Tiny New SoMa Cafe Boochmania Is a Temple to Fermented Food and Drink | Eater SF

"From the same team behind Berkeley’s Boochman Kombucha, Boochmania presents itself as a temple to fermented foods and an outlet for kombucha makers, launched after the brothers moved from farmers’ markets and a brewery wholesale space (they pivoted to canned kombucha during COVID). Diners can expect lentil miso burgers and rich hummus alongside myriad effervescent beverages, with burgers and sliders back on the menu plus grass-fed lamb from Sacramento, house-made yogurt, and bulgur bowls. The expansive 685 Harrison Street location (a former ice cream shop with a kitchen) also includes a dedicated “repurposing atelier” where SCOBYs and would-be discarded fruit are turned into soaps, candles, and other zero-waste R&D projects, and the team is experimenting with other fermented drinks such as Peru’s chicha morada, Japan’s amazake, and Mexico’s tepache. Co-owners Numan and Mustafa Karabıyık say they’re both excited and scared to be in San Francisco—aware of the Bay Area’s long food history and fierce competition—but confident that their philosophy of healthy, delicious, sustainable, and socially responsible products and their ambition to get drinks into major retailers will resonate. Boochmania is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m." - Paolo Bicchieri