normally don't tell you, I have found), they told me that their normal House Blend Coffee is Mr. Espresso® 
Golden Gate House Blend ~ "Whether approaching by sea or from within the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Strait imbues a sense of magic and wonder. The stunning landscapes and picture perfect sunsets inspired us here at Mr. Espresso to create a blend that attempts to capture its grace and majesty. Dark chocolate, sweet caramel and fruit toned acidity seamlessly blend together to create our homage to this wonder of nature."

They also offer four different (because "four of the same" isn't really much of a variety, nu?) Mr. Espresso® roasts/blends that can be prepared as single-cuppa pour-over styles.

I didn't notice (nor ask for) any condimentary supplements. The food that they are currently offering really doesn't require any hot sauce addition. However, just in case, I had come prepared with three of my own hot sauces. With no "official" web-site thing, I couldn't check ahead of time to see what might be on their menu.

This meal was a complete sugar-overkill for me this morning. Forget about a caffeine-buzz; I may not get to sleep for another three days with all this sugar coursing through my veins.

Does anyone have a spare Insulin shot that they can loan me?

♪ "Oh, I was so much fuller then, 
I am hungrier than that now..." ♪


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: 
Belgian Waffle ~ 6.3;
Crème Brulee Latte ~ 7.3

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1. I don't know why they used the correct accent grave on "Crème", but didn't use either l'accent circonflexe ou l'accent aigu in "Brûlée".