Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/438836
Cassia Cassia, a spice with enormous history—and a great nickname ("bastard cinnamon")—serves as the inspiration for this healthy food concept. Flavor profiles are drawn from Moroccan and Peruvian cuisine, and highlight nutrient-dense, non-GMO ingredients, spices, grains, beans, organic vegetables, and meats. Try the braised pork in coconut milk or chicken meatball tagine with beet, kale, and goat cheese salad. Dignita At the heart of this socially minded cafe is Not for Sale, a Bay Area nonprofit that works to protect communities worldwide from human trafficking via a barista training program for at-risk youth. Employees are those very graduated trainees, and Dignita donates a portion of its sales quarterly to the organization. Coffee and baked goods are the focal point, and customers can choose from a variety of coffee preparations, from V60 pour-over to Aeropress. Red Blossom teas and Rebbel drinks, Bolt n' Jolt salads, Sandbox pastries, Black Jet bakery, and Garrett's Granola round out the offerings for those looking for snacks or something heartier. Raj & Singh Simi Dhillon left her job at Google and recruited her chef father, Raj, and uncle, Singh, to devise the menu and concept behind this Indian comfort-food stall. Following the suc- cess of their food truck, the stall fea- tures clay-oven naan, baked right out on Market Street, and six types of curries, all drawn from Raj's recipes developed over years of running restaurants from London to Monterey, Calif. SPOTLIGHT ON: THE HALL W ith the mission to "harness the power of food to build commu- nity," The Hall has brought an encouraging revival of daytime and early evening street life to the once grim mid-Market corridor. The building that houses this upscale food court is slated to be torn down, so developers brought in a temporary two- to three-year project, which has become a runaway success. Tech workers from the nearby Twitter head- quarters and other area businesses pack the space daily at lunchtime. In the evening, workers and theatergoers devour happy-hour snacks and supper with pours of local beers and a careful selection of wines, staying for community film screenings and events. Ted Wilson and Scott Peterson of seafood restaurant Fine & Rare worked with the developers to curate and manage the selection that represents the perfect storm of what San Francisco foodies want to eat: affordable (with dishes ranging from $3 to $15), locally sourced and prepared foods and drinks (with plenty of meat-forward and gluten-free options), and an overall intriguing selection of coffee, meat sandwiches, salads, Vietnamese and Indian street food, and Moroccan-Peruvian fare. Here's a look at what each vendor has to offer. thehallsf.com PHOTOS: PATRICIA CHANG 104 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com