It’s time to get a last slice of 10-layer honey cake from 20th Century Cafe.
The elegant Eastern European-inspired cafe and bakery, located at 198 Gough St. in Hayes Valley, is permanently closing soon after eight years in business. Owner Michelle Polzine confirmed the news to The Chronicle, which was first reported by Eater SF.
The San Francisco cafe is beloved for its intricate cakes — particularly the Russian honey cake, known for its remarkable burnt honey flavor — as well as other sweets like strudel and blintzes. With its floral china, accordion playing on the speakers and cakes that are exceptionally difficult and time-consuming to make, 20th Century Cafe is one of a kind. Polzine was also one of the first in San Francisco to serve crusty sourdough bagels, inspiring chefs to launch pop-ups that have made the city’s bagel scene so vibrant in recent years. Her success spawned a cookbook, “Baking at 20th Century Cafe,” which saw widespread acclaim.
It’s unclear exactly when 20th Century Cafe will close its doors, Polzine said the cafe will stay open at least through June and possibly into July for cooking classes, cake and some sit-down, fixed-price meals.
Business slowed down when indoor dining resumed in the Bay Area, with fewer people interested in getting cakes and pierogi to-go. But Polzine insisted that the closure is not a sad pandemic story — it’s been tough running the cafe for a long time.
“I prioritized this business over anything in my life, including my life,” she said.
Michelle Polzine is the chef and owner of 20th Century Cafe, which is closing in San Francisco.
Randi Lynn Beach / Special to The Chronicle 201420th Century Cafe’s business model was never feasible in San Francisco, she said. Polzine makes everything by hand, barely even using mixers for all the doughs and batters. She buys the best quality ingredients, but can’t charge too much because it’s a casual cafe.
“It’s a thing of love that would have worked really well 20 or 30 years ago in San Francisco, but business is very business-y now. The most unique thing is not the most valued thing,” she said. “I’d get writers and musicians and artists coming here all the time, and then that population diminished as years went by.”
Instead of looking at 20th Century Cafe as a business, she’s thinking about it as an immersive art project or a play — it doesn’t have to go on forever to be great. And there could be a second act: While she doesn’t plan to open another full-on business in San Francisco, she wants to continue with pop-ups so fans can still buy their favorite honey cake. She already secured a potential kitchen space.
“It was not an option to close without having an outlet for the honey cake,” she said.
Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
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April 30, 2021 at 02:18AM
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San Francisco honey cake legend 20th Century Cafe is permanently closing - San Francisco Chronicle
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