The Assembly Cafe in front of City Hall is one of the external venues city staffers patronize since the pandemic closure of the cafe inside City Hall.
Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleAnyone who worked inside City Hall before the pandemic remembers the old cafe in the building’s basement.
It was no Michelin-starred restaurant or hipster coffee shop. But for staffers who remember it fondly, it was an egalitarian space where a community activist looking for a Cobb salad could rub shoulders with a city supervisor buying every hard-boiled egg in the place.
It was a de facto staff lounge, an impromptu conference room, a veritable oasis for insiders trying to escape ringing phones and angry emails. More than anything, it was convenient.
These days, Emma Heiken, aide to Supervisor Myrna Melgar, finds herself walking down the steps of City Hall past vast plazas hunting for something to eat or a cup of coffee.
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Board of Supervisors staff members eat lunch at Rad Radish, a vegan restaurant two blocks from City Hall.
Lea Suzuki/The ChronicleHeiken knows all too well how the inconvenience can turn into outright frustration, especially when hurrying back for a meeting carrying a coffee that’s just a little too full.
“I’ve spilled it all over myself before,” Heiken said.
Soon, Heiken and anyone else visiting or working at City Hall won’t have to risk spilled coffee: A group of five Bayview businesses is cooking up a plan — still awaiting formal approval — to revive the empty cafe space. And they have big plans to turn it into the top-notch eatery called Cafe Mélange.
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The cafe group is made up of a collective of businesses on Third Street in the Bayview: Gumbo Social, Talio’s, Yes Pudding, Radio Africa, and one of Mayor London Breed’s favorites, Yvonne’s Southern Sweets. It’ll be a mix of all five flavors — a mélange.
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Dontaye Ball, owner of Gumbo Social, prepares a sausage po’boy sandwich in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco. The restaurant is part of a collective of five Bayview businesses looking to revive the vacant cafe space inside City Hall.
Stephen Lam/The Chronicle“We are thrilled to work in partnership with this talented Bayview chef collective of Cafe Melange,” said Majeid Crawford, executive director with New Community Leadership Foundation, which is coordinating the cafe’s opening. “Our shared vision is for the cafe to be that ‘third space’ — a welcoming, familiar spot to connect, enjoy some delicious food, or grab coffee or a quick snack and refuel.”
The foundation has spent the past few weeks getting the space ready, including testing menu items at popups. There are also tentative plans to beautify the dining room space.
Dontaye Ball, head chef at Gumbo Social, said “it’s an honor” to have the opportunity to reopen the space and that he looks forward to supervisors and others coming together to enjoy the Bayview’s best.
Dontaye Ball, owner of Gumbo Social, adds shrimp-infused butter to a pan of blue crab meat. The restaurant is part of a collective of five Bayview businesses looking to revive the vacant cafe space inside City Hall.
Stephen Lam/The Chronicle“We’ve all been very fortunate to have our current mayor try our food,” Ball said of Breed. “It means a lot, and it also means a lot for us to be able to serve the civil servants, the engine of our great city.”
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Quanisha Johnson, the small-batch baker behind Yes Pudding, said she’ll never forget how much she wanted Breed to taste her food.
“I remember earlier on doing events when I was hoping the mayor would come to my table and try some pudding,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be an amazing opportunity to give her that every day, if she wants, in City Hall.”
Yvonne Haines, who runs Yvonne’s Southern Sweets, said she couldn’t stop hearing from excited staffers during her popup event at City Hall last week.
Yvonne Hines, owner of Yvonne’s Southern Sweets, packages brownies at her shop. Hines is part of a collective of five Bayview businesses looking to revive the vacant cafe space inside City Hall.
Stephen Lam/The ChronicleBut officials aren’t ready to confirm it just yet: In a statement to the Chronicle, the city says it is still going through the process.
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Claudia Gorham, deputy managing director for the real estate division, said the city “issued an intent to award” for the cafe space and is in “confidential negotiations” with the winning respondent. The lease will be subject to Board of Supervisors approval.
“We hope to submit it to the Board early next year,” she said.
Crawford said it means a lot to the African American community to share its rich cultural heritage at City Hall.
“We look forward to bringing our unique ‘mélange’ of flavors, specialty dishes, gourmet coffee and more — from Bayview Third Street Corridor to the hallowed steps of City Hall,” Crawford said.
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Long-shuttered cafe inside S.F. City Hall reopening next year. Here's who is taking over - San Francisco Chronicle
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