Just when it seems San Francisco has reached its quota of new, gourmet ice cream concepts (organic floats at The Ice Cream Bar, boutique ice cream sandwiches at Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous, quirky flavors at Humphry Slocombe), a local coffee roaster jumps in the game and changes everything. Third wave coffee peddler Sightglass Coffee has opened the shiny new aptly named Affogato Bar, the city’s first of its kind, on the mezzanine level of its SoMa coffee shop on Seventh Street.
It’s a modern tribute to the Italian treat, which means “drowned,” of a scoop of gelato submerged in a cup of espresso. Here, the variations augment the play on hot and cold, and bitter and sweet, by using single-origin espresso and artisanal ice cream with inventive flavors, for nine customizable combinations.
Choose from one of Sightglass’s three espressos, then select from a rotating list of ice cream to pair with it. Those seasonal options, the result of a collaboration with Portland’s cult small-batch creamery Salt & Straw, add the right amount of sweetness to balance out the bitter espresso, solely for the purpose of creating the perfect affogato.
Pair the fruity and floral Ethiopia espresso, with notes of rose, rhubarb and fruit leather, with the rich and tart Dick Taylor Single Origin 73% Belize Chocolate. Or the smooth and chocolate-y Guatemala espresso with blood orange olive oil ice cream. Whichever you choose, you’re not going to go wrong.
More good reads from T+L:
• 15 NYC Ice Cream Spots Churning Out Interesting Flavors
• San Francisco’s Best Under-the-Radar Beach Escapes
• Best Places to Travel in 2015
