“We hope to become as happening of a spot during the evening as we are in the morning for coffee,” says Devorah Freudiger, Equator’s retail operations manager.
Equator serves up seasonally changing local wine and beer and soju drinks. “Our coconut white Russian, made with fresh espresso, is a lovely summer drink,” Freudiger adds, noting that the downtown Mill Valley store at 2 Miller Ave. features both a red and white wine on tap from Peterson winery, Eel River beer and gluten free bottled Daura beer.
Equator also has pastries and cakes from M.H. Bread & Butter in San Anselmo and their house-made sweet and savory waffles, as well as both indoor and outdoor seating, complementary wine samples during First Tuesday Artwalk and often live music on Fridays. “And of course the best coffee in Marin,” Freudiger says.
Equator opened its 2 Miller store in November 2014, its Proof Lab Surf Shop in Tam Valley in 2013 and its first San Francisco café – at 986 Market Street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, adjacent to Lowes Warfield, an historic space with roots as a vaudeville theater, and later as the iconic venue for acts such as Bob Dylan, The Clash, and Louis Armstrong – in April.
Equator launched in a garage in Corte Madera in 1995, later moving into a 5,400-square-foot warehouse near Davidson Middle School in San Rafael. The company has been primarily wholesale, with more than 250 customers that include chef Thomas Keller’s French Laundry and Tyler Florence’s El Paseo in Mill Valley. For the fast few years they’ve also been operating in San Francisco International Airport’s Terminal 2 at Napa Farms, which features other sustainable purveyors from Marin and the North Bay.
The 411: Equator‘s two Mill Valley locations are at 2 Miller Ave. and 244 Shoreline Hwy. Its San Francisco location is is at 986 Market Street.