New Parisian-Style Tea Salon Promises Elegant Pastries for Polk Street

San Francisco has long lacked a French-style tea salon, offering elegant pastries, refined caffeine, and comfy cushions to collapse on after a day of shopping. David and Danel de Betelu, the husbands and owners of Baker Street Bistro, will change that with Maison Danel, a patisserie and salon de thé at 1030 Polk Street, planned to open in February of 2020. They’ll be bringing over a few bistro favorites from their current restaurant, will add a pastry chef freshly imported from Paris, and will serve croissants, macarons, and a full afternoon tea service in a stylish space.

Danel and David have owned Baker Street Bistro in Cow Hollow for a decade. Chef Danel is originally from Biarritz, the Basque region of southwest France, while David is a marketing professional, working with local brands like Sephora and Williams-Sonoma. The couple says they’ve wanted to open a second location for years, but as independent restaurant owners, they’ve struggled to find the right space in an up-and-coming neighborhood. “It’s our lifelong dream to open a patisserie,” says David. “We’re inspired by the grand tea salons of Paris, where dessert is the big event, and you get to sit down and relax in a beautiful space.”

The new location is a huge transformation, taking over three existing shops (including a former smoke shop and sex shop) on a Polk Street block that’s mid-transformation. Their 3,000 square feet include three different spaces: the pastry cases at the front, the tea salon to the right, and the kitchen to the left. The tea salon will have two rows of 26 tables, backed by a tufted banquette, with comfy upholstered chairs and lots of cushions, all very tempting to settle in. David took style inspiration from Danel’s seaside hometown, featuring oceanic blues trimmed in silver and gold. The double-D monogram inlaid into the tile floors came from the couple’s wedding, and a massive chandelier sparkles in the center of the room. Just like in Paris, at Angelina or Ladurée, packaging is a part of the appeal, with stacks of pastry boxes in hydrangea pinks and purples.

In addition to pastries, Maison Danel promises an ambitious menu, spanning breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, and happy hour. Pastry chef Adrien Chabot, who just moved to the Bay Area from Paris, specializes in viennoiserie, meaning almond croissants, pain au chocolat, and pain aux raisins, crafted using a traditional cold process that takes 30 hours. He’ll also do colorful macarons, filling the case with rainbow flavors from pistachio to rose. For breakfast, he’ll have baskets of croissants, served with butter and jam, as well as coffee and fresh juice. Afternoon tea comes on tiered towers stacked with finger sandwiches, petit fours, and mignardises.

Brunch includes a couple of longstanding favorites from Baker Street Bistro, such as fluffy pain perdu (French toast made from brioche), as well as croque madame and eggs benedict. There will be even more savory options at lunch, including a lobster salad, onion soup, steak frites, and duck confit. Never least, champagne happy hours will close out the restaurant at the end of the day, with sorbet and ice cream floats.

Maison Danel is slated to open at 1030 Polk Street in February of 2020. Stay tuned for more pastry updates.