Good Taste: A wily peek at new Japanese cafe Wild Fox - 48 hills

"A new pop-up Japanese café called The Wild Fox (123 Battery Street, San Francisco) from SPRO Coffee Lab owners Liza Otanes and Rich Lee softly opened on Nov. 12 as part of the city's Vacant to Vibrant program. It's a place to try teas and coffees from different regions of Japan, including roasters that they've made one-on-one relationships with to bring products here, as well as onigiri, sandos, salads, and pastries to grab and so or sit and savor."

""The food menu highlights the fact that we're in California, but we also have the Japanese heritage side," says executive chef Tsubasa Onozaki. He likens it to Japanese convenience store offerings. Here in San Francisco, it's on the level of the quality of items served at Delica, the Japanese deli in the Ferry Building. The vegan takikomi onigiri, with shiitake mushroom, carrot, and soy-sauce cooked rice, is a marvel that's proved to be the most memorable of anything I sampled."

""You might think of coffee and rice as mismatched," he says, "but it's a fairly common combo!" Onozaki has had fun reaching out to different roasters in Japan, but he notes that it is a challenging time to do so. "Tariffs kind of scare people off because there's a lot of additional extra steps you have to take from a business side that maybe they don't want to deal with.""

"SPRO customers will inherently understand the level of creativity expressed in the coffee and tea menus at The Wild Fox; pour-overs are also powerful options. Onozaki recommended that I try the current bestselling beverage, Matcha Mango Shizuku, which contains milk (plant milks can be subbed for free), mango powder, and "a delicate snowcap," which was the most balanced and impressive matcha I've honestly ever tried."

The Wild Fox is a pop-up Japanese café at 123 Battery Street in San Francisco run by SPRO Coffee Lab owners Liza Otanes and Rich Lee that opened Nov. 12 through the Vacant to Vibrant program. The menu features teas and coffees from different regions of Japan, onigiri, sandos, salads, and pastries, with direct relationships established with Japanese roasters. Executive chef Tsubasa Onozaki blends California ingredients with Japanese convenience-store influences, and a vegan takikomi onigiri with shiitake, carrot, and soy-sauce cooked rice stands out. The beverage program includes pour-overs and a bestselling Matcha Mango Shizuku with optional plant milk.

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