One of my favorite places to grab coffee and an occasional breakfast burrito is, was, The Grove restaurant on Chestnut. Alas it is no more. A Marina neighborhood icon since the 90's, recently closed due to a rent increase, gentrification at it's best. All quips and socio-political commentary aside, the ubiquitous we will miss the place. Coincidentally, the nearby Peet's Coffee is also closing, leaving us with Starbucks, Noah's Bagels and the hold out Chestnut Coffee Roasters as a remaining local business option.
The Grove has a handful of other local locations, the one on Filmore is great and the Hayes Valley venue, while not as "warm", is in a fun neighborhood for evenings out. One of my favorite things to do after morning rides over the bridge was to roll into the Marina location and meet friends for coffee by the fireplace. Maybe I can talk The Blackwood down the street into firing up their hearth for morning visits to soothe my caffeine and *Cro-Magnon needs to sit near a fire.
Also coincidentally, I went on a bicycle foraging day trip and brought back a couple pounds of wild berries and rode by the now closed location undergoing the last phases of being gutted. Near the front doors was a box of books, containing among other titles, a book about cultivating, cooking and decorating with berries. How cool is that? A literal final chapter to The Grove on Chestnut St.
*Noting the current consensus that Cro-Magnon is Sapiens Sapiens and my being of Northern European extraction.
No comments:
Post a Comment