Plant store blossoming as wine bar at night

During the day, San Francisco’s Arcana is a plant store. At night, the lush, cavernous space on Mission Street transforms into a natural wine bar with snacks, live music and local art.

Located at 2512 Mission St., the hybrid shop opened this summer but only recently started serving wine and food. From 5:30 p.m. until midnight, Arcana employees pour low-intervention wines from all over the world, like an alibernet (a cross of Alicante and Cabernet grapes) from Slovakia or a Malvasia bianca from Contra Costa County winery Erggelet Brothers. For now, the food menu is limited to small dishes such as empanadas or cheese boards, including ones made with vegan cheeses from the Uncreamery in San Francisco. Owner Naz Khorram, a native of Mashhad, Iran, plans to start pouring Persian and Indian teas and herbal blends made in-house, soon.

Khorram is an artist who worked in the Bay Area hospitality industry, from busing tables to event management, over the past decade. Khorram,

Arcana is a new hybrid plant store and natural wine bar on Mission Street that is open at night.

who uses plural pronouns, started dreaming of opening a wine bar with “greenhouse vibes” just before the pandemic. Coronavirus restrictions prompted the flip

into a plant store that would eventually serve wine.

Arcana is meant to feel like a living room, Khorram said. The entrance is set back from Mission Street, like the porch

of a house, and decorated with a bench and plants. For events, they set up tables where people can sit outside. Inside, plants, chairs and couches fill nearly every corner of the 22-foot-high space. Behind the bar, green geometric shelves shaped like honeycomb are filled with wine bottles.

It’s unusual to find a place where the employees can answer questions about skincontact wines the best plant for your low-light living room all in the same breath. The store remains open at night so customers can have a glass of wine while shopping for plants.

On weekends, Arcana hosts jazz nights and tropical house DJ sets. Given the number of local entertainment venues that closed during the pandemic, Khorram wanted to give musicians a place to perform. They are also focused on sustainability, from using melted ice from the bar to water the plants to art installations made from recycled wood.

Courtesy Naz Khorram