LOQUAT — Restaurant in San Francisco

SF Chronicle on 9/13/2022: “Two business partners from San Francisco’s Four Barrel Coffee and the Mill have teamed up with a former pastry chef from Tartine Bakery to open Loquat.

The cafe will serve baked goods inspired by the Jewish diaspora and Levantine flavors, from labne cheesecakes topped with roasted figs to Turkish coffee cream pie. Cups of Four Barrel espresso will arrive with a complimentary treat like house-made halvah or candied citrus.

Tal Mor and Jodi Geren joined Four Barrel, a popular San Francisco coffee roaster and cafe, in 2009 and then became owners. They also co-own San Francisco’s the Mill with bread whiz Josey Baker.

At Loquat, Mor and Geren have been working with former Tartine pastry chef Kristina Costa to create a menu that draws inspiration from Mor’s roots: He moved from Israel to the United States when he was 5 years old, and has family from Iraq, Palestine and Eastern Europe. (Loquat is named for the fruit that grows on trees both in Israel and the South Bay, where Mor grew up.)

When Loquat opens, the pastry case will be filled with baked goods like babka, cakes, cookies and tarts. Costa’s babka is laminated to create flaky layers and is served as large loaves or mini individual rolls with flavors like lemon-poppy seed, salted chocolate and cardamom-ricotta.

Costa will also bake bourekas, a flaky Sephardic pastry and childhood favorite of Mor’s, with house-made phyllo dough layered with savory combinations like fried sage and ricotta, or spiced potato and caramelized onions. Customers will be able to order these warm with an egg and zhough, the herby, spicy Yemeni condiment. (Mor delights in recounting the history of the dish, which evolved after Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, and adapted Turkish borek pastries to meet kosher requirements.)

Beyond espresso, Loquat will serve fresh mint tea and black tea with mint. All pastries and drinks will be made with jersey milk from Petaluma’s...

Wow…just wow. Several of my friends recommended that I try out Loquat when I moved to San Francisco, and I can absolutely see why — it fully lives up to the hype with its outstanding pastries, great coffee, and amazing vibes. The pastries, to quote a French friend, “rival the ones available in Paris,” although I’m not sure what she’s comparing them to given everything is Mediterranean inspired.

For a savory treat, I adore their feta and eggplant boureka, which has a remarkably rich and flavorful filling encased in a buttery, flakey shell. It’s topped with a very generous helping of poppy seeds, so be prepared to have seeds in your teeth for the rest of the day, but it’s 100% worth it.

They have tons of amazing sweet treats, ranging from croissants to cakes, but their classic is the salted chocolate babka muffin. It is literally to die for — the bread is perfectly flaky, with just the right amount of butter to make it rich but not overwhelming. The dark chocolate is wonderful and not overly sweet, but any sugar is balanced out by the salt. Genuinely the only thing wrong with this is that I can’t have it every single day.

Beyond the classics, they also have a rotating set of seasonal items that are all wonderful. I overheard a server chatting with the table next to mine and describing a seasonal dish featuring a summer Italian hot pepper. She got the brunch version of the dish with full peppers, eggs, and bread, but they also have a pastry-fied version in the form of a boureka. Literally everything is outstanding, and I cannot wait to make my...

If you find yourself in the Hayes St. area and in need of a good coffee, LOQUAT is a gem worth visiting. I recently stopped by for a quick morning coffee, following a friend’s recommendation, and was pleasantly surprised by the experience. The cappuccino I ordered was crafted swiftly and served in a charming short cup, highlighting the café’s attention to detail. The roast was a straightforward medium, yet it was executed to perfection, offering a balanced and smooth flavor that coffee enthusiasts will appreciate. What set the experience apart was the delightful sweet treat that accompanied the coffee. This little confection, imbued with a rich marzipan flavor, complemented the cappuccino wonderfully. Its sweetness paired perfectly with the coffee’s slight bitterness, creating a great taste. LOQUAT’s atmosphere is another reason to visit. The café is relatively quiet, making it an ideal spot for those looking to work or simply enjoy their coffee in peace. The clientele seems to consist mainly of individuals either working on their laptops or grabbing their coffee to go, which contributes to the chill and focused ambiance. In conclusion, LOQUAT is a standout choice for coffee in the Hayes St. area. The combination of expertly made coffee, unique sweet treats, and a tranquil environment makes it a place I highly recommend. Whether you’re looking to get some work done or simply savor a well-crafted cappuccino, LOQUAT delivers...