San Francisco’s beloved 20th Century Cafe isn’t just a place for Russian honey cake, pirogi and other Central and Eastern European treats anymore. Now, chefMichelle Polzine has teamed up with local wine guru Kara Fowler to add a natural wine shop inside the cafe.
Before the pandemic, “wine was one of the things that was not very strong at 20th Century Cafe, partly just because we weren’t open at night,” says Polzine, whose cookbook “Baking at the 20th Century Cafe” is due out Oct. 13. But since temporary California liquor laws are allowing to-go wine sales from restaurants right now, she said it just made sense to sell bottles from the store.
Fowler worked at 20th Century years ago and has now become a partner in the business. She earned her natural-wine bonafides with stints at Ordinaire, Lord Stanley and Ruby Wine. She’s also the publisher of “Wine Shots,” a natural wine zine. Her selection at 20th Century Cafe focuses on California and Eastern Europe, plus female producers from Western Europe. She’s keeping all bottles to $40 and under. The lineup, which will rotate frequently, includes Sonoma Mountain Winery, Stagiaire and Absentee from California; Domaine Bobinet and Julie Brosselin from France; and Gatti, Cantina Giardino and Le Coste from Italy.
The best way to sum up the wine selection, Polzine jokes, is “you make me feel like a natural woman.”
For Fowler, “natural wine” means no additives, including sulfur. “If wine doesn’t have to travel I think it’s unnecessary to put things like sulfur in it,” she says. That makes her wine shelves among the most hardcore interpreters of natural wine in the Bay Area. “The natural wine community in San Francisco is definitely growing,” Fowler says, “and my goal is not to make the selection huge; my goal is to make it specialized.”
Under the pandemic shutdown, 20th Century Cafe is offering food for pickup on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The limited menu includes some of Polzine’s most popular items like her naturally leavened bagels, plus sandwiches, salads and her extensive collection of homemade jams. She also sells fancy picnic baskets, which in addition to food and a bottle of rosé include china, real silverware and Champagne coupes that can be returned to the cafe. Within a few weeks, she expects to be able to set up the space so that people can come inside and shop.
If things go well, Polzine wants to make the bottle shop a permanent fixture of the cafe — and, once things reopen fully, maybe even make it a full-blown wine bar. With the uncertainty of COVID, she says, “all you can do is just try to find parts of your business that you can make work, without selling out or being stupid.”
One important question remains. What wine pairs best with honey cake? Fowler doesn’t hesitate to answer: sweet Chenin Blanc, or an off-dry sparkling wine.
20th Century Cafe. Open for pickup 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. 198 Gough St., San Francisco. 415-621-2380 or www.20thcenturycafe.com
Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob
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September 02, 2020 at 05:54AM
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San Francisco’s beloved 20th Century Cafe adds a new natural wine shop - San Francisco Chronicle
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