The Inner Richmond's Toy Boat by Jane will reopen its doors in mid-April following a five-month closure
The popular Clement Street ice cream shop Toy Boat by Jane will not reopen on April 1 as owner Amanda Michael originally anticipated — but she says the slight delay will be worth the wait. The 43-year-old Inner Richmond institution is expected to reopen its doors in mid-April, following the completion of a seismic retrofit the property’s owners began last November that temporarily shuttered the shop.
Toy Boat’s new space will feature new counters and walls, as well as upgraded windows and flooring in addition to safety upgrades like a concrete foundation and steel support beams. Michael also said the shop’s new era will bring an expanded menu and business hours. “We’re so excited to be moving back in,” she told The Examiner. “We’re so committed to the area that it’s just exciting to think about a new start in a building that’s just going to last forever.” Michael, who also owns Jane The Bakery near Japantown, bought Toy Boat in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Toy Boat’s operations didn’t change much when Michael took over, maintaining similar menus and operating hours, though she added products from her bakery. “I had never really thought about doing anything different,” said Michael, adding that the tweaks to Toy Boat were decided over the course of the shop’s closure. She and her husband said they wanted to have a place in the neighborhood where patrons could sit down and have a piece of cake or an ice cream sundae at any time of day. Upon reopening, Toy Boat will cater to afternoon and evening crowds, becoming more of a “late-night dessert destination,” Michael said. “We want to stay open later, because it always felt like we’d be closing the doors when people still wanted to be enjoying ice cream and dessert.” An expanded dessert menu is on the horizon, though Michael said the shop will be carrying its usual ice cream flavors. She said the new menu will include “a fair bit of pies,” as well as ice cream sandwiches, which Michael called a combination of her two favorite things: ice cream and cookies. New sundaes will also be introduced, as will different cake flavors. Toy Boat will be “really pushing more into the dessert cafe experience, rather than the all-day coffee shop with ice cream,” Michael said. Ex // Top Stories Supervisor’s push to refocus SF drug policy runs into opposition Advocates raise alarm over Matt Dorsey’s proposed amendment to The City’s administrative code Medicaid, SNAP cuts would cost California 140,000 jobs next year, new report says If Congressional Republicans' current budget proposal becomes law, California faces some of the worst economic losses of any state Caltrans evicting under-freeway SF businesses after I-10 fire Others, including nonprofit developing a park, face state-mandated insurance hikesSeveral community members said they are eager for Toy Boat to set sail on its new journey. Chris Squire, the president of the Clement Street Merchants Association, said that Clement Street has historically brought “vibrancy and uniqueness” to The City and that Toy Boat by Jane since its inception has brought “joy and whimsy” to the neighborhood. Squire said he “can’t wait to sneak in for a quick scoop and see familiar faces both behind the counter and in what I imagine will be quite the line.” Michael said that every employee who worked at the shop before it closed last fall who wanted their job back will be returning. Other aspects remaining the same include matching the space’s new paint colors to its original scheme, as well as keeping the same tile designs. Even Butterscotch, the shop’s coin-operated horse, will be making a comeback.Supervisor Connie Chan, whose district includes the Richmond neighborhood, said that she is excited to welcome Butterscotch back to Clement Street, as well as Toy Boat’s trove of sweet treats. Chan said that she is “so pleased” to see Michael’s “success in the Richmond” and added that she is “grateful to her carrying on the creative and fun spirit of Toy Boat’s original owners,” who retired five years ago. “Things in The City are feeling really positive and it feels like a really positive time to be reopening,” Michael said. “We couldn’t be more excited than we are right now.”
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