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On a recent evening, at 10 p.m., NaYa Dessert Cafe in Hayes Valley had a longer line tailing out the door than most bars in the area. Most were vying to try the dessert house’s best seller: an awesome mango sticky rice bingsu dubbed the “mango tango.” It includes sweetened milk shaved ice, glossy sticky rice coated in caramelized coconut milk and two mango sides: diced bits in syrup and a grid-sliced fruit wedge. Fluffy ice meets warm rice and custardy mango flesh to give new dimension to the iconic Thai dessert.
I made it to Corgi Cafe in San Francisco, a new coffee shop that never closes. There were no corgis in the building, just young workers who appeared overworked, over-caffeinated and, in some cases, over-stimulated. Some worked in enclosed pods. The coffee doesn’t merit mention, but the café is at least anthropologically interesting: I came across a dude with polarized shades behind his ears who was gleefully watching a selfie video of himself. (The café, it turns out, is owned by an AI start-up that wants you to buy insurance.)
The hit dish at Ace Seafood, the Temescal restaurant formerly known as Small Change, is chicken wings. They’re as classic as can be: thoroughly crisp, fully coated in a buffalo sauce, and accompanied with celery, carrot sticks and blue cheese. Small Change began as an oyster bar in 2024, but last February it became Ace Seafood, which kept some raw seafood on the menu but expanded the scope to comfort foods, such as loaded fries and sandwiches.