Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters

Pillow Fight is the espresso that defines the counter at Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters, a sliver of a coffee bar in Cow Hollow and the public face of a working San Francisco roastery. Trish Rothgeb founded the company and runs it as chief executive, director of coffee and roastmaster, with Nick Cho as co-owner. The beans are roasted at the company's Folsom Street headquarters and pulled here on a La Marzocco Strada.

A roaster's bar, kept deliberately narrow

The retail line tells you what the bar is for: Pillow Fight Espresso, Triple Double Blend, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Grade 1 Banko, Guatemala Alma and a decaf Pillow Fight. Pillow Fight is the signature, a blend with strong flavour up front and a balanced finish, while the pour-over made with Ethiopia Classic Yirgacheffe runs clean and bright with a citrus lift.

Rothgeb buys the green coffee, roasts it and runs the company, and she is sometimes behind the bar on the Strada herself. The menu stays short on purpose, a few coffees handled carefully rather than a wall of flavoured drinks.

Small, bright, design-forward

The room is tiny and deliberate: a long bench down one inside wall, three bar seats, a couple of chairs and small circular tables on the pavement outside. Counter and most walls are clean, Apple-store white, with accent walls in pineapple wallpaper by Hygge & West and a bright bouquet at the register.

The soundtrack leans on soft synth indie and eighties rock, Deerhunter and Echo and the Bunnymen among them. Staff know the beans, make recommendations, and sometimes set out small dishes of the chocolate sold in the shop. It is a place for an espresso, a pour-over or a bag of beans rather than a long stay.

Pillow Fight first, Marla Bun if it is there

Order the Pillow Fight espresso first, since it is the named signature and the clearest statement of the roast. For filter, the Ethiopia Classic Yirgacheffe pour-over is the standout, bright and clean with citrus running through it.

Then look at the tall glass case beside the register. It turns over seasonally, but the regulars are sweet and savoury scones, organic hard-boiled eggs, several styles of croissant and the Marla Bun from local Marla Bakery, crisp, chewy and sticky-sweet, which is the food most closely associated with the bar. In winter a cardamom coffee cake has appeared. The small chocolate samples are a retail flourish that fits the shop-plus-bar arrangement.