March's Cafe - La Boulangerie (San Francisco)

Noe Valley sits at the base of Diamond Heights and Twin Peaks, but walk a few blocks north to the edge of the Mission District and you'll see sweeping views of SF and the bay. I like the feeling of being in a neighborhood that's a quasi-valley but higher than many other neighborhoods, kind of like being in a cloud. La Boulangerie adds perfectly to this aesthetic. Its facade is soft yellow, the inside white and pink—all cloud-like colors. I also like how high the ceilings are inside, and, it's being on a corner, how the cafe fills with light. Add to that the baked goods and the coffee aromas, and its quite dreamy indeed.  LB has a big menu and is local chain, both of which I'd normally veer away from (the ideal is a single cafe—maybe one other location if its done quite differently, with a super. minimal menu). But I felt called by this corner-side cafe riding my bike down 24th street, and it proved worth the deviance.

What works: Obviously, the location. I enjoyed looking up the street to the west, where there's Noe Vally Books, a retro liquor store sign and of course Diamond Heights, and to the south, a set of SF's classic row houses. The staff was super friendly, and I love the minimal decor (no kitschy merch, no loud signage. Just some large french movie posters on otherwise pink and white walls.

What works less well: Really no complaints here. I don't remember what the coffee tasted like (this was two weeks ago) but I wrote at the time that it was delicious, so I'll take my word for it. The pasty was tasty, not mind-blowing, but vastly better than average. Its a bummer that Compass Real Estate has an office right across the street, sucking a bit of the soul out of the view into its corporate black hole, but that's no fault of LB's.

Overall, LB was a great choice for a summer-like day in early March in SF, a good primer for riding back to Nob Hill after, through Mission Delores Park, the sun shining over the city.

4.6

Cafe Read: Silence: In the Age of Noise by Erling Kagge