By Giselle Garza Lerma

Who says you can’t have a European-inspired summer in San Francisco? After all, we know summer really starts in September.

Thanks to Boa’s CVC on Balboa Street near 41st Avenue, you can have your extended Euro-summer by sipping a glass of wine on a patio, accompanied by a corner ocean view.

This new cafe found a home in the Outer Richmond earlier this year. What once was a plain dental lab is now a bright, open, European-inspired cafe.

Boa’s CVC offers a variety of European-inspired dishes, from sandwiches and pizza to salads and small bites. The cafe is set to be a fast casual dining space where you order at the front counter and take a seat inside or outside. Designed for families and friends to dine, the ambiance in the space is diverse, allowing customers to come for coffee, take a break from work, enjoy a relaxing dinner, cherish some family time, study or read a book.

CVC stands for “Cafe, Vino, Cucina,” Italian for cafe, wine and cuisine. The menu changes in between breakfast and dinner. The bread is baked fresh every day and is made with Italian Semolina double-zero flour and fresh yeast – no store-bought bread here! Not to discourage our gluten-free eaters, Boa’s also offers gluten-free bread. The eatery serves a variety of drinks from carefully selected organic and biodynamic wine, to beer and spritzes. What makes this cafe unique is they also offer non-alcoholic beverages – a little something for everyone.

Marda and Ramsey Garcia are the husband-and-wife duo behind this elevated cafe. They spent about two years making Boa’s CVC come to life, while also managing their other restaurant (Fable in the Castro District) and welcoming a new baby into their family.

The Richmond is not only where their business is, but it’s also their home neighborhood. They felt Balboa Street lacked a light and airy cafe that offered wine, natural light and an upscale aesthetic, so they brought it to the neighborhood.

Since its opening, many in the community have begun to embrace the new cafe.

“We’ve met a lot of really great people in the neighborhood that have just become regulars,” Marda said. “It’s like creating a little community within a community.”

It was a journey, however, for them to get to this point.

“I’m in an industry that’s not very predictable,” Marda said. She expressed the pivots that come with owning a restaurant and opening a new one that required a remodel.

The building was previously a dental lab, and prior to that a bike shop. Windows were painted over and it needed a lot of renovations.

“It didn’t give us a whole lot of inspiration for what to do in this spot,” Marda said.

With the help of their friend, who is an architect, they were able to make the space come to life. The space checked a lot of the boxes for them, and the large windows gave them hope for the cafe’s character. They expressed frustration dealing with demolishing, permitting, renovating and contractor timelines being pushed back.

“It kind of felt like almost it’s never going to happen,” Marda said. “Then when it was, like ‘Hey were finishing, it’s happening.’ That’s when I was like ‘OK, I’m about to also have a baby.’”

Being an owner in the restaurant industry wasn’t what Marda originally planned on doing, but she was inspired by her childhood.

“My mom was a big cook growing up. Having family dinners was always so nice,” Marda said. “It was so exciting as a kid like, ‘Oh, everyone’s coming over. We got to set the table!’”

Marda said she grew to love to cook and have a conversation over a meal with her community. Later, in Marda’s college years, she continued to host Sunday brunch for her roommates and work as a server to get through the semesters.

“It’s kind of fun getting people together, eating good food,” she said.

“You get to meet and interact with a lot of people. You learn a lot,” Marda said. “It just keeps things more interesting.”

Boa’s CVC is located on 3951 Balboa St. and is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Its day menu is available from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., happy hour with 50% off wine and beer by the glass is from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and its evening menu is served from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information visit boascvc.com.

Giselle Garza Lerma is a senior at San Francisco State University majoring in photojournalism and minoring in Latino Studies. See more of her work at gisellegarza.com.