HI NRG has served specialty coffee through a pop-up at a wine bar on Clement Street for nearly two years, drawing long weekend lines. Founders Luis Gonzalez and Nathan Kruse are taking over a storefront at 5801 Geary Blvd at 22nd Avenue and plan to open in August. The new cafe will operate 8am to 11pm Wednesday through Sunday, serving wine alongside coffee and hosting weekend DJ sets with balearic dance music. The wine list will be small, matching the coffee curation approach, and pastries will remain the same. The move requires staffing changes and a cooperative equity model for workers as the owners expand from baristas to running a wine bar. A European-style cafe atmosphere is a key aesthetic goal.
"For almost two years, HI NRG has served specialty coffee to the masses as a pop-up out of a wine bar on Clement Street. It has drawn long lines on the weekends. Now, the duo behind the buzzy spot have found a permanent home, and are taking their tastes 16 blocks farther west."
"Gonzalez said, the plan is to run "more of a wine bar that just happens to serve the best coffees in the world." They will move just after the pop-up's second anniversary at High Treason, its current space on Clement Street. The wine list will be small, ("much like our coffee curation," Gonzalez said), and the music will be more of the same DJ sets and "balearic dance music" that regulars have come to expect from the cafe."
"Still, this move involves a handful of pivots for the two owners, who are currently HI NRG's only baristas: they are not only stepping away from their well-established presence on inner Clement Street, but also taking on the additional business of running their own wine bar. The new extended hours will require more staff and they are planning on a co-operative equity model for workers there."
"Gonzalez said they'd like for it to "feel like a European-style cafe, where you can go in at noon, grab an espresso and a glass of wine, or a vermo""
Read at Mission Local
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]