By Su Yardimci

The fog reaches Taraval Street early and stays late. This far west, where the L-Taraval train slides toward the ocean and the marine layer settles over the Avenues, the Parkside keeps a tempo all its own, a step slower than the rest of the City. Since June, a bright, two-story cafe at 1100 Taraval St. has leaned all the way into that slower pace. Jandii is built around a single idea, that the time between meals matters as much as the meals themselves.

“Jandii” means a lush patch of grass in Korean, and owner Ji Yeon Choi chose the name before anything else was decided.

“The grass and its surrounding nature has always symbolized a place of serenity and peace for me,” Choi said. She said she wanted to recreate that feeling for people living the on-the-go, for the busy city lives of San Franciscans. Jandii was designed as a place where they could slow down, even just for a moment, and feel surrounded by nature inside a cafe. Green evokes tranquility, she notes, and it happens to be the color of matcha. The name came first. The interior, the menu and the philosophy all followed from it.

If the name sounds like a departure, that is the point. Choi and her family are behind some of the Bay Area’s most beloved spots, including Sweet Maple, Kitchen Story and Berkeley Social Club, all full-service restaurants built around the shared meal. Jandii is something quieter.

“As time passed, I realized that the time in between meals is equally as important as designated meal times,” Choi said, whether that time is spent over a coffee, catching up with a friend or getting work done. Opening the cafe, she added, was less about waiting for the right moment than about feeling ready to take on a new kind of challenge.

That challenge shows up in how tightly the menu is drawn. Jandii does three things: coffee, matcha and scones.

“I believe that it is more challenging to be exceptional at a few things, rather than just adequate at many things,” Choi said. All three, she points out, take real craftsmanship, and keeping the list short is how she keeps the quality consistent. It also helps that they happen to be her personal favorites.

The matcha is ceremonial grade and imported from Japan, and Choi has a gentle message for anyone convinced they do not like it. Odds are they have only tried the mass-produced kind. True ceremonial grade matcha, she says, is far less bitter, with a subtle sweetness she hopes will win skeptics over if they come back with an open mind. For the hours when coffee is not what you are after, there is also hojicha, a roasted, lower-caffeine tea that suits the sit-and-stay mood of the room.

Then there are the scones, served warm and split with house-made jam and butter. The recipe took months of tweaking to land.

“The key to a great scone is a crispy crust, and soft and moist interior,” Choi said. A fresh batch comes out of the oven every 15 minutes, made with high-quality ingredients.

The space does a lot of the talking. Customers order on the second floor, where Jandii can read at first like an ordinary cafe, until they look down onto the open first floor and see the sunlight pouring through the tall windows. A former visual design major and graphic designer, Choi has tucked small references to nature throughout: little birds, flowers, trees, an open ceiling and cloud-like light fixtures, set alongside art from select Korean artists. She designed it, in part, as a working room. She deliberately left outlets out of the central seating on the first floor so it stays a gathering spot for family and friends, while every other area is wired for laptops and long study sessions.

She is thoughtful about where Jandii sits on a block with so much history.

“We hope Jandii can become a nice addition to the culture of Taraval,” Choi said. “We do not wish to replace any existing establishments.” What she said has surprised her most is the warmth of the welcome, with neighbors stopping in genuinely thankful that a long-empty corner had turned into something beautiful.

More Jandii locations are already on the way, with the Castro next, but Choi says the sit, sip and slow down feeling travels with the drinks, the scones and the design.

For a first visit, she has a recommendation ready: the Jandii Oat Milk Brew on tap and a freshly-baked scone with house-made jam.

“Whether someone came to Jandii on their break, on a date, to study, to catch up with friends, to read, or any occasion,” she said, “I hope they take time to rejuvenate and leave with a lighter plate and warm smile on their face.”

Jandii is located at 1100 Taraval St. and is open daily from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Find more information @jandii.official on Instagram.

Su Yardimci is a San Francisco enthusiast who has turned her childhood dream into reality. After moving to the Bay Area for college, she has been sharing her love for the City through film photography and neighborhood guides.