Published Jul. 27, 2026at6:00am
A new chapter is coming for Soon and Soon Souvenir Shop, and this time, chef Brandon Jew is bringing along one of San Francisco’s breakout coffee brands.
Later this summer, Jew and his wife and business partner, Anna Chet Jew Lee, of Mister Jiu’s (opens in new tab) and Moongate Lounge, will reopen their Hong Kong-inspired cafe at 731 Grant Avenue. The original iteration debuted December 2021 with baked goods from pastry chef Melissa Chou’s Grand Opening, but closed after less than a year in October 2022.
This time, the shop will feature drinks from Asian American-inspired cafe Paper Son Coffee (opens in new tab). Barista Alex Pong launched the business as a pop-up out of Dogpatch bakery Neighbor Bakehouse in 2023, and it has since become one of San Francisco’s most highly regarded coffee shops, with a first permanent location on Second and Folsom in SoMa.
“We weren’t actively looking,” Pong says, “but the more we engaged in the space and the neighborhood, it was a romantic notion. There’s some poetry around the concept.”
The name Paper Son pays homage to the way Pong’s family immigrated to the United States; until the 1950s, many Chinese immigrants entered the country using false documents that identified them as the children of U.S. citizens — a practice that gave rise to the term “paper son.”
The cafe’s beverage menu will highlight pour-overs, espresso, and signature drinks, such as a matcha passionfruit soda and Thai tea cloud. Pong says hand-poured drinks are hallmarks of Chinese cafes, and he wants to bring that tradition to the neighborhood.
There will be seasonal single origin coffees from Yunnan, China’s prominent growing region. The debut blend, called Apricot Mist, references the original restaurant that existed in the Soon and Soon building, 杏花樓, and the former Four Seas Restaurant space that Mister Jiu’s now occupies at 731 Grant Ave. (“Apricot might not be the direct translation,” Pong admits, “but it’s like floral, or almond.”) That coffee is a blend of a yeast-inoculated Yunnan coffee mixed with a washed Ethiopian.
“We’ve secretly done in-house roasting at our downtown location,” Pong says. “I want to try Paper Son as a roaster on this small scale.”
They’re also seeking a pastry partner, hoping to recreate the kind of collaboration Paper Son has with pop-up bakery and salt bread specialist Tano at its SoMa cafe. Though, because the space is so small, the only seating will be outdoors in a yet-to-be-built parklet. During its original run, Soon and Soon sold a bevy of branded rings, hats, totes, and more; a press release teased a similar lineup of specialty goods, merchandise, wine, and to-go beverages.
The partnership grew out of a shared connection between Jew and Pong: a commitment to honoring their Chinese heritage. Pong didn’t grow up in San Francisco, but his father’s side of the family has roots here (his grandfather once ran a shop around the corner on Sacramento Street), so he understands the significance of opening in the country’s oldest Chinatown. He’s got the tools to make it work: a commercial-grade single-grouphead Synesso ES1, two baristas to staff the new cafe, and a neighborhood history he aims to honor.
“There’s some echo of that in what Mister Jiu’s does,” he says. “We really have to pull it off.”
Soon and Soon Souvenir ShopDate and timeOpening late summer or early fall 2026