Blue Bottle Out, Sightglass In at Revamped SFMOMA

The revamp of the SFMOMA is continuing apace, with hopes of bringing the city's biggest modern-art collection back into play next year. But when the museum returns to SOMA, a key component will be missing: SFMOMA has elected not to renew its contract with Blue Bottle Coffee, instead opting to host a cafe from competitor Sightglass. Inside Scoop reports that the new project will be quite small, with 300 square feet on the third floor, tucked inside the new Photography Interpretive Center. Given the space constraints, owners Justin and Jerad Morrison say there will be no on-site roastery, but museumgoers can expect the pourover and espresso drinks for which Sightglass is known, as well as pastries (which the other Sightglass locations currently source from Neighbor Bakehouse and B. Patisserie). There are purportedly some other restaurant and cafe additions to SFMOMA on the way, but those remain under wraps for now.

The move away from Blue Bottle is particularly interesting because the SFMOMA outpost of the burgeoning chain was known for Caitlin Freeman's unique desserts based on modern art (like the famed Mondrian cake), which were so popular that they became a cookbook, Modern Art Desserts. At least Blue Bottle can console itself with all the delicious new pastries it'll have to play with as a result of its merger with Tartine Bakery. Meanwhile, Sightglass is quickly turning into an expansion monster: in addition to its existing SOMA and Mission cafes and the SFMOMA project, it has a fourth cafe on the way at Page and Divisadero, tentatively scheduled to arrive in late summer and early fall.