U : Dessert Story, a sister eating place to brunch favored Kitchen Story, is increasing to the Marina. The dessert cafe’s sequel opens at 2120 Greenwich Street this Saturday, with Japanese brunch and greater of the Korean, Japanese, and Thai-stimulated desserts that have made U: Dessert Story a hit in its first 12 months of enterprise at 3489 sixteenth Street.
Tammy Boonlieng opened U : Dessert Story after six years at Kitchen Story, which is part of a small empire of SF brunch restaurants, along with Sweet Maple, regarded for his or her “millionaire’s bacon” dish and resulting strains. While Boonlieng loves brunch, she’s also got a candy spot for dessert, and saw a demand for a dessert cafe.
“I love the Asian desserts, and I love Japanese, Korean, and Thai subculture,” says Boonlieng: Her go-to at U : Dessert Story is bingsoo, Korean shaved ice.
By night, the brand new U: Dessert Story will serve that and extra goodies like matcha lava desserts, however the Marina’s daytime awareness will be Japanese brunch. Look out for objects like omurice, an oozing Japanese egg omelette certain to reason an Instagram sensation. “We reduce it and it’s bursting in front of customers — the equal revel in that someone gets when they go to Japan,” says Boonlieng.
U : Dessert Story’s new 2120 Greenwich Street has been quiet given that January, but earlier than that, it did a bustling brunch business as Diane’s Bloody Mary Bar. That undertaking changed into one in a string of experiments examined out by means of the Michael Mina organization at what was the Mina Test Kitchen. The Mina Group nonetheless owns the constructing, however is renting the gap even as it searches for a larger test kitchen home.
“MINA Test Kitchen has been particularly a hit, and has allowed our team the potential to check many exclusive standards over the last few years,” a representative for the Mina Group instructed Eater SF. “We’ve found out loads, been able to tweak recipes, and assume via complete principles to encompass wine, beer, cocktail menus, or even what décor works nicely with the concepts.” Those concepts blanketed several that discovered permanent houses, like International Smoke with Ayesha Curry.
For the brand new U : Dessert Story, “A lot of people may think the more Asian spots might be better,” says Boonlieng, referncing the Richmond and Sunset Districts. But the Marina appealed in component because it’d permit her business to tap into a brand new consumer base for her desserts: Non-Asians. “I need to teach them how to play with and get to recognise our Asian cakes, and our cultures greater.”
To engage clients, U: Dessert Story encourages them to choose their very own sweetness levels and otherwise personalize their orders. “I call it ‘U’ as it’s yours, the patron’s,” Boonlieng says.