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"title": "Low Pay, No Benefits, Rude Customers: Restaurant Workers Quit At Record Rate",
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"content": "\u003cp>A wooden spoon gliding over cast iron. Barely tall enough to see over the stove, Lamar Cornett watched his mother, a cook, make his favorite dish of scrambled eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That first cooking lesson launched a lifelong journey in food. Cornett has spent over 20 years in Kentucky restaurants, doing every job short of being the owner. The work is grueling and tense but rewarding and rowdy, and so fast-paced that the pandemic shutdown was like lightning on a cloudy day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was almost like there was this unplanned, unorganized general strike,” Cornett said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In those rare quiet moments, millions of restaurant workers like Cornett found themselves thinking about the realities of their work. Breaks barely long enough to use the restroom or smoke a cigarette. Meals inhaled on the go. Hostile bosses, crazy schedules and paltry, stagnant pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To top it off: rude customers, whose abuses restaurant staff are often forced to tolerate. And lately, testy diners have only gotten more impatient as they emerge from the pandemic shutdowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cornett, off work for a few weeks, realized he received enough money through unemployment benefits to start saving—for the first time. He wondered if the work he loves would ever entail a job that came with health insurance or paid leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was working what I decided was going to be my last kitchen job,” Cornett said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he pondered a new career path, an exodus began rattling his industry. Workers have been leaving jobs in restaurants, bars and hotels at the highest rate in decades. Each month so far this year, around 5% of this massive workforce have called it quits. \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t04.htm\">In May alone\u003c/a>, that was 706,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now “help wanted” signs are everywhere, with a staggering 1.2 million jobs unfilled in the industry, right when customers are crushing through the doors, ready to eat, drink and finally socialize.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>“They’re just yelling the entire time”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Low wages are the most common reason \u003ca href=\"https://onefairwage.site/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/OFW_HelpWanted.pdf\">people cite\u003c/a> for leaving food service work. But in \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-08/half-of-u-s-hospitality-workers-won-t-return-in-job-crunch\">one recent survey\u003c/a>, more than half of hospitality workers who’ve quit said no amount of pay would get them to return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because for many, leaving food service had a lot to do also with its high-stress culture: exhausting work, unreliable hours, no benefits and so many rude customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never want to do something like this again,” said Marcus Brotherns, who spent two years serving coffee and doughnuts at a drive-through in Rhode Island. During the busiest hours, customers would storm inside to complain about the wrong amount of creamer or sugar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re just yelling the entire time,” he said. Brotherns got a new job delivering beverages to restaurants, work that’s tough but quieter and better-paying with more stable hours. “I am done with fast food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions escalated over the pandemic, when many low-wage workers at stores and restaurants found themselves forced to be the enforcers of mask-wearing mandates, facing \u003ca href=\"https://www.today.com/food/taco-shop-temporarily-closes-give-employees-rest-after-being-harassed-t185784\">harassment \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.today.com/food/mcdonald-s-worker-assaulted-customer-over-mask-policy-raises-20k-t187011\">physical attacks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as many eateries are short-handed and hurriedly train new staff, negative reviews and complaints are on the rise from impatient, oblivious diners. One restaurant in Massachusetts \u003ca href=\"https://whdh.com/news/i-hope-you-get-hit-by-a-car-after-customers-berate-staff-cape-restaurant-shuts-for-day-of-kindnesss/\">even closed for a “Day of Kindness”\u003c/a> after angry customers drove servers to tears.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Average pay finally topped $15 in Ma\u003cstrong>y\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>To adjust to the worker shortage, many food establishments found themselves reducing their hours, operating with skeleton crews and hiring like crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We used to be known as a late-night restaurant. … We can’t do that anymore. I don’t have the staff and people are exhausted,” said Laurie Torres, whose Ohio restaurant now closes earlier and stays closed on Mondays. She said she’s been paying her staff bonuses and offered $17 an hour for a dishwasher job, and still three workers stood her up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, for the first time on record, average hourly pay for nonmanagers at restaurants and bars topped $15 in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Major chains have been trumpeting higher wages: \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciakelso/2021/05/10/chipotle-is-increasing-its-wages-to-average-15-an-hour/?sh=73edabd46d8e\">Chipotle\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/business/darden-tipped-wages/index.html\">Olive Garden\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/05/20/ohio-based-white-castle-testing-15-per-hour-wage\">White Castle\u003c/a>,\u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-owners-offer-tuition-childcare-to-lure-burger-flippers-11626122728\"> even McDonald’s\u003c/a>, which is now promising entry-level pay between $11 and $17 an hour. Employers are paying people just to show up for interviews, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/06/1012344023/heres-what-you-should-know-about-that-eye-popping-sign-on-bonus\">adding signing bonuses\u003c/a> and recruiting ever-younger workers on TikTok.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every manager acted like they were urgently hiring, it was kind of weird. Like, their big focus was: When can you start?” said Sterling Baumgardner, who at 17 is a minor in Ohio. He recently quit his job at Dunkin’ Donuts and got immediately hired at a sandwich chain making about $12.50 an hour, $3 more than before.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>If you can’t pay well, “then you can’t afford to be in business”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Food service jobs have been “plagued with low wages for an extraordinary long period of time,” said Jeannette Wicks-Lim, labor economist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Pay was eking up before the pandemic but then fell again, and so now, she said, workers are just barely making up lost ground. Wages might be jumping fast, but not very high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cornett, the lifelong restaurant worker from Kentucky, has watched the wage issue get tense on his local food service Facebook group. Any job posting below $15 an hour would get jeers and demands for higher pay. Then the employers would get defensive, saying they couldn’t afford big raises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The immediate response every time was: ‘Then you can’t afford to be in business, bro,’ ” Cornett said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was planning to hang up his apron and began looking at jobs at warehouses and factories when he got an offer he couldn’t turn down—from someone who could afford to be in business while paying him better. He’s now a chef at a new brewery in Louisville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the first time I’ve ever been on a salary,” Cornett said. “This is the first time I’ve been able to depend on getting a specific amount of money every pay period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That amount is $30,000 a year—which isn’t a lot, he admits. But it’s “life-changing” compared with his long career earning $22,000 or $23,000 a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also the first time he’s had only one boss, whom he likes. And the first time—finally—that he’s had a job that offers health insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/20/1016081936/low-pay-no-benefits-rude-customers-restaurant-workers-quit-at-record-rate\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Low+Pay%2C+No+Benefits%2C+Rude+Customers%3A+Restaurant+Workers+Quit+At+Record+Rate&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A wooden spoon gliding over cast iron. Barely tall enough to see over the stove, Lamar Cornett watched his mother, a cook, make his favorite dish of scrambled eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That first cooking lesson launched a lifelong journey in food. Cornett has spent over 20 years in Kentucky restaurants, doing every job short of being the owner. The work is grueling and tense but rewarding and rowdy, and so fast-paced that the pandemic shutdown was like lightning on a cloudy day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was almost like there was this unplanned, unorganized general strike,” Cornett said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In those rare quiet moments, millions of restaurant workers like Cornett found themselves thinking about the realities of their work. Breaks barely long enough to use the restroom or smoke a cigarette. Meals inhaled on the go. Hostile bosses, crazy schedules and paltry, stagnant pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To top it off: rude customers, whose abuses restaurant staff are often forced to tolerate. And lately, testy diners have only gotten more impatient as they emerge from the pandemic shutdowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cornett, off work for a few weeks, realized he received enough money through unemployment benefits to start saving—for the first time. He wondered if the work he loves would ever entail a job that came with health insurance or paid leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was working what I decided was going to be my last kitchen job,” Cornett said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he pondered a new career path, an exodus began rattling his industry. Workers have been leaving jobs in restaurants, bars and hotels at the highest rate in decades. Each month so far this year, around 5% of this massive workforce have called it quits. \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t04.htm\">In May alone\u003c/a>, that was 706,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now “help wanted” signs are everywhere, with a staggering 1.2 million jobs unfilled in the industry, right when customers are crushing through the doors, ready to eat, drink and finally socialize.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>“They’re just yelling the entire time”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Low wages are the most common reason \u003ca href=\"https://onefairwage.site/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/OFW_HelpWanted.pdf\">people cite\u003c/a> for leaving food service work. But in \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-08/half-of-u-s-hospitality-workers-won-t-return-in-job-crunch\">one recent survey\u003c/a>, more than half of hospitality workers who’ve quit said no amount of pay would get them to return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because for many, leaving food service had a lot to do also with its high-stress culture: exhausting work, unreliable hours, no benefits and so many rude customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never want to do something like this again,” said Marcus Brotherns, who spent two years serving coffee and doughnuts at a drive-through in Rhode Island. During the busiest hours, customers would storm inside to complain about the wrong amount of creamer or sugar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re just yelling the entire time,” he said. Brotherns got a new job delivering beverages to restaurants, work that’s tough but quieter and better-paying with more stable hours. “I am done with fast food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions escalated over the pandemic, when many low-wage workers at stores and restaurants found themselves forced to be the enforcers of mask-wearing mandates, facing \u003ca href=\"https://www.today.com/food/taco-shop-temporarily-closes-give-employees-rest-after-being-harassed-t185784\">harassment \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.today.com/food/mcdonald-s-worker-assaulted-customer-over-mask-policy-raises-20k-t187011\">physical attacks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, as many eateries are short-handed and hurriedly train new staff, negative reviews and complaints are on the rise from impatient, oblivious diners. One restaurant in Massachusetts \u003ca href=\"https://whdh.com/news/i-hope-you-get-hit-by-a-car-after-customers-berate-staff-cape-restaurant-shuts-for-day-of-kindnesss/\">even closed for a “Day of Kindness”\u003c/a> after angry customers drove servers to tears.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Average pay finally topped $15 in Ma\u003cstrong>y\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>To adjust to the worker shortage, many food establishments found themselves reducing their hours, operating with skeleton crews and hiring like crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We used to be known as a late-night restaurant. … We can’t do that anymore. I don’t have the staff and people are exhausted,” said Laurie Torres, whose Ohio restaurant now closes earlier and stays closed on Mondays. She said she’s been paying her staff bonuses and offered $17 an hour for a dishwasher job, and still three workers stood her up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, for the first time on record, average hourly pay for nonmanagers at restaurants and bars topped $15 in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Major chains have been trumpeting higher wages: \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciakelso/2021/05/10/chipotle-is-increasing-its-wages-to-average-15-an-hour/?sh=73edabd46d8e\">Chipotle\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/business/darden-tipped-wages/index.html\">Olive Garden\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2021/05/20/ohio-based-white-castle-testing-15-per-hour-wage\">White Castle\u003c/a>,\u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-owners-offer-tuition-childcare-to-lure-burger-flippers-11626122728\"> even McDonald’s\u003c/a>, which is now promising entry-level pay between $11 and $17 an hour. Employers are paying people just to show up for interviews, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/06/1012344023/heres-what-you-should-know-about-that-eye-popping-sign-on-bonus\">adding signing bonuses\u003c/a> and recruiting ever-younger workers on TikTok.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every manager acted like they were urgently hiring, it was kind of weird. Like, their big focus was: When can you start?” said Sterling Baumgardner, who at 17 is a minor in Ohio. He recently quit his job at Dunkin’ Donuts and got immediately hired at a sandwich chain making about $12.50 an hour, $3 more than before.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>If you can’t pay well, “then you can’t afford to be in business”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Food service jobs have been “plagued with low wages for an extraordinary long period of time,” said Jeannette Wicks-Lim, labor economist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 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"title": "Artificial Intelligence Brought Anthony Bourdain's Voice Back To Life. Should It Have?",
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"content": "\u003cp>“We can have a documentary-ethics panel about it later,” joked Morgan Neville, director of the new Anthony Bourdain documentary \u003cem>Roadrunner, \u003c/em>as he revealed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/the-haunting-afterlife-of-anthony-bourdain\">The New Yorker\u003c/a> that three lines in his movie — which sounded like they were being delivered by the late chef-turned-media personality — were actually generated by AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, later has arrived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/SeanMBurns/status/1415680029132869644\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film uses a variety of clips from Bourdain’s wide back catalog of TV shows, radio and podcast appearances, and audiobook recordings. By design, Neville wanted the AI generated voice overs to blend in with those recordings, so audience members would never know the difference. Critics, like Sean M. Burns, found the technique duplicitous, tweeting “I feel like this tells you all you need to know about the ethics of the people behind this project.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The writer of the original \u003cem>New Yorker\u003c/em> piece, Helen Rosner\u003cem>, \u003c/em>had a more\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/hels/status/1415773948269277190\"> gracious read of the situation\u003c/a>, calling the use of expansive storytelling techniques “entirely consistent with how Bourdain worked.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13899963' \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">label=\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">'More on the Bourdain Doc']\u003c/span>Writer and critic Jason Sheehan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/16/1016533992/anthony-bourdain-roadrunner-documentary-review\">who reviewed \u003cem>Roadrunner\u003c/em> for NPR\u003c/a> before its use of AI became public, says he isn’t entirely sure how to feel. “I mean, is it all that different than Ken Burns having Sam Waterston read Abraham Lincoln’s letters in his Civil War documentary? Neville claims that he used Bourdain’s own words — things that he’d written or said that just didn’t exist on tape — and that matters,” Sheehan says. “If Burns had asked Waterston to make Lincoln say how much he loved the new Subaru Outback, then sure. That’s a problem. But this isn’t that. This is the (admittedly queasy) choice to bring back to life the voice of a dead guy, and make that voice speak words that already existed in another form. Is it creepy, knowing about it now? Absolutely. Was it wrong? I don’t think so. But these things are decided in public. It’ll get hashed out on social media and in spaces like this. And then we’ll move on, all of us having been forced to briefly consider the possibility of an endless zombie future where nothing we’ve ever said or written ever really goes away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to some of the criticism he was getting, Neville responded, \u003ca href=\"https://variety.com/2021/artisans/news/anthony-bourdain-fake-voice-roadrunner-documentary-backlash-1235020878/\">saying to Variety\u003c/a> that “There were a few sentences that Tony wrote that he never spoke aloud. With the blessing of his estate and literary agent we used AI technology. It was a modern storytelling technique that I used in a few places where I thought it was important to make Tony’s words come alive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/OttaviaBourdain/status/1415889455005716485\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Bourdain’s ex-wife Ottavia Bourdain \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OttaviaBourdain/status/1415889455005716485\">later tweeted\u003c/a> “I certainly was NOT the one who said Tony would have been cool with that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is this all ethically squirrelly or is it an interesting use of voice and technology? Does this information feel unsettling because someone did something bad, or have we just not yet acquiesced ourselves to the new reality of deepfakes? Is it even Neville’s duty to adhere to the strict truth of things? Are people particularly invested in this instance because of their parasocial relationship with Bourdain as a media identity, instead of the flawed, idiosyncratic figure the movie paints him as? All are worthwhile questions — bring them to the panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/16/1016838440/ai-brought-anthony-bourdains-voice-back-to-life-should-it-have\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=AI+Brought+Anthony+Bourdain%27s+Voice+Back+To+Life.+Should+It+Have%3F+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Writer and critic Jason Sheehan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/16/1016533992/anthony-bourdain-roadrunner-documentary-review\">who reviewed \u003cem>Roadrunner\u003c/em> for NPR\u003c/a> before its use of AI became public, says he isn’t entirely sure how to feel. “I mean, is it all that different than Ken Burns having Sam Waterston read Abraham Lincoln’s letters in his Civil War documentary? Neville claims that he used Bourdain’s own words — things that he’d written or said that just didn’t exist on tape — and that matters,” Sheehan says. “If Burns had asked Waterston to make Lincoln say how much he loved the new Subaru Outback, then sure. That’s a problem. But this isn’t that. This is the (admittedly queasy) choice to bring back to life the voice of a dead guy, and make that voice speak words that already existed in another form. Is it creepy, knowing about it now? Absolutely. Was it wrong? I don’t think so. But these things are decided in public. It’ll get hashed out on social media and in spaces like this. And then we’ll move on, all of us having been forced to briefly consider the possibility of an endless zombie future where nothing we’ve ever said or written ever really goes away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to some of the criticism he was getting, Neville responded, \u003ca href=\"https://variety.com/2021/artisans/news/anthony-bourdain-fake-voice-roadrunner-documentary-backlash-1235020878/\">saying to Variety\u003c/a> that “There were a few sentences that Tony wrote that he never spoke aloud. With the blessing of his estate and literary agent we used AI technology. It was a modern storytelling technique that I used in a few places where I thought it was important to make Tony’s words come alive.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Though Bourdain’s ex-wife Ottavia Bourdain \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OttaviaBourdain/status/1415889455005716485\">later tweeted\u003c/a> “I certainly was NOT the one who said Tony would have been cool with that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is this all ethically squirrelly or is it an interesting use of voice and technology? Does this information feel unsettling because someone did something bad, or have we just not yet acquiesced ourselves to the new reality of deepfakes? Is it even Neville’s duty to adhere to the strict truth of things? Are people particularly invested in this instance because of their parasocial relationship with Bourdain as a media identity, instead of the flawed, idiosyncratic figure the movie paints him as? All are worthwhile questions — bring them to the panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/16/1016838440/ai-brought-anthony-bourdains-voice-back-to-life-should-it-have\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=AI+Brought+Anthony+Bourdain%27s+Voice+Back+To+Life.+Should+It+Have%3F+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "La Cheve Lifts Up Latinx Community—and Serves Napa’s Booziest Pan Dulce Brunch",
"headTitle": "La Cheve Lifts Up Latinx Community—and Serves Napa’s Booziest Pan Dulce Brunch | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen I first started following Napa’s most intriguing new Mexican restaurant on \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ilovelacheve/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instagram\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CP0uHmKMZGO/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first post I saw\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> wasn’t some glamorous shot of their food. Instead, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://ilovelacheve.com\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">La Cheve\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> shared information on how undocumented high school students in the area could apply for a scholarship.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I scrolled their page, I saw a fair mix of cuisine—they are a restaurant, after all. But more noticeably, there was a visible emphasis on community, family and Latinx identity: a heartfelt tribute to a grandparent, a shot of the owner’s godson eating his first pan dulce, and frequent spotlights on other Black- and brown-owned businesses. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not what you’d assume an emerging restaurant in one of the world’s premier wine destinations would be concerned with. But La Cheve is unlike any Napa restaurant I’ve ever been to. Speaking as a Bay Area-raised Mexican American who has lived on both sides of the border, it’s the most uniquely Mexican American restaurant I’ve encountered, anywhere. From its inventive meal offerings (ever had a booze-filled Mexican pastry while sipping on a jamaica flower-infused mimosa?) to its community-oriented projects (it turns out they’re behind four other scholarships), the restaurant, bakery and microbrewery is doing far more than catering to the area’s upscale clientele. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899733\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Cinthya Cisneros poses in front of the sign for her Napa restaurant La Cheve.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cinthya Cisneros is the driving force behind the restaurant. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I was born in Mexico, my family was from a pueblito near Michoacán and we moved to Napa when I was four,” owner Cinthya Cisneros says. “I was undocumented until I was 21.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These details are perhaps the most essential ingredients at La Cheve, which is orchestrated by Cisneros—the young, radically imaginative and proud Chicanx millennial who is amplifying her community. Since it opened last year in downtown Napa, the humble restaurant has been more than a place to sit and get homemade Mexican treats; it has become a metaphor for the many families of Dreamers who have long been overshadowed by Napa’s high-end reputation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899741\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899741\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A sauce-soaked burrito de chile relleno and a glass of beer.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sauce-soaked burrito de chile relleno paired with one of La Cheve’s house-brewed beers. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899729\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899729\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Wine being poured into a glass, with a small pitcher of hibiscus mimosa to the side.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Other beverage options include local wines and hibiscus mimosas. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">La Cheve is where you go with your abuela and your best friend to eat a burrito de chile relleno for lunch—something you won’t typically see on a traditional menu—while sipping on a house-brewed “American Dream” Mexican lager and listening to Selena’s lyrics dance from the speakers. It’s where you go to eat bistec con nopales and remember that everything we are as Mexican Americans, and as diasporic, diverse Californians, is built upon centuries of migration, change and unlikely remixing of cultures. The food at La Cheve will not only fill you up, it’ll also teach you about the inimitably complex flavors of our beautiful, history-marinated state—all inside Napa’s oldest building.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Napa’s Mexican Roots\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cisneros leased \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/15000122.htm\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the nationally registered, 175-plus-year-old Cayetano Juárez Adobe building\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> after a three-year search for “the perfect place.” Originally owned by a Mexican soldier and government official, the building housed a family of 11 children and was \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://oldadobeplaza.com/history/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the site of many gatherings for neighbors, including rodeos\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. (“They were hella Mexican, just like me,” Cisneros laughs.) The building is so old, in fact, that when it was first built in 1845, it stood on Mexican soil, before the Mexican-American War erupted the following spring. (The treaty that ended the war essentially gave the United States the entirety of what is now the American Southwest, as well as Alta California. Baja California remained in Mexico.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The property is a testament to Cisneros’ vision, as well as an homage to the larger presence and contributions of Mexican families in the area, many of whom have lived here for more than a century. These Mexican Americans helped to build Napa’s wine industry by laboring in the vineyards and getting involved in local affairs, yet they’re often one-dimensionalized as newly arrived immigrants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899734\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899734\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior of La Cheve's 175-year-old building,\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exterior of the Juárez Adobe, which houses La Cheve. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In fact, Latinos constitute 37% of the population in Napa, making them the second largest demographic in the city—and yet the area’s public image is severely lacking in Latinx representation. There are a number of Mexican restaurants in wine country, but the splashiest ones—and the ones that get the most media attention—tend to be white- (or otherwise non-Latinx-) owned and don’t necessarily cater to the local Latinx community. In general, wine country’s most prominent restaurants are geared towards attracting wealthy out-of-town diners. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you walk into La Cheve, on the other hand, you’ll see a wide variety of people—some tourists, but largely Mexican and Central American families from the area, all gathered to enjoy the kind of diverse, Latinx-centric experience that’s often left out of the stereotypical Napa Valley road trip.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story of Cisneros’ family, as well as that of the Juárezes who built the building, is baked into the restaurant’s food and drink selection: a fusion of past, present and future flavors for forgotten familias, reunited children of immigrants like herself and anyone who wants an authentic taste of that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Hybridized Mexican American Menu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I always ask, ‘How can I make this something memorable?’” Cisneros says. “I like to have a story with everything I present. It’s a luxury for some families to go out and buy a meal, so why not provide that experience with a story? Everything we do is made right here, from scratch, and we tell our histories with it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Each morning, Cisneros’ mother, who is La Cheve’s baker, prepares freshly made pan dulce that often evolve into quirky, borderless versions of the colorful Mexican pastries. On New Year’s Eve, the mom-and-daughter team combined their Napa influences with their favorite Mexican ingredients to create an edible gold-flake-dusted, champagne-filled concha, which sold out in less than 24 hours. That’s when my wife—who is also Mexican American—initially heard about La Cheve, making a 90-minute round trip just to buy a dozen to share with family and friends for our traditional Noche Vieja gathering.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899739\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899739\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Colorful rainbow-topped cronut on a plate, on a wooden table.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A colorful, rainbow-topped cronut for Pride Month. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their New Year’s concha wasn’t just a one-hit wonder though. Cisneros often sells seasonal batches of limited-edition treats. Her artful sense of expression regularly mixes inspirations from her varied interests. From the rainbow berry cronuts Cisneros introduced for Pride Month to the exclusive beers they brew with regional hop masters like Drake’s (try their IPA collaboration), everything on the menu is boldly alchemic and representative of a hybridized experience that many of us—particularly the children of immigrants—grew up tasting, smelling and reinventing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"La Cheve owner Cinthya Cisneros\"]“We can pull in the straight-up Mexican comunidad, but we’re also putting a twist on things so it’s not just something they can eat at home either.”[/pullquote] \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most of all, La Cheve is known for its belly-filling brunch, which always draws a line out the door. You might pick up a mangonada cronut; it’s topped and flavored with mango and chamoy, an ode to the specialty beverage you’d typically find at a Mexican flea market. There are also tortas de queso panela planchada and vampiro tacos that you can get with a side of huevos revueltos. My personal favorite is the Mexican eggs Benedict, which includes a jalapeño and chorizo twist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899745\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899745\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The dining room at La Cheve, with the old adobo walls and a bunch of flowers in a watering can.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The quaint, old-fashioned dining room. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The restaurant’s concept grew organically with the support of Cisneros’ family, who used to gather for tacos and “cheves” (Mexican slang for “beer”) in her parents’ garage right down the road. They dubbed the garage “La Cheve.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Machismo is a big thing in our culture,” says Cisneros. “So when I realized my dad and I could work together on making beer, it became a thing we’d do every few weeks.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13899237,arts_13896380,arts_13896221']After leaving her previous career as a high school chemistry teacher in West Sacramento in 2017, Cisneros worked at Stone Brewing—a San Diego brewery with an outpost in Napa—for two years. The difference in customer demographics was visibly whiter than what she was used to in her community even though the brewery was located in the same city. So, while hanging out in her garage one night, she decided she would pursue her passion by launching her own food and drink business for locals.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Between paperwork mishaps and COVID’s arrival, the restaurant’s opening stalled in early 2020, and Cisneros worried the business might go under. She hustled, and that’s when the bakery part of La Cheve emerged, as a way to raise funds. The bake sales were so popular that lines began to form—mostly consisting of Latinx customers—and word of mouth took hold.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We really felt the love from our community in those scary times, and I will always give back to them,” Cisneros tells me. “We’re a hybrid. We can pull in the straight-up Mexican comunidad, but we’re also putting a twist on things so it’s not just something they can eat at home either.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899743\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899743\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The mulita de chorizo, streaked with crema, with pico de gallo and slices of orange on the side.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mulita de chorizo. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe, then, the next time you think about drinking a Cabernet Sauvignon, you’ll consider pairing it with a mulita de chorizo—two baked corn tortillas pressed together with mozzarella, chorizo, scrambled eggs, sour cream, salsa and pico de gallo—or a French toast estilo La Cheve made with fresh, house-made bread, instead of whatever generic, uninspired wine country dish you might have had it with before. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And who knows, you could end up at La Cheve on an afternoon when a live mariachi band is playing while a proud Mexican family wishes you cheers from a nearby table, a group of Ray Bans–wearing out-of-towners try their first ever guava conchas, and chamacos laugh and play games on the spacious outdoor patio. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You might never think of the Napa dining experience in quite the same way again.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This is our representation of what Napa means to us,” Cisneros smiles. “It’s where construction workers and tourists can mix together in one place. This is home.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ilovelacheve.com/\">La Cheve\u003c/a> is open at 376 Soscol Avenue, Thursday through Saturday 7:30am–8pm and Sunday to Monday 7:30am–3pm.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Cinthya Cisneros purchased the \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cayetano Juárez Adobe building. She is leasing it.\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Wine country’s most intriguing new Mexican restaurant is slinging conchas and mulitas out of Napa’s oldest building.",
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"title": "La Cheve Lifts Up Latinx Community—and Serves Napa’s Booziest Pan Dulce Brunch | KQED",
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"headline": "La Cheve Lifts Up Latinx Community—and Serves Napa’s Booziest Pan Dulce Brunch",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">W\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hen I first started following Napa’s most intriguing new Mexican restaurant on \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ilovelacheve/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instagram\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CP0uHmKMZGO/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first post I saw\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> wasn’t some glamorous shot of their food. Instead, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://ilovelacheve.com\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">La Cheve\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> shared information on how undocumented high school students in the area could apply for a scholarship.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As I scrolled their page, I saw a fair mix of cuisine—they are a restaurant, after all. But more noticeably, there was a visible emphasis on community, family and Latinx identity: a heartfelt tribute to a grandparent, a shot of the owner’s godson eating his first pan dulce, and frequent spotlights on other Black- and brown-owned businesses. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not what you’d assume an emerging restaurant in one of the world’s premier wine destinations would be concerned with. But La Cheve is unlike any Napa restaurant I’ve ever been to. Speaking as a Bay Area-raised Mexican American who has lived on both sides of the border, it’s the most uniquely Mexican American restaurant I’ve encountered, anywhere. From its inventive meal offerings (ever had a booze-filled Mexican pastry while sipping on a jamaica flower-infused mimosa?) to its community-oriented projects (it turns out they’re behind four other scholarships), the restaurant, bakery and microbrewery is doing far more than catering to the area’s upscale clientele. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899733\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Cinthya Cisneros poses in front of the sign for her Napa restaurant La Cheve.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_CinthyaCisneros-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cinthya Cisneros is the driving force behind the restaurant. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I was born in Mexico, my family was from a pueblito near Michoacán and we moved to Napa when I was four,” owner Cinthya Cisneros says. “I was undocumented until I was 21.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These details are perhaps the most essential ingredients at La Cheve, which is orchestrated by Cisneros—the young, radically imaginative and proud Chicanx millennial who is amplifying her community. Since it opened last year in downtown Napa, the humble restaurant has been more than a place to sit and get homemade Mexican treats; it has become a metaphor for the many families of Dreamers who have long been overshadowed by Napa’s high-end reputation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899741\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899741\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A sauce-soaked burrito de chile relleno and a glass of beer.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_relleno-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sauce-soaked burrito de chile relleno paired with one of La Cheve’s house-brewed beers. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899729\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899729\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Wine being poured into a glass, with a small pitcher of hibiscus mimosa to the side.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_wine-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Other beverage options include local wines and hibiscus mimosas. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">La Cheve is where you go with your abuela and your best friend to eat a burrito de chile relleno for lunch—something you won’t typically see on a traditional menu—while sipping on a house-brewed “American Dream” Mexican lager and listening to Selena’s lyrics dance from the speakers. It’s where you go to eat bistec con nopales and remember that everything we are as Mexican Americans, and as diasporic, diverse Californians, is built upon centuries of migration, change and unlikely remixing of cultures. The food at La Cheve will not only fill you up, it’ll also teach you about the inimitably complex flavors of our beautiful, history-marinated state—all inside Napa’s oldest building.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Napa’s Mexican Roots\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cisneros leased \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/15000122.htm\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the nationally registered, 175-plus-year-old Cayetano Juárez Adobe building\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> after a three-year search for “the perfect place.” Originally owned by a Mexican soldier and government official, the building housed a family of 11 children and was \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://oldadobeplaza.com/history/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the site of many gatherings for neighbors, including rodeos\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. (“They were hella Mexican, just like me,” Cisneros laughs.) The building is so old, in fact, that when it was first built in 1845, it stood on Mexican soil, before the Mexican-American War erupted the following spring. (The treaty that ended the war essentially gave the United States the entirety of what is now the American Southwest, as well as Alta California. Baja California remained in Mexico.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The property is a testament to Cisneros’ vision, as well as an homage to the larger presence and contributions of Mexican families in the area, many of whom have lived here for more than a century. These Mexican Americans helped to build Napa’s wine industry by laboring in the vineyards and getting involved in local affairs, yet they’re often one-dimensionalized as newly arrived immigrants. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899734\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899734\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior of La Cheve's 175-year-old building,\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_exterior-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exterior of the Juárez Adobe, which houses La Cheve. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In fact, Latinos constitute 37% of the population in Napa, making them the second largest demographic in the city—and yet the area’s public image is severely lacking in Latinx representation. There are a number of Mexican restaurants in wine country, but the splashiest ones—and the ones that get the most media attention—tend to be white- (or otherwise non-Latinx-) owned and don’t necessarily cater to the local Latinx community. In general, wine country’s most prominent restaurants are geared towards attracting wealthy out-of-town diners. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you walk into La Cheve, on the other hand, you’ll see a wide variety of people—some tourists, but largely Mexican and Central American families from the area, all gathered to enjoy the kind of diverse, Latinx-centric experience that’s often left out of the stereotypical Napa Valley road trip.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story of Cisneros’ family, as well as that of the Juárezes who built the building, is baked into the restaurant’s food and drink selection: a fusion of past, present and future flavors for forgotten familias, reunited children of immigrants like herself and anyone who wants an authentic taste of that.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Hybridized Mexican American Menu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I always ask, ‘How can I make this something memorable?’” Cisneros says. “I like to have a story with everything I present. It’s a luxury for some families to go out and buy a meal, so why not provide that experience with a story? Everything we do is made right here, from scratch, and we tell our histories with it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Each morning, Cisneros’ mother, who is La Cheve’s baker, prepares freshly made pan dulce that often evolve into quirky, borderless versions of the colorful Mexican pastries. On New Year’s Eve, the mom-and-daughter team combined their Napa influences with their favorite Mexican ingredients to create an edible gold-flake-dusted, champagne-filled concha, which sold out in less than 24 hours. That’s when my wife—who is also Mexican American—initially heard about La Cheve, making a 90-minute round trip just to buy a dozen to share with family and friends for our traditional Noche Vieja gathering.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899739\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899739\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Colorful rainbow-topped cronut on a plate, on a wooden table.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_PrideCronut-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A colorful, rainbow-topped cronut for Pride Month. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their New Year’s concha wasn’t just a one-hit wonder though. Cisneros often sells seasonal batches of limited-edition treats. Her artful sense of expression regularly mixes inspirations from her varied interests. From the rainbow berry cronuts Cisneros introduced for Pride Month to the exclusive beers they brew with regional hop masters like Drake’s (try their IPA collaboration), everything on the menu is boldly alchemic and representative of a hybridized experience that many of us—particularly the children of immigrants—grew up tasting, smelling and reinventing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most of all, La Cheve is known for its belly-filling brunch, which always draws a line out the door. You might pick up a mangonada cronut; it’s topped and flavored with mango and chamoy, an ode to the specialty beverage you’d typically find at a Mexican flea market. There are also tortas de queso panela planchada and vampiro tacos that you can get with a side of huevos revueltos. My personal favorite is the Mexican eggs Benedict, which includes a jalapeño and chorizo twist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899745\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899745\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The dining room at La Cheve, with the old adobo walls and a bunch of flowers in a watering can.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_dining-room-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The quaint, old-fashioned dining room. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The restaurant’s concept grew organically with the support of Cisneros’ family, who used to gather for tacos and “cheves” (Mexican slang for “beer”) in her parents’ garage right down the road. They dubbed the garage “La Cheve.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Machismo is a big thing in our culture,” says Cisneros. “So when I realized my dad and I could work together on making beer, it became a thing we’d do every few weeks.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After leaving her previous career as a high school chemistry teacher in West Sacramento in 2017, Cisneros worked at Stone Brewing—a San Diego brewery with an outpost in Napa—for two years. The difference in customer demographics was visibly whiter than what she was used to in her community even though the brewery was located in the same city. So, while hanging out in her garage one night, she decided she would pursue her passion by launching her own food and drink business for locals.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Between paperwork mishaps and COVID’s arrival, the restaurant’s opening stalled in early 2020, and Cisneros worried the business might go under. She hustled, and that’s when the bakery part of La Cheve emerged, as a way to raise funds. The bake sales were so popular that lines began to form—mostly consisting of Latinx customers—and word of mouth took hold.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We really felt the love from our community in those scary times, and I will always give back to them,” Cisneros tells me. “We’re a hybrid. We can pull in the straight-up Mexican comunidad, but we’re also putting a twist on things so it’s not just something they can eat at home either.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899743\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899743\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The mulita de chorizo, streaked with crema, with pico de gallo and slices of orange on the side.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/La-Cheve_mulita-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mulita de chorizo. \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe, then, the next time you think about drinking a Cabernet Sauvignon, you’ll consider pairing it with a mulita de chorizo—two baked corn tortillas pressed together with mozzarella, chorizo, scrambled eggs, sour cream, salsa and pico de gallo—or a French toast estilo La Cheve made with fresh, house-made bread, instead of whatever generic, uninspired wine country dish you might have had it with before. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And who knows, you could end up at La Cheve on an afternoon when a live mariachi band is playing while a proud Mexican family wishes you cheers from a nearby table, a group of Ray Bans–wearing out-of-towners try their first ever guava conchas, and chamacos laugh and play games on the spacious outdoor patio. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You might never think of the Napa dining experience in quite the same way again.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This is our representation of what Napa means to us,” Cisneros smiles. “It’s where construction workers and tourists can mix together in one place. This is home.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ilovelacheve.com/\">La Cheve\u003c/a> is open at 376 Soscol Avenue, Thursday through Saturday 7:30am–8pm and Sunday to Monday 7:30am–3pm.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Cinthya Cisneros purchased the \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cayetano Juárez Adobe building. She is leasing it.\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Embracing a Painful History, the World's Only Ohlone Restaurant Finds Unlikely New Home",
"headTitle": "Embracing a Painful History, the World’s Only Ohlone Restaurant Finds Unlikely New Home | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen \u003ca href=\"https://www.makamham.com/cafeohlone\">Cafe Ohlone\u003c/a> shut its doors last summer, its owners promised they would be back before long. Now, a year later, the world’s only Ohlone restaurant is gearing up for a triumphant return: Owners Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Groundbreaking-food-pop-up-Cafe-Ohlone-s-16239430.php\">announced earlier this month\u003c/a> that the restaurant will reopen in Berkeley this November\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The new, larger incarnation of the restaurant will be located in the outdoor courtyard of UC Berkeley’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hearst Museum of Anthropology\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It will continue to serve the pre-colonial dishes the original Cafe Ohlone was known for—the kind you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the Bay Area, like venison meatballs, chia seed bread and cold, luxuriously silky acorn soup. What will be new, however, is the introduction of dishes that evoke more recent periods in Ohlone history. And, perhaps most significantly, Medina and Trevino hope the courtyard restaurant will usher in a new era of cooperation with an institution that has, historically, inflicted great pain on the Ohlone people—including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-bill-seeks-to-give-tribes-more-15759223.php\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">thousands of ancestral remains and sacred objects\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that the Hearst Museum has not yet returned to the Ohlone people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have a very complex and not necessarily positive history, up until recently, with the Hearst,” Medina says. “They want to do the right thing, but they need to know \u003cem>how\u003c/em> to do the right thing.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Painful History\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The plan to bring Cafe Ohlone to the Hearst came about fairly quickly. \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/7/1/21309438/cafe-ohlone-closed-berkeley-takeout-new-location\">The restaurant had been on indefinite hiatus\u003c/a> when University Press Books, whose back patio it occupied, closed—a casualty of COVID-related financial pressures. Left without a home, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/dining/cafe-ohlone-review-berkeley.html\">nationally acclaimed\u003c/a> restaurant was forced to end its two-year run of perennially sold-out ticketed dinners, transitioning instead to a monthly \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/10/28/21535007/cafe-ohlone-takeout-box-meal-kit\">meal kit takeout program\u003c/a> that it has run for the past several months out of a commissary kitchen in Old Oakland. As Medina and Trevino looked for a new permanent home for the restaurant, they initially concentrated their search in the San Lorenzo area, where many of the East Bay Ohlones live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899538\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899538\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"One of Cafe Ohlone's meal kits, packaged in a handmade wooden box, with fresh flowers and tubs of ingredients visible.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Cafe Ohlone’s meal kits, packaged in a handmade wooden box. \u003ccite>(Cafe Ohlone)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, Kent Lightfoot, an anthropology professor at UC Berkeley, suggested the Hearst as a possible destination for the restaurant—a possibility that, as Medina explains, felt extremely fraught. Alfred Kroeber, the museum’s \u003ca href=\"https://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/un-naming-kroeber-hall-a-message-from-the-directors/\">longtime director from 1908 to 1946\u003c/a> (back when it was called the University of California Museum of Anthropology), had a direct hand in causing the Ohlones to lose federal recognition when his 1925 \u003ci>Handbook of the Indians of California \u003c/i>declared them to be “culturally extinct.” Phoebe Hearst, the museum’s current namesake, lived in a mansion that she built on Ohlone land in the Amador Valley, near Pleasanton—right on the other side of the river where Medina’s great-grandparents’ generation lived in one-room shacks. “The Hearst family got richer and richer as our family was disenfranchised,” Medina says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perhaps most painfully, once the Ohlones lost their federal recognition, the Hearst Museum went onto their land and looted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11704679/there-were-once-more-than-425-shellmounds-in-the-bay-area-where-did-they-go\">shellmounds\u003c/a>. “They went in and removed our ancestors from their cemeteries; they removed our cultural objects,” he says. “They just took as much as they could without any care about the sacred.” Medina says he still vividly remembers how during the mid-’90s, when he was seven or eight years old, an Ohlone elder told him about how those remains were being kept in pink containers under the tennis courts at UC Berkeley: “It’s always stuck with me, the anger that was there in her voice.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Vincent Medina\"]“They want to do the right thing, but they need to know \u003cem>how\u003c/em> to do the right thing.”[/pullquote]But Medina also notes that in more recent years, since Cafe Ohlone opened its original location near campus, the Hearst has said all the right things about wanting to repatriate those remains and sacred objects, and to promote Ohlone visibility. The hope, he says, is that working closely with the Hearst will help speed up that process. “If we can be there to encourage greater respect of Ohlone people, then we’re going to do that,” Medina says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='news_11788912,news_11698712']In fact, Trevino and Medina felt there would be something very beautiful about hosting meals right outside the space where so many of their people’s relics are located—about bringing Cafe Ohlone’s own modern-day Ohlone baskets and mortars and pestles into that courtyard to take their place among those older objects.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Initially, when Medina and Trevino thought about the post-pandemic future of the restaurant, they’d imagined it as a community center of sorts, where they’d be able to host their language and other cultural classes, and where Ohlone people across generations would be able to gather on a regular basis. They’d still like to create a separate place for that in the San Lorenzo area sometime in the future, but the restaurant will be a cultural center in its own way. At the university, Ohlone visitors will be able to access the actual archives where their language is documented. They’ll be able to see, in person, the baskets woven by their ancestors, which they’ve previously only seen in photos.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ohlone-izing the Menu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As for the meals themselves, much will remain the same: They’ll still be pre-ticketed prix fixe affairs, held just once a week when they start in November. One thing that will be new, however, is a deeper exploration of foods that don’t fit as neatly into the general public’s understanding of “traditional” native cuisines—dishes and ingredients that aren’t “pre-contact,” but are no less authentically Ohlone. “Throughout different stages of colonization and missionization,” Medina explains, “there were ingredients that were introduced here by either the Spanish during the mission times or by Mexican folks, or later by Americans, that were embraced by our family here and ‘Ohlone-ized.’” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The pandemic gave Medina and Trevino time to really explore these more recent additions to the Ohlone table. In their May takeout box, they included venison chile colorado, a dish that combines venison—a traditional Ohlone ingredient—with spices and cooking techniques that developed in Mexico. It’s a dish Medina’s great-grandparents might have prepared on the rancheria. Cafe Ohlone customers ate the stew with chia flour tortillas and acorn bread.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“What we want people to know is that Ohlone folks have been there every step of the way,” Medina says. “And sometimes that means we embrace an ingredient that’s not native, but there’s this consistent way of doing it on our own terms.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899539\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899539\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"An Ohlone salad in a cardboard takeout box, with bright orange edible flowers and locally gathered greens and nuts.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Ohlone salad, made with locally gathered ingredients. \u003ccite>(Cafe Ohlone)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout the pandemic, Cafe Ohlone has erred on the side of caution, citing the Ohlone people’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/4/14/21219066/cafe-ohlone-berkeley-closed-coronavirus\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">long history of having infectious diseases weaponized against them\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, particularly in the Spanish missions. And even now, as California opens up and vaccination rates creep upward, Medina says the restaurant will continue to take a conservative approach. Instead of having customers all sit together at one long communal table, they’ll be spread out on the museum’s large garden terrace, where Medina and Trevino will set up a mobile kitchen. If all goes according to plan, it will be a lovely setting for a meal, full of lush greenery—native plants arranged to create natural buffers between the tables, allowing for socially distanced dining.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899542\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899542\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Pan-fried halibut with a hazelnut flour curst and a colorful gooseberry salsa\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-1920x2400.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pan-fried local halibut with a California hazelnut crust and a summertime gooseberry and tomato salsa. \u003ccite>(Cafe Ohlone)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the meantime, while the new restaurant space is built out, Cafe Ohlone will continue its monthly “Sunday Supper” meal kit program, with boxes currently \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.makamham.com/reserve\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">available to be reserved for July 18 and August 8\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While COVID may have put the restaurant on ice for more than a year, Medina says he’s grateful for the time he and Trevino were able to devote to uplifting other aspects of Ohlone culture, especially within the community itself. For instance, they recently marked the 58th consecutive week of holding language classes via Zoom, focusing on both the Chochenyo and Rumsen Ohlone languages, spoken by the East Bay and Monterey/Carmel area Ohlones, respectively. Participants range from a 90-year-old auntie to literal babies—one soon-to-be mother attended the classes all throughout her pregnancy, and then she Zoomed in from the maternity ward after giving birth.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“She wanted the baby’s first language to be Chochenyo,” Medina says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Near the start of the pandemic, when things were at their bleakest, Medina and Trevino shared \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B-OE0bDBasu/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=d5617e27-1e98-41b5-b301-c612d4d9d00a\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">an oration that they had composed in Chochenyo, in the classic Ohlone oratory style\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, as an exhortation to their community to stay home for the time being: “Now we must stay apart. / So that our elders are safe / So that our young ones are safe / So that those who are vulnerable are safe, too.” But “makkin rootesin hemmen rocket,” the oration also promised: “We will be together again soon.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, as the restaurant gears up for its reopening, Medina says, “This is us making good on our word.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Cafe Ohlone will reopen at UC Berkeley's Hearst Museum in November.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">W\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hen \u003ca href=\"https://www.makamham.com/cafeohlone\">Cafe Ohlone\u003c/a> shut its doors last summer, its owners promised they would be back before long. Now, a year later, the world’s only Ohlone restaurant is gearing up for a triumphant return: Owners Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Groundbreaking-food-pop-up-Cafe-Ohlone-s-16239430.php\">announced earlier this month\u003c/a> that the restaurant will reopen in Berkeley this November\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The new, larger incarnation of the restaurant will be located in the outdoor courtyard of UC Berkeley’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hearst Museum of Anthropology\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. It will continue to serve the pre-colonial dishes the original Cafe Ohlone was known for—the kind you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the Bay Area, like venison meatballs, chia seed bread and cold, luxuriously silky acorn soup. What will be new, however, is the introduction of dishes that evoke more recent periods in Ohlone history. And, perhaps most significantly, Medina and Trevino hope the courtyard restaurant will usher in a new era of cooperation with an institution that has, historically, inflicted great pain on the Ohlone people—including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-bill-seeks-to-give-tribes-more-15759223.php\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">thousands of ancestral remains and sacred objects\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that the Hearst Museum has not yet returned to the Ohlone people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have a very complex and not necessarily positive history, up until recently, with the Hearst,” Medina says. “They want to do the right thing, but they need to know \u003cem>how\u003c/em> to do the right thing.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Painful History\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The plan to bring Cafe Ohlone to the Hearst came about fairly quickly. \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/7/1/21309438/cafe-ohlone-closed-berkeley-takeout-new-location\">The restaurant had been on indefinite hiatus\u003c/a> when University Press Books, whose back patio it occupied, closed—a casualty of COVID-related financial pressures. Left without a home, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/dining/cafe-ohlone-review-berkeley.html\">nationally acclaimed\u003c/a> restaurant was forced to end its two-year run of perennially sold-out ticketed dinners, transitioning instead to a monthly \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/10/28/21535007/cafe-ohlone-takeout-box-meal-kit\">meal kit takeout program\u003c/a> that it has run for the past several months out of a commissary kitchen in Old Oakland. As Medina and Trevino looked for a new permanent home for the restaurant, they initially concentrated their search in the San Lorenzo area, where many of the East Bay Ohlones live. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899538\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899538\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"One of Cafe Ohlone's meal kits, packaged in a handmade wooden box, with fresh flowers and tubs of ingredients visible.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_box-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Cafe Ohlone’s meal kits, packaged in a handmade wooden box. \u003ccite>(Cafe Ohlone)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, Kent Lightfoot, an anthropology professor at UC Berkeley, suggested the Hearst as a possible destination for the restaurant—a possibility that, as Medina explains, felt extremely fraught. Alfred Kroeber, the museum’s \u003ca href=\"https://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/un-naming-kroeber-hall-a-message-from-the-directors/\">longtime director from 1908 to 1946\u003c/a> (back when it was called the University of California Museum of Anthropology), had a direct hand in causing the Ohlones to lose federal recognition when his 1925 \u003ci>Handbook of the Indians of California \u003c/i>declared them to be “culturally extinct.” Phoebe Hearst, the museum’s current namesake, lived in a mansion that she built on Ohlone land in the Amador Valley, near Pleasanton—right on the other side of the river where Medina’s great-grandparents’ generation lived in one-room shacks. “The Hearst family got richer and richer as our family was disenfranchised,” Medina says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perhaps most painfully, once the Ohlones lost their federal recognition, the Hearst Museum went onto their land and looted the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11704679/there-were-once-more-than-425-shellmounds-in-the-bay-area-where-did-they-go\">shellmounds\u003c/a>. “They went in and removed our ancestors from their cemeteries; they removed our cultural objects,” he says. “They just took as much as they could without any care about the sacred.” Medina says he still vividly remembers how during the mid-’90s, when he was seven or eight years old, an Ohlone elder told him about how those remains were being kept in pink containers under the tennis courts at UC Berkeley: “It’s always stuck with me, the anger that was there in her voice.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But Medina also notes that in more recent years, since Cafe Ohlone opened its original location near campus, the Hearst has said all the right things about wanting to repatriate those remains and sacred objects, and to promote Ohlone visibility. The hope, he says, is that working closely with the Hearst will help speed up that process. “If we can be there to encourage greater respect of Ohlone people, then we’re going to do that,” Medina says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In fact, Trevino and Medina felt there would be something very beautiful about hosting meals right outside the space where so many of their people’s relics are located—about bringing Cafe Ohlone’s own modern-day Ohlone baskets and mortars and pestles into that courtyard to take their place among those older objects.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Initially, when Medina and Trevino thought about the post-pandemic future of the restaurant, they’d imagined it as a community center of sorts, where they’d be able to host their language and other cultural classes, and where Ohlone people across generations would be able to gather on a regular basis. They’d still like to create a separate place for that in the San Lorenzo area sometime in the future, but the restaurant will be a cultural center in its own way. At the university, Ohlone visitors will be able to access the actual archives where their language is documented. They’ll be able to see, in person, the baskets woven by their ancestors, which they’ve previously only seen in photos.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ohlone-izing the Menu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As for the meals themselves, much will remain the same: They’ll still be pre-ticketed prix fixe affairs, held just once a week when they start in November. One thing that will be new, however, is a deeper exploration of foods that don’t fit as neatly into the general public’s understanding of “traditional” native cuisines—dishes and ingredients that aren’t “pre-contact,” but are no less authentically Ohlone. “Throughout different stages of colonization and missionization,” Medina explains, “there were ingredients that were introduced here by either the Spanish during the mission times or by Mexican folks, or later by Americans, that were embraced by our family here and ‘Ohlone-ized.’” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The pandemic gave Medina and Trevino time to really explore these more recent additions to the Ohlone table. In their May takeout box, they included venison chile colorado, a dish that combines venison—a traditional Ohlone ingredient—with spices and cooking techniques that developed in Mexico. It’s a dish Medina’s great-grandparents might have prepared on the rancheria. Cafe Ohlone customers ate the stew with chia flour tortillas and acorn bread.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“What we want people to know is that Ohlone folks have been there every step of the way,” Medina says. “And sometimes that means we embrace an ingredient that’s not native, but there’s this consistent way of doing it on our own terms.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899539\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899539\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"An Ohlone salad in a cardboard takeout box, with bright orange edible flowers and locally gathered greens and nuts.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_salad-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Ohlone salad, made with locally gathered ingredients. \u003ccite>(Cafe Ohlone)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout the pandemic, Cafe Ohlone has erred on the side of caution, citing the Ohlone people’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/4/14/21219066/cafe-ohlone-berkeley-closed-coronavirus\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">long history of having infectious diseases weaponized against them\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, particularly in the Spanish missions. And even now, as California opens up and vaccination rates creep upward, Medina says the restaurant will continue to take a conservative approach. Instead of having customers all sit together at one long communal table, they’ll be spread out on the museum’s large garden terrace, where Medina and Trevino will set up a mobile kitchen. If all goes according to plan, it will be a lovely setting for a meal, full of lush greenery—native plants arranged to create natural buffers between the tables, allowing for socially distanced dining.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899542\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899542\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Pan-fried halibut with a hazelnut flour curst and a colorful gooseberry salsa\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/CafeOhlone_fish-1920x2400.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pan-fried local halibut with a California hazelnut crust and a summertime gooseberry and tomato salsa. \u003ccite>(Cafe Ohlone)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the meantime, while the new restaurant space is built out, Cafe Ohlone will continue its monthly “Sunday Supper” meal kit program, with boxes currently \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.makamham.com/reserve\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">available to be reserved for July 18 and August 8\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While COVID may have put the restaurant on ice for more than a year, Medina says he’s grateful for the time he and Trevino were able to devote to uplifting other aspects of Ohlone culture, especially within the community itself. For instance, they recently marked the 58th consecutive week of holding language classes via Zoom, focusing on both the Chochenyo and Rumsen Ohlone languages, spoken by the East Bay and Monterey/Carmel area Ohlones, respectively. Participants range from a 90-year-old auntie to literal babies—one soon-to-be mother attended the classes all throughout her pregnancy, and then she Zoomed in from the maternity ward after giving birth.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“She wanted the baby’s first language to be Chochenyo,” Medina says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Near the start of the pandemic, when things were at their bleakest, Medina and Trevino shared \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B-OE0bDBasu/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=d5617e27-1e98-41b5-b301-c612d4d9d00a\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">an oration that they had composed in Chochenyo, in the classic Ohlone oratory style\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, as an exhortation to their community to stay home for the time being: “Now we must stay apart. / So that our elders are safe / So that our young ones are safe / So that those who are vulnerable are safe, too.” But “makkin rootesin hemmen rocket,” the oration also promised: “We will be together again soon.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, as the restaurant gears up for its reopening, Medina says, “This is us making good on our word.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]S[/dropcap]haron Ratton was metalcasting in the Bayview when the world stopped. She stepped back, tried to turn COVID into an opportunity to develop new skills. Maybe furniture making. That’s when she met Katey “Scoots” McKee, known affectionately as such by her many friends in the queer community. The two met three days after Ratton’s birthday in September 2019.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ratton says the date turned out to be her real birthday present. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I put on my best shoes to take her out to a fancy dinner,” the longtime metalworker says. “It must have worked because we’re still together.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once the pandemic hit, the couple stayed in each other’s pods before they uhauled, a term in the queer community for lesbians moving in together. Then came a new kind of proposal. “We got engaged first,” McKee says. “But instead of planning an engagement we decided to plan a business.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That business, a new coffee shop in the Mission called Milk SF, will open on Saturday, June 26 at Mission and 14th. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/An-all-day-queer-cafe-serving-inventive-coffee-is-16256143.php\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The cafe will serve nice pastries and nitro coffee\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But it’s also touting a new piece of coffee technology from West Oakland’s Ground Control Coffee that the business claims will revolutionize the coffee world—if it hasn’t already. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A Fancy New Coffee Machine\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We make bold claims,” Eli Salomon, owner and founder of Ground Control Coffee, says. “But they’re backed with data. It’s better than any pour-over a barista can make on a repeatable basis.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s a bold claim indeed, considering how ubiquitous the pour-over approach has been in the Bay Area’s high-end coffee scene, each individual cup meticulously hand-brewed by a barista wielding a small copper kettle. Ground Control’s brewer, on the other hand, is the first new batch brewing technology—wherein a machine quickly brews a large quantity of coffee—since the 1950s. The \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Forbidden Planet\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">–looking device uses a patented vacuum technology to extract coffee from the grounds two or three times, drying the coffee grounds between takes to prevent bitterness. Your typical drip coffee brewer uses gravity to bring water through the grounds. The Ground Control machine fully immerses the coffee grounds in water, more like a French press.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899389\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1072px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899389\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up view of Ground Control's space age–looking machine, with coffee brewing in a clear glass cylinder on top.\" width=\"1072\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee.jpg 1072w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee-800x983.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee-1020x1253.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee-160x197.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee-768x944.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1072px) 100vw, 1072px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Close-up view of the Ground Control Coffee brewer’s patented vacuum brewing mechanism in action at Merchant Coffee in Prescott, Arizona. \u003ccite>(Sean Marin/Merchant Coffee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The coffee industry has always been dynamic, even if classic diners are still making their coffee with old-fashioned Bunn brewers. More recently, FETCO coffee brewers added important innovations like customizable settings for brew time, temperature and volume. And “smart” brewing, as practiced by companies like Ground Control, is a quantum leap.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salomon says his machine has passed every hurdle. It even manages to earn green points by using ⅔ the amount of coffee beans to produce the same cup as other brewers. Salomon says there was a lot of skepticism when Ground Control launched in Salomon’s San Francisco kitchen eight years ago. “Now,” he says, “folks have had a chance to try the cup, and most of our critics have joined our side.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Count Umeko Motoyoshi among those who are fully convinced. They are the host of coffee podcast \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://abettertable.libsyn.com\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A Better Table\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and are \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baristamagazine.com/umeshiso/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">high-key famous in the coffee world\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.coffeeinstitute.org/our-work/a_common_language/what-is-a-q-grader/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Q grader\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and former barista spent an entire week solely focused on learning how the Ground Control machine works. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“With a batch brewer, baristas don’t have to live in fight-or-flight mode just to keep up,” Motoyoshi writes in an email to KQED. “And Ground Control’s extraction technology is such that it’s not just consistent, it’s consistently excellent.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The labor-saving aspect of the machine, which can produce 11 12-ounce cups of freshly brewed coffee at the touch of a button, is especially appealing to Motoyoshi. They say that the expectations that customers have of a cafe can never really be fulfilled by the baristas, and that any technology that can support the work experience is a godsend. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This would have saved so much stress, hassle, and bodily wear and tear,” Motoyoshi writes of their time working the bar. “Moreover, it would have sent a message that the owner cared about my health and happiness.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The machine also impressed Helen Russell, co-owner and founder of Equator Coffees and Tea, who says the difference is “like propeller planes to jets.” Russell used to drill extra holes into the baskets of her Bunn batch brewer in order to coax more flavor out of the beans. Now that she’s installed the Ground Control brewer in her Fort Mason shop, making Equator Salomon’s first Bay Area customer, those extra steps are no longer necessary. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“For us to be putting it in our stores says something about the product,” Russell says. “It was a huge risk.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, Equator’s Proof Lab in Mill Valley and its new location in Culver City also use Ground Control machines. The Michelin three-starred chef Dominique Crenn even asked about the machine during a visit to Equator. Now she’s got one in her new Salesforce Tower bakery. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout the world the company has placed a little over 200 of their machines. In the Bay Area, they’ve installed about 30. But in the coffee shop–laden Mission, the technology is still catching on. While Dandelion Chocolate sports a Ground Control brewer, Milk SF is the only business \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">exclusively \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">using the rig.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In part, that decision was the result of a personal connection between the two businesses. Long before Salomon launched Ground Control, he would get his hair cut by McKee at Glama-rama!, the venerable Mission District hair salon she now owns, every few weeks for the better part of a decade. Knowing McKee loved coffee, he invited her for tastings in his living room once he’d developed a prototype. At the time, McKee joked that she would buy a machine from Salomon one day. “I have a friend who is going to change coffee,” she says. “And now I have the opportunity to be a part of it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Better Post-Pandemic Service Industry\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Does the coffee itself live up to the hype? A few weeks ago, I had the chance to sit outside Ground Control’s retrofitted garage warehouse in West Oakland, sipping coffee prepared on the machine as a generous East Bay sun beamed down. And I, too, was convinced: The coffee was really, really good. It reminded me of the first time I tried coffee at a Bay Area coffee shop back in 2018 and my small-town Washington mind was fully blown. Clean, fruity, sweet and tasty—words I had never associated with coffee. The Ground Control coffee felt similarly new.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But cafes are about more than just the taste of their coffee: They’re about the time, labor and money that go into their drinks, too. According to Salomon, Ground Control aims to make a positive difference in those aspects as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Service folks should live without fear that they won’t be able to pay their student loans,” Salomon says. “To make ends meet, cafe owners sometimes take money from their staff in the form of permanent below-living wages, and that isn’t ethical. If you can’t pay your team in a way that they can live in their community without fear of a deep financial burden, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">that’s a doomed scenario\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899391\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 975px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899391\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland.jpg\" alt=\"A Ground Control Coffee batch brewer in a coffee shop in front of an exposed brick wall with shelving.\" width=\"975\" height=\"650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland.jpg 975w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Ground Control machine in the wild at 392 Caffe in Davenport, Iowa. \u003ccite>(Matt Umland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Ground Control system runs about four times the cost of a typical drip machine, but to Salomon, the high price point of the machine is an investment in community betterment. The machine is easy to use, which means there’s less of a barrier to entry for someone to become a skilled barista. And because the coffee produced by the Ground Control machines is popular, in theory they allow business owners to pay their employees better, too. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, for example, Ground Control customer Cirque Coffee went from selling five gallons of iced latte a day to 30 gallons, earning an estimated additional revenue of $40,000 a month. It’s unsurprising, then, that Ground Control’s business \u003ci>septupled\u003c/i> during the pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s true, however, that a coffee shop owner might simply choose to pocket any additional profits rather than hire back COVID-furloughed employees. The relative simplicity of the Ground Control machines might even allow a cafe to reduce its workforce even further. Salomon, for his part, says he doesn’t want Ground Control to replace employees. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“One of the great tragedies of COVID has been that many members of the coffee community have lost their jobs,” he says. “And many of them being those at the \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">most financially vulnerable members of the coffee community, in entry-level roles\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Umeko Motoyoshi of \u003cem>A Better Table\u003c/em>\"]“The belief that baristas should hand-pour each coffee borders on a fetishization of service labor.”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Salomon says proper implementation should keep income high and staff turnover low. And for baristas at Ground Control–equipped shops, the tech also has the potential to improve the quality of their work life. Salomon says his brewer frees up baristas so they have time to build the meaningful customer relationships that allow local businesses to thrive. For instance, the machine makes a batch of cold brew in just eight minutes (instead of overnight), so cafe workers never have to scramble to make \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-cold-brew-coffee-market\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more of the increasingly popular drink\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. According to Russell at Equator, those time savings allow baristas to learn more about coffee and machine repair without having to constantly whip out drinks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Replacing pour-over might also be a step toward making the job of a barista more sustainable. “In my opinion, the belief that baristas should hand-pour each coffee borders on a fetishization of service labor,” Motoyoshi writes. “It’s just not possible to execute that level of quality again and again, flawlessly, for hours.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>A Healthier Place to Work\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bright pink walls of Glama-Rama! let you know you’ve arrived at one of the Mission’s most venerable hair salons. It’s been around almost 25 years and has about 10,000 clients. McKee \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">purchased the famous business from its founder in\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> December 2016. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Queers on the East Coast know about us,” McKee says. “Working there is where I had my own self-discovery.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With Milk SF, she and Ratton wanted to create a daytime space that would be \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">accessible to the queer community—and to create jobs for that community in the same way as the salon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When we opened the business, Scoots says to me, ‘Put your labor where your mouth is,’” Ratton says.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To get the business off the ground, they’ve opted to DIY everywhere they can.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s COVID, so budgets are tight,” Ratton says. “Luckily I have a lot of friends who are carpenters and metalsmiths.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not lost on them that they are across the street from Four Barrel, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sprudge.com/four-barrel-129581.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a coffee company that has faced accusations of sexual harassment and of being a toxic workplace.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “I’ve worked on the block the entire time,” McKee says. “What happened was wrong.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='bayareabites_133282,bayareabites_130967,bayareabites_138574']McKee also chose Ground Control in part because she doesn’t want to compete directly with the established shops nearby. She’s hoping it’ll be a magnet for deep coffee nerds, too. And, as another way to distinguish themselves, they plan to use the machine to batch-make tea.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Having the machine in our space lets us do something a little different than everyone else on that block,” McKee says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The machine’s reliability is also a big sell. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The folks at Glama-Rama! have gone through many defunct Mr. Coffee machines, McKee laments. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">McKee and Ratton also want to \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bring Salomon’s vision of a better service industry to fruition at their shop. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">McKee notes that in her work as a hairstylist, and during a stint working at a Peet’s, she has suffered from tendinitis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In fact, many baristas experience wrist and elbow injuries in the long term, and panic attacks behind the bar are also quite common, Motoyoshi confirms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Most folks don’t realize the specialty coffee industry chronically overworks baristas,” Motoyoshi writes. “Considering all this, it’s amazing how good baristas are at producing consistent coffee.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What McKee and Ratton are hoping is that Ground Control will help them to create a healthier work environment. For a small, bootstrapped cafe like Milk SF, the machine’s ease of use also means they’ll be able to get their business up and running more quickly than they would otherwise.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’re in our thirties. We don’t have time to waste,” Ratton says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.milk-sf.com/\">Milk SF\u003c/a> opens on Saturday, June 26 at 302 Valencia St. in San Francisco. It will be open daily 9 a.m.–5 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">A previous version of this article contained a quote by Katey McKee that has been interpreted as downplaying workplace allegations at Four Barrel Coffee. This was not McKee’s intention. After consultation and review, KQED has agreed to remove the quote.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">S\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>haron Ratton was metalcasting in the Bayview when the world stopped. She stepped back, tried to turn COVID into an opportunity to develop new skills. Maybe furniture making. That’s when she met Katey “Scoots” McKee, known affectionately as such by her many friends in the queer community. The two met three days after Ratton’s birthday in September 2019.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ratton says the date turned out to be her real birthday present. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I put on my best shoes to take her out to a fancy dinner,” the longtime metalworker says. “It must have worked because we’re still together.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once the pandemic hit, the couple stayed in each other’s pods before they uhauled, a term in the queer community for lesbians moving in together. Then came a new kind of proposal. “We got engaged first,” McKee says. “But instead of planning an engagement we decided to plan a business.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That business, a new coffee shop in the Mission called Milk SF, will open on Saturday, June 26 at Mission and 14th. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/An-all-day-queer-cafe-serving-inventive-coffee-is-16256143.php\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The cafe will serve nice pastries and nitro coffee\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But it’s also touting a new piece of coffee technology from West Oakland’s Ground Control Coffee that the business claims will revolutionize the coffee world—if it hasn’t already. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> A Fancy New Coffee Machine\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We make bold claims,” Eli Salomon, owner and founder of Ground Control Coffee, says. “But they’re backed with data. It’s better than any pour-over a barista can make on a repeatable basis.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s a bold claim indeed, considering how ubiquitous the pour-over approach has been in the Bay Area’s high-end coffee scene, each individual cup meticulously hand-brewed by a barista wielding a small copper kettle. Ground Control’s brewer, on the other hand, is the first new batch brewing technology—wherein a machine quickly brews a large quantity of coffee—since the 1950s. The \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Forbidden Planet\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">–looking device uses a patented vacuum technology to extract coffee from the grounds two or three times, drying the coffee grounds between takes to prevent bitterness. Your typical drip coffee brewer uses gravity to bring water through the grounds. The Ground Control machine fully immerses the coffee grounds in water, more like a French press.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899389\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1072px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899389\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up view of Ground Control's space age–looking machine, with coffee brewing in a clear glass cylinder on top.\" width=\"1072\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee.jpg 1072w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee-800x983.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee-1020x1253.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee-160x197.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Merchant-Coffee-in-Prescott-AZ-ZOOMED-in.-Photo-Credit-Sean-Marin-Merchant-Coffee-768x944.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1072px) 100vw, 1072px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Close-up view of the Ground Control Coffee brewer’s patented vacuum brewing mechanism in action at Merchant Coffee in Prescott, Arizona. \u003ccite>(Sean Marin/Merchant Coffee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The coffee industry has always been dynamic, even if classic diners are still making their coffee with old-fashioned Bunn brewers. More recently, FETCO coffee brewers added important innovations like customizable settings for brew time, temperature and volume. And “smart” brewing, as practiced by companies like Ground Control, is a quantum leap.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salomon says his machine has passed every hurdle. It even manages to earn green points by using ⅔ the amount of coffee beans to produce the same cup as other brewers. Salomon says there was a lot of skepticism when Ground Control launched in Salomon’s San Francisco kitchen eight years ago. “Now,” he says, “folks have had a chance to try the cup, and most of our critics have joined our side.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Count Umeko Motoyoshi among those who are fully convinced. They are the host of coffee podcast \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://abettertable.libsyn.com\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A Better Table\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and are \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baristamagazine.com/umeshiso/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">high-key famous in the coffee world\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.coffeeinstitute.org/our-work/a_common_language/what-is-a-q-grader/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Q grader\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and former barista spent an entire week solely focused on learning how the Ground Control machine works. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“With a batch brewer, baristas don’t have to live in fight-or-flight mode just to keep up,” Motoyoshi writes in an email to KQED. “And Ground Control’s extraction technology is such that it’s not just consistent, it’s consistently excellent.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The labor-saving aspect of the machine, which can produce 11 12-ounce cups of freshly brewed coffee at the touch of a button, is especially appealing to Motoyoshi. They say that the expectations that customers have of a cafe can never really be fulfilled by the baristas, and that any technology that can support the work experience is a godsend. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This would have saved so much stress, hassle, and bodily wear and tear,” Motoyoshi writes of their time working the bar. “Moreover, it would have sent a message that the owner cared about my health and happiness.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The machine also impressed Helen Russell, co-owner and founder of Equator Coffees and Tea, who says the difference is “like propeller planes to jets.” Russell used to drill extra holes into the baskets of her Bunn batch brewer in order to coax more flavor out of the beans. Now that she’s installed the Ground Control brewer in her Fort Mason shop, making Equator Salomon’s first Bay Area customer, those extra steps are no longer necessary. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“For us to be putting it in our stores says something about the product,” Russell says. “It was a huge risk.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, Equator’s Proof Lab in Mill Valley and its new location in Culver City also use Ground Control machines. The Michelin three-starred chef Dominique Crenn even asked about the machine during a visit to Equator. Now she’s got one in her new Salesforce Tower bakery. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout the world the company has placed a little over 200 of their machines. In the Bay Area, they’ve installed about 30. But in the coffee shop–laden Mission, the technology is still catching on. While Dandelion Chocolate sports a Ground Control brewer, Milk SF is the only business \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">exclusively \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">using the rig.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In part, that decision was the result of a personal connection between the two businesses. Long before Salomon launched Ground Control, he would get his hair cut by McKee at Glama-rama!, the venerable Mission District hair salon she now owns, every few weeks for the better part of a decade. Knowing McKee loved coffee, he invited her for tastings in his living room once he’d developed a prototype. At the time, McKee joked that she would buy a machine from Salomon one day. “I have a friend who is going to change coffee,” she says. “And now I have the opportunity to be a part of it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Better Post-Pandemic Service Industry\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Does the coffee itself live up to the hype? A few weeks ago, I had the chance to sit outside Ground Control’s retrofitted garage warehouse in West Oakland, sipping coffee prepared on the machine as a generous East Bay sun beamed down. And I, too, was convinced: The coffee was really, really good. It reminded me of the first time I tried coffee at a Bay Area coffee shop back in 2018 and my small-town Washington mind was fully blown. Clean, fruity, sweet and tasty—words I had never associated with coffee. The Ground Control coffee felt similarly new.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But cafes are about more than just the taste of their coffee: They’re about the time, labor and money that go into their drinks, too. According to Salomon, Ground Control aims to make a positive difference in those aspects as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Service folks should live without fear that they won’t be able to pay their student loans,” Salomon says. “To make ends meet, cafe owners sometimes take money from their staff in the form of permanent below-living wages, and that isn’t ethical. If you can’t pay your team in a way that they can live in their community without fear of a deep financial burden, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">that’s a doomed scenario\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13899391\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 975px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13899391\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland.jpg\" alt=\"A Ground Control Coffee batch brewer in a coffee shop in front of an exposed brick wall with shelving.\" width=\"975\" height=\"650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland.jpg 975w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/392-Caffe-in-Davenport-IA.-Photo-Credit-Matt-Umland-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Ground Control machine in the wild at 392 Caffe in Davenport, Iowa. \u003ccite>(Matt Umland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Ground Control system runs about four times the cost of a typical drip machine, but to Salomon, the high price point of the machine is an investment in community betterment. The machine is easy to use, which means there’s less of a barrier to entry for someone to become a skilled barista. And because the coffee produced by the Ground Control machines is popular, in theory they allow business owners to pay their employees better, too. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, for example, Ground Control customer Cirque Coffee went from selling five gallons of iced latte a day to 30 gallons, earning an estimated additional revenue of $40,000 a month. It’s unsurprising, then, that Ground Control’s business \u003ci>septupled\u003c/i> during the pandemic. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s true, however, that a coffee shop owner might simply choose to pocket any additional profits rather than hire back COVID-furloughed employees. The relative simplicity of the Ground Control machines might even allow a cafe to reduce its workforce even further. Salomon, for his part, says he doesn’t want Ground Control to replace employees. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“One of the great tragedies of COVID has been that many members of the coffee community have lost their jobs,” he says. “And many of them being those at the \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">most financially vulnerable members of the coffee community, in entry-level roles\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Salomon says proper implementation should keep income high and staff turnover low. And for baristas at Ground Control–equipped shops, the tech also has the potential to improve the quality of their work life. Salomon says his brewer frees up baristas so they have time to build the meaningful customer relationships that allow local businesses to thrive. For instance, the machine makes a batch of cold brew in just eight minutes (instead of overnight), so cafe workers never have to scramble to make \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-cold-brew-coffee-market\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more of the increasingly popular drink\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. According to Russell at Equator, those time savings allow baristas to learn more about coffee and machine repair without having to constantly whip out drinks.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Replacing pour-over might also be a step toward making the job of a barista more sustainable. “In my opinion, the belief that baristas should hand-pour each coffee borders on a fetishization of service labor,” Motoyoshi writes. “It’s just not possible to execute that level of quality again and again, flawlessly, for hours.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>A Healthier Place to Work\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bright pink walls of Glama-Rama! let you know you’ve arrived at one of the Mission’s most venerable hair salons. It’s been around almost 25 years and has about 10,000 clients. McKee \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">purchased the famous business from its founder in\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> December 2016. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Queers on the East Coast know about us,” McKee says. “Working there is where I had my own self-discovery.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With Milk SF, she and Ratton wanted to create a daytime space that would be \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">accessible to the queer community—and to create jobs for that community in the same way as the salon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When we opened the business, Scoots says to me, ‘Put your labor where your mouth is,’” Ratton says.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To get the business off the ground, they’ve opted to DIY everywhere they can.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s COVID, so budgets are tight,” Ratton says. “Luckily I have a lot of friends who are carpenters and metalsmiths.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s not lost on them that they are across the street from Four Barrel, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sprudge.com/four-barrel-129581.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a coffee company that has faced accusations of sexual harassment and of being a toxic workplace.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “I’ve worked on the block the entire time,” McKee says. “What happened was wrong.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>McKee also chose Ground Control in part because she doesn’t want to compete directly with the established shops nearby. She’s hoping it’ll be a magnet for deep coffee nerds, too. And, as another way to distinguish themselves, they plan to use the machine to batch-make tea.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Having the machine in our space lets us do something a little different than everyone else on that block,” McKee says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The machine’s reliability is also a big sell. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The folks at Glama-Rama! have gone through many defunct Mr. Coffee machines, McKee laments. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">McKee and Ratton also want to \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bring Salomon’s vision of a better service industry to fruition at their shop. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">McKee notes that in her work as a hairstylist, and during a stint working at a Peet’s, she has suffered from tendinitis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In fact, many baristas experience wrist and elbow injuries in the long term, and panic attacks behind the bar are also quite common, Motoyoshi confirms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Most folks don’t realize the specialty coffee industry chronically overworks baristas,” Motoyoshi writes. “Considering all this, it’s amazing how good baristas are at producing consistent coffee.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What McKee and Ratton are hoping is that Ground Control will help them to create a healthier work environment. For a small, bootstrapped cafe like Milk SF, the machine’s ease of use also means they’ll be able to get their business up and running more quickly than they would otherwise.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’re in our thirties. We don’t have time to waste,” Ratton says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.milk-sf.com/\">Milk SF\u003c/a> opens on Saturday, June 26 at 302 Valencia St. in San Francisco. It will be open daily 9 a.m.–5 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">A previous version of this article contained a quote by Katey McKee that has been interpreted as downplaying workplace allegations at Four Barrel Coffee. This was not McKee’s intention. After consultation and review, KQED has agreed to remove the quote.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "from-the-heart-of-la-mision-three-generations-of-antojitos-salvadorenos",
"title": "From the Heart of La Misión, Three Generations of Antojitos Salvadoreños",
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"content": "\u003cp>Food transcends language, and for immigrants in a country where everything is new, food can help bridge that divide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>16 years ago, Maria del Carmen Flores founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.estrellitassnackssf.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Estrellita’s Snacks\u003c/a> in the heart of the Mission as a food vending operation, selling a variety of Salvadoran antojitos like plátanos fritos and yucca and plantain chips in local bars and businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Maria’s daughter Estrella Gonzalez leads the business with her children, Estrella Natale Oceguera and Angel Acevedo. After waiting two years, Estrellita’s Snacks finally opened in \u003ca href=\"https://lacocinamarketplace.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La Cocina’s Municipal Marketplace\u003c/a> alongside other small businesses led by women chefs and entrepreneurs. Though Maria del Carmen no longer works onsite at the restaurant, Estrella, Natale and Angel carry on her legacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a bilingual conversation \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/11319471190/videos/359038808901387\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">as part of KQED’s \u003cem>Mi Herencia \u003c/em>event series\u003c/a>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>KQED en Español reporter Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli spoke with the two generations of Estrellita’s Snacks about perfecting plátano frying techniques, starting your own business as an immigrant entrepreneur, and lessons they learned from their family matriarch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We’ve translated portions of this interview in Spanish and edited for clarity. \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/11319471190/videos/359038808901387\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Watch the original conversation on Facebook.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Skip to: \u003ca href=\"#recipe\">Plátanos fritos recipe from Estrellita’s Snacks\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Carlos\u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>: \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>Tell us about the moment Maria del Carmen decided to start Estrellita’s Snacks.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Estrella:\u003c/strong> I was carrying my daughter, Natale, when I got an intense craving for platanitos. So we went to the store and purchased about ten platanitos and she started frying them. But she ended up producing so many! As you know, el antojo is just a little craving—that’s all I wanted. She asked me what she should do with all the leftovers. Then, she bought a few Ziploc bags and went out to sell the rest. “Te animas a salir conmigo a caminar a La Misión to the bars,” she told me. “We’re going to sell them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out we went, entering one bar after another, and continued through the night until we sold all of them. We ended up making a lot more than we invested in for a few plantains. At that point, she said she knew exactly what she was going to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of buying 10 plantains, she decided to buy a case of plantains. Every afternoon we’d go out, each time with great results. “De aquí en adelante, este negocio se va a crecer,” she said. And with the help of us, her family, we’re continuing to do just that. Seguir adelante.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How did your mother go from street vending in the Mission to securing a spot in La Cocina’s first municipal marketplace?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she began to put effort into making her business, she started informing herself, which was complicated because she didn’t (well, doesn’t) speak English. So she started asking a variety of people for help on how to open her own business. She’d say that while she didn’t speak English, she’d find help on how to get this or that. She asked so many people. Some people told her to go to City Hall for her permiso or business license. We worked out of and rented space in two restaurants before getting to La Cocina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, someone told her about a spot that supported small businesses in the Mission, right there on Mission and Folsom. Out of pure curiosity, she started searching for it, and when she found it, she asked a young kid where the address to La Cocina was. And he was like, “Pues, allí enfrente,” and she said, “¿Cómo que enfrente?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that point, she realized that she lived directly in front of La Cocina. The same place that could help her start producing her business was right across the street from her home. All she had to do was cross the street, and there she was. Every day starting at 5 a.m., there she was at La Cocina. Thank god people there speak both English and Spanish and could help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Maria del Carmen, founder of Estrellita's Snacks\"]‘Yo no hablo inglés, pero mi comida habla por mí.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Estrellita’s Snacks managed to do something very unique in a very hard time. How does it feel to finally have your own place—especially during a pandemic when so many businesses have lost everything?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This project would have launched in early 2020. But then the pandemic hit, and so [La Cocina] told us to pause and wait to see what happens. Everything closed. We asked ourselves what we should do. [At that point] we continued at farmers’ markets, which was something essential and would stay open to the public. But even sales at the farmers’ market were low. La Cocina provided us with support and resources and told us not to worry about rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year La Cocina told us we could begin planning our opening, but to start online first. That was fine because what mattered to us was to actually get started so that, little by little, we could finally open in accordance with the city. We opened on Wednesday [June 16, 2021], and we’re seeing more people, more movement and sales are starting to increase a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13895067' label='More on La Cocina']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One time, I had the opportunity to meet your mother at a farmers market. I noticed that she had two stars in her front teeth. Why is Estrella—the name and the shape—so important to the family and the business?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she was younger, she always dreamed of being an artist—to be a star, to shine. So when she had me, she named me Estrella, [as I also named my daughter]. When she couldn’t be a star herself, she told herself that at least she’d have a daughter named Estrella. And the business all started with an antojo, a craving that was [mine] but also her granddaughter’s [as I was pregnant with Natale]. That’s why she named the business Estrellita’s Snacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the stars on her smile, she asked if they could put stars when she had work done on her teeth. They put a custom order out to Honduras to represent her business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CH0yb-UBAO9/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Before arriving in San Francisco, Maria del Carmen got to know three distinct countries with their own culinary traditions: Salvadoreña, Guatemalteca and Mexicana. From the menu of Estrellita’s Snacks, can we get to know a bit about the three countries that the family lived in and traveled through?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mother is from Berlin, from the Departamento de Usulután. Her dream was to immigrate to the U.S., but unfortunately, she faced an obstacle that prevented her from doing so early on. She went first to Guatemala and then, after that, arrived in Mexico. There, she found the love of her life and stayed there for many years. She started another business in Mexico but faced many obstacles for being a Salvadoran immigrant. But just like [she did in the U.S.], she never let obstacles hold her back. She stayed for many years, but an opportunity arose when another woman asked her to travel alongside her to the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We lived [in Mexico] for many years, and I make Mexican food. We know the culture well. We were in Oaxaca, and we can make tamales de mole con pollo. If people ask us for antojitos Mexicanos, we’ll make them. But we focus mostly on comida Salvadoreña.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For anyone that’s thinking about starting a business, especially a food business, what advice would you give them?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fight. It’s not an easy road, but it’s not impossible. Focus on getting informed and finding the right people who can connect you to support. Find out where to get your licenses and find a kitchen you can cook in. Many organizations, not just La Cocina, are here to help you. Sigue adelante with that dream, that goal and let no one steal your dreams. It doesn’t matter what anyone says. Many people told my mom that she couldn’t do it because she didn’t speak English. But my mom would always reply, “Yo no hablo inglés, pero mi comida habla por mí.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You represent four generations of business owners going back to El Salvador: your grandmother, your mom, you and now your children. That’s four generations directly involved in this spirit of offering food to the community. How do you feel being part of this legacy?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I feel happy. Joyful. My children help me and they’re learning [to cook] how my mother taught me. How to keep it alive. Like my mom says: “Prefiero que trabajen conmigo y no trabajen con la [otra] gente.” With me, you’ll have the opportunity to have a flexible schedule and you can continue studying and then in the afternoons help me. Once they’re done with school for the day, they ask me how they can help me in the kitchen and I tell them, “Si hay más manos, salimos más rápido también.” [If we work together], then we can all go and rest. I hope that one day they can continue the legacy if that’s what they want to do as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Angel:\u003c/strong> I don’t ever want to let go of it. We grew into it, and I totally learned to love it. I was a little hard at it at first, I admit. In the end, I fell in love with everything: the cooking, the people, the atmosphere. I hope to pass it on to my kids too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For Natale and Angel, what are some of your earliest memories of helping your grandmother in the kitchen at the beginning of Estrellita’s Snacks?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Angel:\u003c/strong> Here’s a little secret: I’ve only recently learned how to throw down on the pupusas because I didn’t know how to make them for so long. I never asked my grandmother because she always had it on lock; she was just like a machine. But now I’m in there and I want to learn everything. So I’ve only just recently learned how to make pupusas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My grandmother always made it an initiative of hers that we learned how to hustle and never depend on anybody. And so that is why we now take care of the family business because we see the same thing can get passed on and create generational wealth down the timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Natale:\u003c/strong> Probably my earliest memory was packaging the tostadas. I have a picture of me packing tostadas when I was like seven years old, and I still remember that at my grandma’s house.\u003cbr>\nShe was always a really hard worker. She always put my family and jobs together as her priority. And she was really a great role model for me and my mom, too, and all of us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CL9pOIbheeI/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Angel, you mentioned that you just recently started learning how to make your mother and grandmother’s pupusas. How did you learn or start practicing the recipes? And what do you do to try to make them special?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paying close attention is how I learned. I thought that it was easy-peasy stuff. Then I tried and my pupusa was falling apart. So I started taking notes and videos and pictures with my iPhone. Later when I would get home, I would study them and the next day I’d try again until I got it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was little, I remember my grandmother would make me a pupusa and it would have this really crisp, nice taste because it had the right amount of filling inside. What I try to do when I’m making a pupusa is that I try to flatten it really nicely and leave it real, real, full with the stuff that everybody wants, like chicken or cheese or spinach and cheese. And then I wrap them around and find it out and I try to make it like she did as best that I could.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can make pupusas, tamales. Now I need to learn how to make curtido. I’m usually the one that’s peeling the plantains and frying them with my stepdad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>La Cocina’s Municipal Marketplace is the first marketplace in the country that’s entirely led by women. Natale, how does it feel to be in a space that’s led by women?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Natale: I think it’s incredible. I see everyone in the business, and I just think it’s very woman-powered. In the kitchen, you rarely see women, you see more men. But seeing women owning the business and working the business is really amazing to me and powerful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Estrella, in your recipe video, you had some advice for preparing plátanos fritos. In your opinion, what is the secret to making the most delicious plátanos fritos at home?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Estrella: When you go to the market, make sure you pick the plantain that isn’t too ripe, nor too green. It should be the color brown. When you touch them, make sure they’re not too mushy, just a little firm and smooth. That’s when you know that plantain is ready to fry. The texture and the flavor, they’ll be sweet by this point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you get them when they’re still yellow and fry them, they’ll be bland and flavorless. They won’t be sweet, they’re not quite right. I always recommend you look for those qualities in the plantain you select.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"recipe\">\u003c/a>Recipe for Plátanos Fritos, Estilo Estrellita’s Snacks\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fried Plantain Heaven at Estrellita's Snacks in San Francisco | KQED Food\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/eb5vasfidVk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Pick out the perfect platanito.\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nYou’ll want to pick one that’s dark brown in color and soft—but not too mushy.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Peel and Chop\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nPeel the skin of your plantain then chop it into small chunks.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Fry the plantains in oil.\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe oil you use for deep frying should be 350 degrees. If you’re frying at home, you can fry them in a small pan at medium heat. You only need about two cups of oil. Make sure you turn them to fry them evenly on both sides.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Strain your plantains\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nStrain your newly fried plantains to remove excess oil, then place them on a plate to drain for two or three minutes.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>Then, top it all off with some refried red beans (also known as Honduran beans), a bit of cheese and some cream ¡Provecho!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Food transcends language, and for immigrants in a country where everything is new, food can help bridge that divide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>16 years ago, Maria del Carmen Flores founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.estrellitassnackssf.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Estrellita’s Snacks\u003c/a> in the heart of the Mission as a food vending operation, selling a variety of Salvadoran antojitos like plátanos fritos and yucca and plantain chips in local bars and businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Maria’s daughter Estrella Gonzalez leads the business with her children, Estrella Natale Oceguera and Angel Acevedo. After waiting two years, Estrellita’s Snacks finally opened in \u003ca href=\"https://lacocinamarketplace.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La Cocina’s Municipal Marketplace\u003c/a> alongside other small businesses led by women chefs and entrepreneurs. Though Maria del Carmen no longer works onsite at the restaurant, Estrella, Natale and Angel carry on her legacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a bilingual conversation \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/11319471190/videos/359038808901387\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">as part of KQED’s \u003cem>Mi Herencia \u003c/em>event series\u003c/a>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>KQED en Español reporter Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli spoke with the two generations of Estrellita’s Snacks about perfecting plátano frying techniques, starting your own business as an immigrant entrepreneur, and lessons they learned from their family matriarch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We’ve translated portions of this interview in Spanish and edited for clarity. \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/11319471190/videos/359038808901387\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Watch the original conversation on Facebook.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Skip to: \u003ca href=\"#recipe\">Plátanos fritos recipe from Estrellita’s Snacks\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Carlos\u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>: \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>Tell us about the moment Maria del Carmen decided to start Estrellita’s Snacks.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Estrella:\u003c/strong> I was carrying my daughter, Natale, when I got an intense craving for platanitos. So we went to the store and purchased about ten platanitos and she started frying them. But she ended up producing so many! As you know, el antojo is just a little craving—that’s all I wanted. She asked me what she should do with all the leftovers. Then, she bought a few Ziploc bags and went out to sell the rest. “Te animas a salir conmigo a caminar a La Misión to the bars,” she told me. “We’re going to sell them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out we went, entering one bar after another, and continued through the night until we sold all of them. We ended up making a lot more than we invested in for a few plantains. At that point, she said she knew exactly what she was going to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of buying 10 plantains, she decided to buy a case of plantains. Every afternoon we’d go out, each time with great results. “De aquí en adelante, este negocio se va a crecer,” she said. And with the help of us, her family, we’re continuing to do just that. Seguir adelante.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How did your mother go from street vending in the Mission to securing a spot in La Cocina’s first municipal marketplace?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she began to put effort into making her business, she started informing herself, which was complicated because she didn’t (well, doesn’t) speak English. So she started asking a variety of people for help on how to open her own business. She’d say that while she didn’t speak English, she’d find help on how to get this or that. She asked so many people. Some people told her to go to City Hall for her permiso or business license. We worked out of and rented space in two restaurants before getting to La Cocina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, someone told her about a spot that supported small businesses in the Mission, right there on Mission and Folsom. Out of pure curiosity, she started searching for it, and when she found it, she asked a young kid where the address to La Cocina was. And he was like, “Pues, allí enfrente,” and she said, “¿Cómo que enfrente?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that point, she realized that she lived directly in front of La Cocina. The same place that could help her start producing her business was right across the street from her home. All she had to do was cross the street, and there she was. Every day starting at 5 a.m., there she was at La Cocina. Thank god people there speak both English and Spanish and could help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Estrellita’s Snacks managed to do something very unique in a very hard time. How does it feel to finally have your own place—especially during a pandemic when so many businesses have lost everything?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This project would have launched in early 2020. But then the pandemic hit, and so [La Cocina] told us to pause and wait to see what happens. Everything closed. We asked ourselves what we should do. [At that point] we continued at farmers’ markets, which was something essential and would stay open to the public. But even sales at the farmers’ market were low. La Cocina provided us with support and resources and told us not to worry about rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year La Cocina told us we could begin planning our opening, but to start online first. That was fine because what mattered to us was to actually get started so that, little by little, we could finally open in accordance with the city. We opened on Wednesday [June 16, 2021], and we’re seeing more people, more movement and sales are starting to increase a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One time, I had the opportunity to meet your mother at a farmers market. I noticed that she had two stars in her front teeth. Why is Estrella—the name and the shape—so important to the family and the business?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she was younger, she always dreamed of being an artist—to be a star, to shine. So when she had me, she named me Estrella, [as I also named my daughter]. When she couldn’t be a star herself, she told herself that at least she’d have a daughter named Estrella. And the business all started with an antojo, a craving that was [mine] but also her granddaughter’s [as I was pregnant with Natale]. That’s why she named the business Estrellita’s Snacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the stars on her smile, she asked if they could put stars when she had work done on her teeth. They put a custom order out to Honduras to represent her business.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Before arriving in San Francisco, Maria del Carmen got to know three distinct countries with their own culinary traditions: Salvadoreña, Guatemalteca and Mexicana. From the menu of Estrellita’s Snacks, can we get to know a bit about the three countries that the family lived in and traveled through?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mother is from Berlin, from the Departamento de Usulután. Her dream was to immigrate to the U.S., but unfortunately, she faced an obstacle that prevented her from doing so early on. She went first to Guatemala and then, after that, arrived in Mexico. There, she found the love of her life and stayed there for many years. She started another business in Mexico but faced many obstacles for being a Salvadoran immigrant. But just like [she did in the U.S.], she never let obstacles hold her back. She stayed for many years, but an opportunity arose when another woman asked her to travel alongside her to the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We lived [in Mexico] for many years, and I make Mexican food. We know the culture well. We were in Oaxaca, and we can make tamales de mole con pollo. If people ask us for antojitos Mexicanos, we’ll make them. But we focus mostly on comida Salvadoreña.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For anyone that’s thinking about starting a business, especially a food business, what advice would you give them?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fight. It’s not an easy road, but it’s not impossible. Focus on getting informed and finding the right people who can connect you to support. Find out where to get your licenses and find a kitchen you can cook in. Many organizations, not just La Cocina, are here to help you. Sigue adelante with that dream, that goal and let no one steal your dreams. It doesn’t matter what anyone says. Many people told my mom that she couldn’t do it because she didn’t speak English. But my mom would always reply, “Yo no hablo inglés, pero mi comida habla por mí.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You represent four generations of business owners going back to El Salvador: your grandmother, your mom, you and now your children. That’s four generations directly involved in this spirit of offering food to the community. How do you feel being part of this legacy?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I feel happy. Joyful. My children help me and they’re learning [to cook] how my mother taught me. How to keep it alive. Like my mom says: “Prefiero que trabajen conmigo y no trabajen con la [otra] gente.” With me, you’ll have the opportunity to have a flexible schedule and you can continue studying and then in the afternoons help me. Once they’re done with school for the day, they ask me how they can help me in the kitchen and I tell them, “Si hay más manos, salimos más rápido también.” [If we work together], then we can all go and rest. I hope that one day they can continue the legacy if that’s what they want to do as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Angel:\u003c/strong> I don’t ever want to let go of it. We grew into it, and I totally learned to love it. I was a little hard at it at first, I admit. In the end, I fell in love with everything: the cooking, the people, the atmosphere. I hope to pass it on to my kids too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For Natale and Angel, what are some of your earliest memories of helping your grandmother in the kitchen at the beginning of Estrellita’s Snacks?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Angel:\u003c/strong> Here’s a little secret: I’ve only recently learned how to throw down on the pupusas because I didn’t know how to make them for so long. I never asked my grandmother because she always had it on lock; she was just like a machine. But now I’m in there and I want to learn everything. So I’ve only just recently learned how to make pupusas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My grandmother always made it an initiative of hers that we learned how to hustle and never depend on anybody. And so that is why we now take care of the family business because we see the same thing can get passed on and create generational wealth down the timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Natale:\u003c/strong> Probably my earliest memory was packaging the tostadas. I have a picture of me packing tostadas when I was like seven years old, and I still remember that at my grandma’s house.\u003cbr>\nShe was always a really hard worker. She always put my family and jobs together as her priority. And she was really a great role model for me and my mom, too, and all of us.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Angel, you mentioned that you just recently started learning how to make your mother and grandmother’s pupusas. How did you learn or start practicing the recipes? And what do you do to try to make them special?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paying close attention is how I learned. I thought that it was easy-peasy stuff. Then I tried and my pupusa was falling apart. So I started taking notes and videos and pictures with my iPhone. Later when I would get home, I would study them and the next day I’d try again until I got it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was little, I remember my grandmother would make me a pupusa and it would have this really crisp, nice taste because it had the right amount of filling inside. What I try to do when I’m making a pupusa is that I try to flatten it really nicely and leave it real, real, full with the stuff that everybody wants, like chicken or cheese or spinach and cheese. And then I wrap them around and find it out and I try to make it like she did as best that I could.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can make pupusas, tamales. Now I need to learn how to make curtido. I’m usually the one that’s peeling the plantains and frying them with my stepdad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>La Cocina’s Municipal Marketplace is the first marketplace in the country that’s entirely led by women. Natale, how does it feel to be in a space that’s led by women?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Natale: I think it’s incredible. I see everyone in the business, and I just think it’s very woman-powered. In the kitchen, you rarely see women, you see more men. But seeing women owning the business and working the business is really amazing to me and powerful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Estrella, in your recipe video, you had some advice for preparing plátanos fritos. In your opinion, what is the secret to making the most delicious plátanos fritos at home?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Estrella: When you go to the market, make sure you pick the plantain that isn’t too ripe, nor too green. It should be the color brown. When you touch them, make sure they’re not too mushy, just a little firm and smooth. That’s when you know that plantain is ready to fry. The texture and the flavor, they’ll be sweet by this point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you get them when they’re still yellow and fry them, they’ll be bland and flavorless. They won’t be sweet, they’re not quite right. I always recommend you look for those qualities in the plantain you select.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"recipe\">\u003c/a>Recipe for Plátanos Fritos, Estilo Estrellita’s Snacks\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fried Plantain Heaven at Estrellita's Snacks in San Francisco | KQED Food\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/eb5vasfidVk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Pick out the perfect platanito.\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nYou’ll want to pick one that’s dark brown in color and soft—but not too mushy.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Peel and Chop\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nPeel the skin of your plantain then chop it into small chunks.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Fry the plantains in oil.\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe oil you use for deep frying should be 350 degrees. If you’re frying at home, you can fry them in a small pan at medium heat. You only need about two cups of oil. Make sure you turn them to fry them evenly on both sides.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Strain your plantains\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nStrain your newly fried plantains to remove excess oil, then place them on a plate to drain for two or three minutes.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>Then, top it all off with some refried red beans (also known as Honduran beans), a bit of cheese and some cream ¡Provecho!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Oakland’s New Soul Food Restaurant Wants to Make Biscuit-Crust Pizza a Thing",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Karter Louis couldn’t afford to go out for pizza when was growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, so he and his brother would improvise: They took biscuit dough, straight out of the tube, and loaded it up with whatever toppings they had on hand. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, Louis is turning that simple idea into a bona fide restaurant. Located at the former Noodle Theory Provisions space in North Oakland, at 5849 San Pablo Ave., \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://soulslicepizza.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Soul Slice\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> will be a soul food restaurant first and foremost—a place for customers to enjoy collard greens and black-eyed peas, fried oysters and lemon pepper catfish. But Soul Slice’s main point of distinction is that it serves all those dishes and more on top of its proprietary biscuit crust. As a pizza, in other words. To Louis’s knowledge, it’s the first dedicated biscuit pizza restaurant anywhere in the country. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The restaurant will open on Saturday, June 19, or Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States— a “dream day” to open, Louis says, because he sees the restaurant as a celebration of Black culture.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The goal,” he says, “is to glorify and bring more focus on the origins of African American cuisine.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13895209,bayareabites_136360' label='More Soul Food']Louis, a self-described serial restaurateur, was an operating partner at San Francisco’s Samovar Tea Lounge in the mid to late aughts, after which he ran a chain of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cuisinenoirmag.com/hillbilly-tea-louisville-kentucky/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Appalachia-themed restaurants called Hillbilly Tea\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> based in Louisville. His dream, however, was to open a soul food restaurant, especially as he learned more about this history of the cuisine over the years—about how \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://madfeed.co/2015/a-peoples-history-of-carolina-rice/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Carolina Gold rice was brought over to the U.S. in the pockets of enslaved West Africans\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2019/07/22/today-even-fancy-restaurants-serve-biscuits-and-gravy-but-the-dish-comes-from-modest-beginnings/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the way that biscuits themselves evolved\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from hard, cracker-like objects eaten by British sailors to a staple of the American South. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For years, Louis had assumed that biscuit-crust pizza was just an odd thing that he had done as a child, but when he started talking to people about it as an adult, he realized that many Southern folks, in particular, had done the same thing growing up. Google “biscuit pizza,” and you’ll find several dozen recipes, though very few that incorporate any soul food ingredients. For Louis, however, the combination struck him as being “as American as you can get.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the end of the day, Louis says, Soul Slice is a pizza restaurant. The chef’s biscuit creations \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">look\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> like pizza; you cut it into slices and eat it like a pizza. The main difference is that the pizzas don’t draw on Italian or Italian American flavors. “We don’t have mozzarella in our profile whatsoever,” Louis says. “I don’t even think we have oregano.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, the \u003ca href=\"https://soulslicepizza.com/menu\">pizzas are mostly made up of the kinds of things you’ll find in the American South\u003c/a>. One pizza features okra, smashed potatoes, crispy black-eyed peas, mustard greens, collards and tomatoes. You can get hot links or cornmeal-crusted fried oysters on your pizza. You can get Alpine cheese, cheddar or a vegan cheese. And while there is a house tomato sauce, customers might instead choose the hot sauce or the “mac cheese” sauce, which Louis says captures the “gooey, cheesy essence” of his mac and cheese recipe. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2016px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898946\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up of a pizza topped with okra and tomatoes.\" width=\"2016\" height=\"1512\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra.jpg 2016w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2016px) 100vw, 2016px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Okra and Tomato pizza. \u003ccite>(Soul Slice)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Louis says when he moved back to the Bay Area in 2017 after living abroad in China and Taiwan for several years, he wasn’t necessarily looking to open another restaurant. But then the pandemic hit, and Louis says he saw the ways the restaurant industry was ravaged—the way so many cooks and servers lost their jobs, or felt compelled to keep showing up to work at risk of their own health and safety: “I just asked myself, what can I do?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The same week he came up with the idea for Soul Slice, protests broke out all over the country in response to George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a white police officer, and Louis took that as a sign that focusing his efforts on celebrating Black food culture was the right thing to do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“People don’t take into consideration the contributions that Black and brown people have made to this country,” he says. “This is an important cuisine to engage in.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898944\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 373px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898944\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_Karter.jpg\" alt=\"Headshot of Karter Louis smiling in glasses and a white collared shirt.\" width=\"373\" height=\"483\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_Karter.jpg 747w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_Karter-160x207.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 373px) 100vw, 373px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Karter Louis is a self-described serial entrepreneur. \u003ccite>(Soul Slice)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With all of the cracks in the restaurant industry’s existing business model that were exposed by the pandemic, Louis says he realized that he wanted to create a restaurant that would be more equitable and humane—no more nickel-and-diming employees for an hour here or there; no more elitist, fine-dining hierarchies where a server might make $100,000 a year while the dishwasher scrapes by on $30,000. “I’ve been a restaurant consultant, and I’ve trained people on how to cut costs—how to keep people in poverty, basically,” he says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Soul Slice, Louis says, every worker—a staff of seven to start out—will be a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://soulslicepizza.com/opportunities\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">full-time salaried employee\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with health benefits, paid vacation and a 401(k). Everyone will work in both the front and back of the house, and they’ll all be paid according to their training level. It’ll be a five-step scale, with the goal of getting everyone to at least the fourth level. As Louis puts it, “Everyone gets the same pay at the same level. Everyone shares the tips; everyone works a full day; everyone takes two days off. It’s like a real company. That was the dream.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once the restaurant opens, Louis says he’ll begin the process of applying to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/133593/why-some-wineries-are-becoming-certified-b-corp-and-what-that-means\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have it certified\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://bcorporation.net/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">B Corp\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—a business legally required to have a positive impact on both its workers and on the world at large. Eventually, he wants to open 20 outposts of Soul Slice all around the country in the next three to five years. But Oakland seemed like the perfect place to start.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I want to hang my hat on Oakland,” Louis says. “Oakland is the beacon to me in terms of being able to prove the model and having a community of people who understand what we’re trying to do.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Soul Slice will open for both takeout and indoor dining on June 19 at 5849 San Pablo Ave. in Oakland. A back patio with outdoor seating will open later this summer. See the opening menu below:\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13898978\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The first page of the Soul Slice menu.\" width=\"1978\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-scaled.jpg 1978w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-800x1035.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-1020x1320.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-160x207.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-768x994.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-1583x2048.jpg 1583w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-1920x2485.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1978px) 100vw, 1978px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13898979\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The second page of the Soul Slice menu.\" width=\"2130\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-2-scaled.jpg 2130w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-2-800x962.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-2-1020x1226.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-2-160x192.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-2-768x923.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-2-1278x1536.jpg 1278w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-2-1704x2048.jpg 1704w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-2-1920x2308.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2130px) 100vw, 2130px\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Karter Louis couldn’t afford to go out for pizza when was growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, so he and his brother would improvise: They took biscuit dough, straight out of the tube, and loaded it up with whatever toppings they had on hand. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, Louis is turning that simple idea into a bona fide restaurant. Located at the former Noodle Theory Provisions space in North Oakland, at 5849 San Pablo Ave., \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://soulslicepizza.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Soul Slice\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> will be a soul food restaurant first and foremost—a place for customers to enjoy collard greens and black-eyed peas, fried oysters and lemon pepper catfish. But Soul Slice’s main point of distinction is that it serves all those dishes and more on top of its proprietary biscuit crust. As a pizza, in other words. To Louis’s knowledge, it’s the first dedicated biscuit pizza restaurant anywhere in the country. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The restaurant will open on Saturday, June 19, or Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States— a “dream day” to open, Louis says, because he sees the restaurant as a celebration of Black culture.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The goal,” he says, “is to glorify and bring more focus on the origins of African American cuisine.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Louis, a self-described serial restaurateur, was an operating partner at San Francisco’s Samovar Tea Lounge in the mid to late aughts, after which he ran a chain of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cuisinenoirmag.com/hillbilly-tea-louisville-kentucky/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Appalachia-themed restaurants called Hillbilly Tea\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> based in Louisville. His dream, however, was to open a soul food restaurant, especially as he learned more about this history of the cuisine over the years—about how \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://madfeed.co/2015/a-peoples-history-of-carolina-rice/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Carolina Gold rice was brought over to the U.S. in the pockets of enslaved West Africans\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2019/07/22/today-even-fancy-restaurants-serve-biscuits-and-gravy-but-the-dish-comes-from-modest-beginnings/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the way that biscuits themselves evolved\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from hard, cracker-like objects eaten by British sailors to a staple of the American South. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For years, Louis had assumed that biscuit-crust pizza was just an odd thing that he had done as a child, but when he started talking to people about it as an adult, he realized that many Southern folks, in particular, had done the same thing growing up. Google “biscuit pizza,” and you’ll find several dozen recipes, though very few that incorporate any soul food ingredients. For Louis, however, the combination struck him as being “as American as you can get.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the end of the day, Louis says, Soul Slice is a pizza restaurant. The chef’s biscuit creations \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">look\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> like pizza; you cut it into slices and eat it like a pizza. The main difference is that the pizzas don’t draw on Italian or Italian American flavors. “We don’t have mozzarella in our profile whatsoever,” Louis says. “I don’t even think we have oregano.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, the \u003ca href=\"https://soulslicepizza.com/menu\">pizzas are mostly made up of the kinds of things you’ll find in the American South\u003c/a>. One pizza features okra, smashed potatoes, crispy black-eyed peas, mustard greens, collards and tomatoes. You can get hot links or cornmeal-crusted fried oysters on your pizza. You can get Alpine cheese, cheddar or a vegan cheese. And while there is a house tomato sauce, customers might instead choose the hot sauce or the “mac cheese” sauce, which Louis says captures the “gooey, cheesy essence” of his mac and cheese recipe. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2016px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898946\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up of a pizza topped with okra and tomatoes.\" width=\"2016\" height=\"1512\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra.jpg 2016w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_okra-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2016px) 100vw, 2016px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Okra and Tomato pizza. \u003ccite>(Soul Slice)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Louis says when he moved back to the Bay Area in 2017 after living abroad in China and Taiwan for several years, he wasn’t necessarily looking to open another restaurant. But then the pandemic hit, and Louis says he saw the ways the restaurant industry was ravaged—the way so many cooks and servers lost their jobs, or felt compelled to keep showing up to work at risk of their own health and safety: “I just asked myself, what can I do?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The same week he came up with the idea for Soul Slice, protests broke out all over the country in response to George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a white police officer, and Louis took that as a sign that focusing his efforts on celebrating Black food culture was the right thing to do.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“People don’t take into consideration the contributions that Black and brown people have made to this country,” he says. “This is an important cuisine to engage in.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898944\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 373px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898944\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_Karter.jpg\" alt=\"Headshot of Karter Louis smiling in glasses and a white collared shirt.\" width=\"373\" height=\"483\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_Karter.jpg 747w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/SoulSlice_Karter-160x207.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 373px) 100vw, 373px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Karter Louis is a self-described serial entrepreneur. \u003ccite>(Soul Slice)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With all of the cracks in the restaurant industry’s existing business model that were exposed by the pandemic, Louis says he realized that he wanted to create a restaurant that would be more equitable and humane—no more nickel-and-diming employees for an hour here or there; no more elitist, fine-dining hierarchies where a server might make $100,000 a year while the dishwasher scrapes by on $30,000. “I’ve been a restaurant consultant, and I’ve trained people on how to cut costs—how to keep people in poverty, basically,” he says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Soul Slice, Louis says, every worker—a staff of seven to start out—will be a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://soulslicepizza.com/opportunities\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">full-time salaried employee\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with health benefits, paid vacation and a 401(k). Everyone will work in both the front and back of the house, and they’ll all be paid according to their training level. It’ll be a five-step scale, with the goal of getting everyone to at least the fourth level. As Louis puts it, “Everyone gets the same pay at the same level. Everyone shares the tips; everyone works a full day; everyone takes two days off. It’s like a real company. That was the dream.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once the restaurant opens, Louis says he’ll begin the process of applying to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/133593/why-some-wineries-are-becoming-certified-b-corp-and-what-that-means\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">have it certified\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> as a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://bcorporation.net/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">B Corp\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—a business legally required to have a positive impact on both its workers and on the world at large. Eventually, he wants to open 20 outposts of Soul Slice all around the country in the next three to five years. But Oakland seemed like the perfect place to start.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I want to hang my hat on Oakland,” Louis says. “Oakland is the beacon to me in terms of being able to prove the model and having a community of people who understand what we’re trying to do.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Soul Slice will open for both takeout and indoor dining on June 19 at 5849 San Pablo Ave. in Oakland. A back patio with outdoor seating will open later this summer. See the opening menu below:\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13898978\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The first page of the Soul Slice menu.\" width=\"1978\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-scaled.jpg 1978w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-800x1035.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-1020x1320.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-160x207.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-768x994.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-1583x2048.jpg 1583w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Soul-Slice-Menu-1920x2485.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1978px) 100vw, 1978px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "SF’s Most Exciting New Ramen Restaurant Is Moving Out of the Living Room",
"headTitle": "SF’s Most Exciting New Ramen Restaurant Is Moving Out of the Living Room | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or the better part of the past six years, Clint and Yoko Tan have welcomed customers into their Daly City home for a blowout, multi-course ramen dinner. The pop-up, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.noodleinhaystack.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Noodle in a Haystack\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, started out small: six guests seated around the dining room table a couple of nights each month. Tickets started selling out so quickly, though, that the Tans soon expanded. They squeezed two more guests on either side of a little folding table—then three more in their living room, on a snug Ikea sofa they dubbed the “VIP couch,” where the Tans’ dog, Toto, often joined the fray. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Legalities aside,” Clint says, “the whole atmosphere of it felt more akin to eating at our favorite restaurants in Japan.” Or, perhaps more apt, like a rollicking dinner party that they might host for a group of friends. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Noodle in a Haystack quickly became an underground favorite, both for its atmosphere and for what many ramen connoisseurs considered to be some of the finest bowls of ramen in the Bay—labor-intensive dishes like their brothless wagyu beef abura soba, their duck shoyu ramen or the bright yuzu shio ramen that earned the couple a finalist’s spot at one of Japan’s biggest ramen competitions, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/1576692412647548/videos/1902941763355943\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2017 World Ramen Grand Prix held in Osaka\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then COVID happened, and, with no viable way to continue serving guests at home, the pop-up went into an extended hibernation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, as the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Noodle-in-a-Haystack-is-bringing-its-mind-blowing-16217062.php\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Francisco Chronicle \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first reported\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Noodle in a Haystack will open as a standalone restaurant in the Inner Richmond, in the space recently vacated by the Japanese curry shop Konomama. The Tans hope to open as early as August or September of this year—though given the amount of renovation work they need to do, they say the end of 2021 might be a more realistic target.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Tans plan for the restaurant to be different from any other ramen spot in the city: It will be a tiny, intimate operation, likely serving no more than 20 customers a night. Instead of cranking out hundreds of bowls a night at $12 or $15 a pop, the restaurant will serve one of the Bay Area’s most unique tasting menus: $100 for six to eight courses, with a bowl of ramen—a different style each month, laboriously prepared over the course of three or four days—as the main event. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898768\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2049px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898768\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth.jpg\" alt=\"Yuzu shio ramen topped with thin slices of chicken in a white bowl.\" width=\"2049\" height=\"1537\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth.jpg 2049w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2049px) 100vw, 2049px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A version of the pop-up’s internationally recognized yuzu shio ramen. \u003ccite>(Noodle in a Haystack)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Clint, who was born and raised in San Francisco, first met Yoko, a Tokyo native, in 2008, shortly after he’d moved to Tokyo, where he worked as a salaryman for six years before returning to the Bay Area. The self-taught chefs started their at-home pop-up as a way to recapture the local ramen culture they’d both fallen in love with in Japan. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Watching people take a slurp of the ramen, they give you that look,” Clint says. “There’s nothing better in the world than seeing that reaction. That was a drug to us.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]S[/dropcap]o much of the pandemic hinged on the luck of timing. There were splashy new restaurants that opened, with a sad trombone sound, just days before the first shelter-in-place order shut them down right away. For others, permitting snafus and construction delays proved to be their saving grace—they wound up sitting out the worst of the ordeal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the case of Noodle in a Haystack, the timing could scarcely have been worse: A couple of months before the pandemic hit the Bay Area, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chron \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">food critic Soleil Ho shouted out the at-home pop-up as the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/12/30/21039826/best-restaurant-meals-sf-2019\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">best meal she ate all year\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, saying what she ate there “destroys every bowl of ramen in the Bay.” A couple of weeks later, Ho included the pop-up’s deep-fried pork belly in her list of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2020/25-must-eats/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“must-eat” dishes for 2020\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Already a hot ticket, a seat at one of Noodle in a Haystack’s ramen dinners became nearly impossible to snag, often selling out some five minutes after they were posted each month. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898770\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898770\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly.jpg\" alt=\"Cubes of deep-fried pork belly and salad greens on a blue plate.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The pork belly kakuni karaage was one of the pop-up’s signature dishes. \u003ccite>(Jason Wang and Grace Chen, @cityfoodsters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We were on the highest of highs,” Clint recalls. “We were going to come out from that rock that we were hiding under.” The Tans started looking for a space where they could turn Noodle in a Haystack into a real restaurant. Then, right at the peak of the pop-up’s popularity, everything got shut down. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It was a tough pill to swallow. We didn’t know if we were ever going to cook again,” Clint recalls. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13894844' label='More Ramen']The Tans never stopped looking for a restaurant space, but they couldn’t ever quite \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bring themselves to pull the trigger on signing a lease, especially as COVID numbers around the Bay looked worse and worse. “You would expect there to be fire sales with all these empty properties, all these businesses that closed down,” Clint says. “The crazy thing is the prices never really changed.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They thought about moving back to Japan, where, even at the height of the pandemic, friends of theirs were able to open a new bar or restaurant in a matter of months. (Perhaps the only thing that stopped them, Yoko notes, was the fact that their aging dog wouldn’t have been able to make the trip.) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, rather quickly and unexpectedly, the space at 4601 Geary Boulevard fell into their laps. It isn’t necessarily the ideal space; it has a kitchen that, as it’s currently set up, isn’t equipped to cook anything much more complicated than “curry in a bag,” Clint says. Already, the Tans are expecting many months of permitting headaches. The good thing about having done pop-ups for so many years, they say, is that they’re used to bootstrapping together a kitchen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898772\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1080px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898772\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans.jpg\" alt=\"Yoko and Clint Tan wearing Noodle in a Haystack t-shirts.\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans.jpg 1080w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans-768x960.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yoko and Clint Tan at a fundraiser event in 2017. \u003ccite>(Noodle in a Haystack)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perhaps the even bigger challenge, then, will be maintaining the intimacy of Noodle in a Haystack’s pop-up incarnation. After all, Clint says, “eating in America, even at the best meals, feels transactional at best. There’s this invisible, tangible wall that you can’t get past with the way food is made here.” That wall by and large didn’t exist at Noodle in a Haystack’s home pop-ups—not when customers sat inches away from the kitchen and could poke their heads in at any time to watch the Tans prepping the meal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How, then, to translate that experience? The Tans’ solution, counterintuitively, is to make the restaurant even smaller in scale, serving their tasting menu to just eight to 10 customers at a time, with two seatings a night, three or four nights a week. “To people in the industry here, it’s ludicrous,” Clint says. “In America, businesses like that just don’t work.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s worth noting, too, that dinner at Noodle in a Haystack will be a more expensive meal than what you’d find at your typical a la carte ramen shop—again, probably about $100 a person for the six- to eight-course tasting menu. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898773\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2049px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898773\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of Thai-inspired tom yum paitan ramen in a red bowl, topped with a large shrimp and a lime wedge.\" width=\"2049\" height=\"2049\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014.jpg 2049w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2049px) 100vw, 2049px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The tom yum paitan ramen is one of the pop-up’s original creations. \u003ccite>(Colin Ma @eatfreakz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There isn’t, at this point, much to add to the ramen pricing discourse, wherein the Yelp review–writing masses collectively lose their minds anytime a ramen shop charges more than $15 or $16 for a bowl. There’s something to be said for ramen’s origins as an affordable working-class staple in Japan, but in the United States, the arguments in favor of paying \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">for the kind of highly labor-intensive ramen made by Noodle in a Haystack are hard to refute—especially when the dining public seems perfectly content spending $20 or $30 for a simple plate of pasta. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s really the running joke in our pop-up: Maybe we should be selling carbonara instead,” Clint says. “If I put those same noodles in bacon and eggs, someone will be fine spending $30; I don’t need to be spending three days making [ramen].”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s part of the reason why the Tans have no intention of opening a conventional ramen shop: They just don’t think it’s a viable business model in the Bay Area—not with rent being as expensive as it is, and not, as Clint says, considering “what it costs to make a properly, legitimately, thoughtfully made bowl of ramen here.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’re not for everybody,” he says. “And that’s fine.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The meals won’t be strictly Japanese either—though “living in the Bay Area, missing Japanese food” will be the driving aesthetic. Certain staples of the pop-up will probably be part of every meal: a deviled ramen egg that starts each meal, for instance, and seasonal dorayaki (stuffed pancakes) that Yoko makes for dessert. Mostly, Clint says, they’ll just cook whatever they’re into at the moment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898775\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2049px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898775\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki.jpg\" alt=\"Many dorayaki (Japanese pancakes) on a wooden board.\" width=\"2049\" height=\"1537\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki.jpg 2049w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2049px) 100vw, 2049px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cheesecake dorayaki with salted brown butter crumble. \u003ccite>(Noodle in a Haystack)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given all of the hoops they expect they’ll need to jump through, the Tans admit the August–September opening \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Noodle-in-a-Haystack-is-bringing-its-mind-blowing-16217062.php\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">they were originally shooting for\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is probably unrealistic, though they hope to be able to open in some form during that time frame, even if it’s only to sell the take-home ramen kits they offered periodically during lockdown. It’s likely that the restaurant will fully open closer to December.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fortunately, Noodle in a Haystack’s fan base appears to be unwavering in its enthusiasm. Earlier this month, the Tans launched a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/noodleinhaystack/noodle-in-a-haystack\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kickstarter campaign\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to help mitigate the expense of those likely delays—and to pay for expensive equipment like the kind of special Pi water filter that’s used by Japan’s top ramen restaurants. At publication time, they’ve already raised nearly $100,000, more than tripling their target.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Noodle in a Haystack will open at \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">4601 Geary Blvd. in San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Noodle in a Haystack will bring its critically acclaimed, internationally recognized ramen to the Inner Richmond.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">F\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>or the better part of the past six years, Clint and Yoko Tan have welcomed customers into their Daly City home for a blowout, multi-course ramen dinner. The pop-up, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.noodleinhaystack.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Noodle in a Haystack\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, started out small: six guests seated around the dining room table a couple of nights each month. Tickets started selling out so quickly, though, that the Tans soon expanded. They squeezed two more guests on either side of a little folding table—then three more in their living room, on a snug Ikea sofa they dubbed the “VIP couch,” where the Tans’ dog, Toto, often joined the fray. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Legalities aside,” Clint says, “the whole atmosphere of it felt more akin to eating at our favorite restaurants in Japan.” Or, perhaps more apt, like a rollicking dinner party that they might host for a group of friends. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Noodle in a Haystack quickly became an underground favorite, both for its atmosphere and for what many ramen connoisseurs considered to be some of the finest bowls of ramen in the Bay—labor-intensive dishes like their brothless wagyu beef abura soba, their duck shoyu ramen or the bright yuzu shio ramen that earned the couple a finalist’s spot at one of Japan’s biggest ramen competitions, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/1576692412647548/videos/1902941763355943\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2017 World Ramen Grand Prix held in Osaka\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then COVID happened, and, with no viable way to continue serving guests at home, the pop-up went into an extended hibernation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, as the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Noodle-in-a-Haystack-is-bringing-its-mind-blowing-16217062.php\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">San Francisco Chronicle \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first reported\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Noodle in a Haystack will open as a standalone restaurant in the Inner Richmond, in the space recently vacated by the Japanese curry shop Konomama. The Tans hope to open as early as August or September of this year—though given the amount of renovation work they need to do, they say the end of 2021 might be a more realistic target.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Tans plan for the restaurant to be different from any other ramen spot in the city: It will be a tiny, intimate operation, likely serving no more than 20 customers a night. Instead of cranking out hundreds of bowls a night at $12 or $15 a pop, the restaurant will serve one of the Bay Area’s most unique tasting menus: $100 for six to eight courses, with a bowl of ramen—a different style each month, laboriously prepared over the course of three or four days—as the main event. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898768\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2049px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898768\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth.jpg\" alt=\"Yuzu shio ramen topped with thin slices of chicken in a white bowl.\" width=\"2049\" height=\"1537\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth.jpg 2049w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_clearbroth-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2049px) 100vw, 2049px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A version of the pop-up’s internationally recognized yuzu shio ramen. \u003ccite>(Noodle in a Haystack)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Clint, who was born and raised in San Francisco, first met Yoko, a Tokyo native, in 2008, shortly after he’d moved to Tokyo, where he worked as a salaryman for six years before returning to the Bay Area. The self-taught chefs started their at-home pop-up as a way to recapture the local ramen culture they’d both fallen in love with in Japan. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Watching people take a slurp of the ramen, they give you that look,” Clint says. “There’s nothing better in the world than seeing that reaction. That was a drug to us.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">S\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>o much of the pandemic hinged on the luck of timing. There were splashy new restaurants that opened, with a sad trombone sound, just days before the first shelter-in-place order shut them down right away. For others, permitting snafus and construction delays proved to be their saving grace—they wound up sitting out the worst of the ordeal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the case of Noodle in a Haystack, the timing could scarcely have been worse: A couple of months before the pandemic hit the Bay Area, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chron \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">food critic Soleil Ho shouted out the at-home pop-up as the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/12/30/21039826/best-restaurant-meals-sf-2019\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">best meal she ate all year\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, saying what she ate there “destroys every bowl of ramen in the Bay.” A couple of weeks later, Ho included the pop-up’s deep-fried pork belly in her list of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2020/25-must-eats/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“must-eat” dishes for 2020\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Already a hot ticket, a seat at one of Noodle in a Haystack’s ramen dinners became nearly impossible to snag, often selling out some five minutes after they were posted each month. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898770\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898770\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly.jpg\" alt=\"Cubes of deep-fried pork belly and salad greens on a blue plate.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Noodle_Haystack_belly-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The pork belly kakuni karaage was one of the pop-up’s signature dishes. \u003ccite>(Jason Wang and Grace Chen, @cityfoodsters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We were on the highest of highs,” Clint recalls. “We were going to come out from that rock that we were hiding under.” The Tans started looking for a space where they could turn Noodle in a Haystack into a real restaurant. Then, right at the peak of the pop-up’s popularity, everything got shut down. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It was a tough pill to swallow. We didn’t know if we were ever going to cook again,” Clint recalls. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Tans never stopped looking for a restaurant space, but they couldn’t ever quite \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">bring themselves to pull the trigger on signing a lease, especially as COVID numbers around the Bay looked worse and worse. “You would expect there to be fire sales with all these empty properties, all these businesses that closed down,” Clint says. “The crazy thing is the prices never really changed.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They thought about moving back to Japan, where, even at the height of the pandemic, friends of theirs were able to open a new bar or restaurant in a matter of months. (Perhaps the only thing that stopped them, Yoko notes, was the fact that their aging dog wouldn’t have been able to make the trip.) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, rather quickly and unexpectedly, the space at 4601 Geary Boulevard fell into their laps. It isn’t necessarily the ideal space; it has a kitchen that, as it’s currently set up, isn’t equipped to cook anything much more complicated than “curry in a bag,” Clint says. Already, the Tans are expecting many months of permitting headaches. The good thing about having done pop-ups for so many years, they say, is that they’re used to bootstrapping together a kitchen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898772\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1080px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898772\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans.jpg\" alt=\"Yoko and Clint Tan wearing Noodle in a Haystack t-shirts.\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans.jpg 1080w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_tans-768x960.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yoko and Clint Tan at a fundraiser event in 2017. \u003ccite>(Noodle in a Haystack)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perhaps the even bigger challenge, then, will be maintaining the intimacy of Noodle in a Haystack’s pop-up incarnation. After all, Clint says, “eating in America, even at the best meals, feels transactional at best. There’s this invisible, tangible wall that you can’t get past with the way food is made here.” That wall by and large didn’t exist at Noodle in a Haystack’s home pop-ups—not when customers sat inches away from the kitchen and could poke their heads in at any time to watch the Tans prepping the meal.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How, then, to translate that experience? The Tans’ solution, counterintuitively, is to make the restaurant even smaller in scale, serving their tasting menu to just eight to 10 customers at a time, with two seatings a night, three or four nights a week. “To people in the industry here, it’s ludicrous,” Clint says. “In America, businesses like that just don’t work.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s worth noting, too, that dinner at Noodle in a Haystack will be a more expensive meal than what you’d find at your typical a la carte ramen shop—again, probably about $100 a person for the six- to eight-course tasting menu. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898773\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2049px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898773\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of Thai-inspired tom yum paitan ramen in a red bowl, topped with a large shrimp and a lime wedge.\" width=\"2049\" height=\"2049\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014.jpg 2049w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/IMG_0014-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2049px) 100vw, 2049px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The tom yum paitan ramen is one of the pop-up’s original creations. \u003ccite>(Colin Ma @eatfreakz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There isn’t, at this point, much to add to the ramen pricing discourse, wherein the Yelp review–writing masses collectively lose their minds anytime a ramen shop charges more than $15 or $16 for a bowl. There’s something to be said for ramen’s origins as an affordable working-class staple in Japan, but in the United States, the arguments in favor of paying \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">for the kind of highly labor-intensive ramen made by Noodle in a Haystack are hard to refute—especially when the dining public seems perfectly content spending $20 or $30 for a simple plate of pasta. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s really the running joke in our pop-up: Maybe we should be selling carbonara instead,” Clint says. “If I put those same noodles in bacon and eggs, someone will be fine spending $30; I don’t need to be spending three days making [ramen].”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s part of the reason why the Tans have no intention of opening a conventional ramen shop: They just don’t think it’s a viable business model in the Bay Area—not with rent being as expensive as it is, and not, as Clint says, considering “what it costs to make a properly, legitimately, thoughtfully made bowl of ramen here.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’re not for everybody,” he says. “And that’s fine.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The meals won’t be strictly Japanese either—though “living in the Bay Area, missing Japanese food” will be the driving aesthetic. Certain staples of the pop-up will probably be part of every meal: a deviled ramen egg that starts each meal, for instance, and seasonal dorayaki (stuffed pancakes) that Yoko makes for dessert. Mostly, Clint says, they’ll just cook whatever they’re into at the moment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898775\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2049px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898775\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki.jpg\" alt=\"Many dorayaki (Japanese pancakes) on a wooden board.\" width=\"2049\" height=\"1537\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki.jpg 2049w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/NoodleHaystack_dorayaki-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2049px) 100vw, 2049px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cheesecake dorayaki with salted brown butter crumble. \u003ccite>(Noodle in a Haystack)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given all of the hoops they expect they’ll need to jump through, the Tans admit the August–September opening \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Noodle-in-a-Haystack-is-bringing-its-mind-blowing-16217062.php\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">they were originally shooting for\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is probably unrealistic, though they hope to be able to open in some form during that time frame, even if it’s only to sell the take-home ramen kits they offered periodically during lockdown. It’s likely that the restaurant will fully open closer to December.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fortunately, Noodle in a Haystack’s fan base appears to be unwavering in its enthusiasm. Earlier this month, the Tans launched a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/noodleinhaystack/noodle-in-a-haystack\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kickstarter campaign\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to help mitigate the expense of those likely delays—and to pay for expensive equipment like the kind of special Pi water filter that’s used by Japan’s top ramen restaurants. At publication time, they’ve already raised nearly $100,000, more than tripling their target.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Noodle in a Haystack will open at \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">4601 Geary Blvd. in San Francisco.\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Uncle Tito Is a Remix of Filipino Comfort Food—with Hella Bay Area Flavor",
"headTitle": "Uncle Tito Is a Remix of Filipino Comfort Food—with Hella Bay Area Flavor | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 1993, San Francisco rapper JT the Bigga Figga famously said, “Game recognize game in the Bay, mayne.” And though JT wasn’t talking about Filipino food, the lyricist unknowingly helped to instill the hustle behind \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.uncletito.bar/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uncle Tito\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the newest Filipino-American restaurant to open in SoMa’s burgeoning Filipino cultural district.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For owners Joseph Alcasabas, Paolo Dayao and Vincent Dayao, listening to underground rappers like JT and his frequent collaborators, Mob Figaz, provided a necessary blueprint for taking entrepreneurial risks and representing their communities. The two brothers and their childhood friend were raised by immigrant parents in Concord and Pittsburg, and Alcasabas spent his adolescent years in the Philippines. The three grew up thinking of ways to “embrace heritage while pushing the needle forward,” as Alcasabas puts it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eventually, these lifetime homies recognized they had plenty of Pinoy game to share.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether it’s the restaurant’s homemade rendition of Mang Tomas all-purpose sauce (which is deliciously reminiscent of In-N-Out dressing), its bottles of tangy Mango Chili-Mansi juice, or its Pulutan Party baon box stuffed with laing wontons, lechon kawali, garlic adobo butter wings and salt and vinegar shrimp chips, Uncle Tito is going all out with their love for mixing traditional ingredients in untraditional ways to serve a diverse and modern palette of Bay \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Area folks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We really just took the Filipino-American concept and ran with it,” Alcasabas says. “It was seamless and easy because we were being authentic.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With social distancing protocols on the verge of easing up, the restaurant will finally open its doors for its first full dine-in experience on June 15.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The trio—consisting of a graphic designer (Alcasabas), a bartender (Paolo), and a chef (Vincent)—created Uncle Tito to be a forward-thinking venue for food and culture that reflects their niche interests. Alcasabas’s art and in-house designs give the restaurant a sophisticated b-boy vibe, while the drinks and culinary concoctions are similar to what you might expect to find at a high-end restaurant, but grounded within the community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898457\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1242px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898457\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio.jpg\" alt=\"Paolo Dayao, Vincent Dayao and Joseph Alcasabas pose in front of a mural inside their restaurant.\" width=\"1242\" height=\"1870\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio.jpg 1242w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio-800x1205.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio-1020x1536.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio-768x1156.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left: Uncle Tito owners Paolo Dayao, Vincent Dayao and Joseph Alcasabas. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Though the restaurant is undoubtedly the group’s magnum opus, it isn’t their first attempt in the local food industry. In 2016, Alcasabas and Paolo Dayao started out as a mobile catering service known as STRAIGHT UP, after working as bartenders throughout the Peninsula. Their original idea centered on serving classic alcoholic drinks in rotating spaces, but, as the two friends explain, the business lacked an essential ingredient: a culinary spin on their heritage. It wasn’t until they joined forces with Paolo’s younger brother, Vince, who was the sous chef at Namu Gaji in San Francisco’s Mission District at the time, that the business pivoted towards a more intentional curation of Filipino flavors.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eating at Uncle Tito reminds me of what it was like to hang out at your best friend’s house as a kid—after playing a few hours of Nintendo 64 and listening to E-40 on 106 KMEL—before you got to grub at a table full of cool relatives you wanted to hang around because they would pass down knowledge with each inviting bite.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898463\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898463\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Kalye street fries, topped with onions, pickled jalapeños, pork sisig and Cheese Whiz\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Kalye street fries are a cross between an island-style pork dish and something you might get at an American baseball game. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You might split an order of Kalye street fries—a massive heap of house-cut potatoes piled with Tito’s sauce, caramelized onions, pickled jalapenos, pork sisig and Cheez Whiz. Imagine eating an island-style pork dish, but tossed with the thickly cut wedges you might get at an American baseball game, then topped off with a generous dose of creamy and cheesy goodness stolen from your favorite uncle’s kitchen cabinet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or, you could smash on a baon box, which Alcasabas tells me is a nod to the traditional style of to-go food that Filipino families often give away after large gatherings. Uncle Tito has down-sized the familiar concept into a casual sampler platter that can be shared with a group of friends or on a date night.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For dessert, you can sweeten up with a dish of Milo banana creme and graham cracker-filled lumpia, or—my personal favorite—the cinnamon-sugar pandesal ube buns, which are ordered specially from Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop, a Filipino chain that the three have frequented since they were kids. The treat is filled with white chocolate ube ganache whose deep, glazed lavender color comes from mashing a purple yam. It reminds me of a Cinnabon from the mall, but stickier and tastier—and handmade by a young, gamed-up Filipino chef with soul.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898461\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898461\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Ube buns and Milo banana creme lumpia on a white plate, dusted with powdered sugar.\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The ube buns are a collaboration with Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop, a staple of the local Filipino community. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uncle Tito’s food is reminiscent of something that came straight from the bold, imaginative mind of a Filipino-American kid who got to pick and choose their favorite flavors to combine once their parents weren’t looking. But there is an unmistakable hint of tradition as well. “It’s comfort food. We’re playing with nostalgia,” Alcasabas says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their “old school meets new age” approach is apparent in everything they do: The laing wontons take the traditional dish of stewed taro leaves and repackage it in a crunchy, salty and buttery wrapper, turning it into a perfect snack after a night out drinking. The Ube Cha-Cha drink—a cereal-infused almond milk—literally tastes like Fruity Pebbles because, well, they put Fruity Pebbles in it. The goal, the partners say, is to not only feed stomachs, but to feed memories, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898464\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898464\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Crispy, triangular-shaped laing wontons on a plate with a side of dipping sauce. \" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The laing wontons are one of the restaurant’s new-school mash-ups. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898462\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898462\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Alcasabas holds two of Uncle Tito's housemade beverages in his outstretched arm.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alcasabas shows off two of Uncle Tito’s signature drinks. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We want our food to be a gateway into learning more about our culture,” Alcasabas says. “For our kids, we want them to eat the kind of foods our parents would make us and ask questions about where it comes from, but present it in a way that is more interesting and familiar to them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alcasabas and the Dayao brothers also strive to be intentional about the businesses they choose to collaborate with. It’s about keeping their parents’ culture alive by giving back to those OG influences—like the aforementioned Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop—while also being a part of a bigger movement for the future of Pinoy cuisine alongside places like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.senorsisig.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Señor Sisig\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.loskuyas.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Los Kuyas\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fobkitchen.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">FOB Kitchen\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, whom they credit as being at the forefront of the Bay Area scene. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID=arts_13896138,news_11815455,bayareabites_133626 label='More Filipino Eats']The restaurant is part of a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sanfran.com/finally-the-bay-areas-filipino-food-scene-takes-star-turn\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">growing wave of new Filipino food businesses\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that have emerged in the past five years in the Bay Area, where the cuisine has achieved a new level of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/133626/how-has-the-bays-filipino-food-scene-changed-just-ask-daly-citys-chel-gilla\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">mainstream popularity\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Uncle Tito is just one of several new restaurants located in SoMa Pilipinas, the city’s five-year-old Filipino Heritage District—a self-described “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.somapilipinas.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">celebration of the love, pride and people power of generations of Filipinos in San Francisco and beyond.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” A recent \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CPXQFqgFVlX/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mercedes-Benz commercial\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> even featured Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors racing through the streets of San Francisco to snag a Señor Sisig burrito. But the cuisine—and the Filipino-American community it reflects—isn’t a trend. It’s a true staple of our region. And each new purveyor has something dope to offer—from pop-ups to events like the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Undiscovered night market\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which highlights emerging Filipino businesses in the area.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uncle Tito seems to be building on this exposure. The team is also applying its streetwear aesthetic and rap influences—alongside its fresh take on the cuisine—in a way that has major crossover appeal. From their specialty dishes and business label designs to the merchandise they offer, like a ’90s-era snapback cap with a modified Wu Tang Clan logo written in Tagalog, the Uncle Tito crew really does it all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Our goal is much bigger than food, because it pertains to preserving what was taught to us and pushing it forward to be taught to the next generation,” Alcasabas says. “There is a bigger mission in what we are doing. We want to leave a legacy and an imprint in our culture as first-generation Filipino Americans in the Bay Area.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It reminds me of how hip hop DJs, especially back in the day, would sample older sounds from soul and funk albums, then scratch them up, repackage them in newly updated formats and spin that noise for an emcee to lace his or her poetry over. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What Uncle Tito is doing feels just as radically creative to me. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But instead of taking the sounds of the past, they’ve taken the aromas and textures and flavors of what their moms and uncles cooked up, and they’ve cut and remixed them for us all to nod our heads in unison to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Uncle Tito is located at 59 9th Street in San Francisco; it’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.uncletito.bar/order\">open for takeout\u003c/a> Thursday through Sunday, 4–8 p.m., with in-person dining set to debut on June 15.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n 1993, San Francisco rapper JT the Bigga Figga famously said, “Game recognize game in the Bay, mayne.” And though JT wasn’t talking about Filipino food, the lyricist unknowingly helped to instill the hustle behind \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.uncletito.bar/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uncle Tito\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the newest Filipino-American restaurant to open in SoMa’s burgeoning Filipino cultural district.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For owners Joseph Alcasabas, Paolo Dayao and Vincent Dayao, listening to underground rappers like JT and his frequent collaborators, Mob Figaz, provided a necessary blueprint for taking entrepreneurial risks and representing their communities. The two brothers and their childhood friend were raised by immigrant parents in Concord and Pittsburg, and Alcasabas spent his adolescent years in the Philippines. The three grew up thinking of ways to “embrace heritage while pushing the needle forward,” as Alcasabas puts it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eventually, these lifetime homies recognized they had plenty of Pinoy game to share.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether it’s the restaurant’s homemade rendition of Mang Tomas all-purpose sauce (which is deliciously reminiscent of In-N-Out dressing), its bottles of tangy Mango Chili-Mansi juice, or its Pulutan Party baon box stuffed with laing wontons, lechon kawali, garlic adobo butter wings and salt and vinegar shrimp chips, Uncle Tito is going all out with their love for mixing traditional ingredients in untraditional ways to serve a diverse and modern palette of Bay \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Area folks. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We really just took the Filipino-American concept and ran with it,” Alcasabas says. “It was seamless and easy because we were being authentic.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With social distancing protocols on the verge of easing up, the restaurant will finally open its doors for its first full dine-in experience on June 15.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The trio—consisting of a graphic designer (Alcasabas), a bartender (Paolo), and a chef (Vincent)—created Uncle Tito to be a forward-thinking venue for food and culture that reflects their niche interests. Alcasabas’s art and in-house designs give the restaurant a sophisticated b-boy vibe, while the drinks and culinary concoctions are similar to what you might expect to find at a high-end restaurant, but grounded within the community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898457\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1242px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898457\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio.jpg\" alt=\"Paolo Dayao, Vincent Dayao and Joseph Alcasabas pose in front of a mural inside their restaurant.\" width=\"1242\" height=\"1870\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio.jpg 1242w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio-800x1205.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio-1020x1536.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio-160x241.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_trio-768x1156.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left: Uncle Tito owners Paolo Dayao, Vincent Dayao and Joseph Alcasabas. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Though the restaurant is undoubtedly the group’s magnum opus, it isn’t their first attempt in the local food industry. In 2016, Alcasabas and Paolo Dayao started out as a mobile catering service known as STRAIGHT UP, after working as bartenders throughout the Peninsula. Their original idea centered on serving classic alcoholic drinks in rotating spaces, but, as the two friends explain, the business lacked an essential ingredient: a culinary spin on their heritage. It wasn’t until they joined forces with Paolo’s younger brother, Vince, who was the sous chef at Namu Gaji in San Francisco’s Mission District at the time, that the business pivoted towards a more intentional curation of Filipino flavors.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eating at Uncle Tito reminds me of what it was like to hang out at your best friend’s house as a kid—after playing a few hours of Nintendo 64 and listening to E-40 on 106 KMEL—before you got to grub at a table full of cool relatives you wanted to hang around because they would pass down knowledge with each inviting bite.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898463\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898463\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Kalye street fries, topped with onions, pickled jalapeños, pork sisig and Cheese Whiz\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_friesfull-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Kalye street fries are a cross between an island-style pork dish and something you might get at an American baseball game. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You might split an order of Kalye street fries—a massive heap of house-cut potatoes piled with Tito’s sauce, caramelized onions, pickled jalapenos, pork sisig and Cheez Whiz. Imagine eating an island-style pork dish, but tossed with the thickly cut wedges you might get at an American baseball game, then topped off with a generous dose of creamy and cheesy goodness stolen from your favorite uncle’s kitchen cabinet. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or, you could smash on a baon box, which Alcasabas tells me is a nod to the traditional style of to-go food that Filipino families often give away after large gatherings. Uncle Tito has down-sized the familiar concept into a casual sampler platter that can be shared with a group of friends or on a date night.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For dessert, you can sweeten up with a dish of Milo banana creme and graham cracker-filled lumpia, or—my personal favorite—the cinnamon-sugar pandesal ube buns, which are ordered specially from Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop, a Filipino chain that the three have frequented since they were kids. The treat is filled with white chocolate ube ganache whose deep, glazed lavender color comes from mashing a purple yam. It reminds me of a Cinnabon from the mall, but stickier and tastier—and handmade by a young, gamed-up Filipino chef with soul.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898461\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898461\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Ube buns and Milo banana creme lumpia on a white plate, dusted with powdered sugar.\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_Valerios-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The ube buns are a collaboration with Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop, a staple of the local Filipino community. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uncle Tito’s food is reminiscent of something that came straight from the bold, imaginative mind of a Filipino-American kid who got to pick and choose their favorite flavors to combine once their parents weren’t looking. But there is an unmistakable hint of tradition as well. “It’s comfort food. We’re playing with nostalgia,” Alcasabas says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their “old school meets new age” approach is apparent in everything they do: The laing wontons take the traditional dish of stewed taro leaves and repackage it in a crunchy, salty and buttery wrapper, turning it into a perfect snack after a night out drinking. The Ube Cha-Cha drink—a cereal-infused almond milk—literally tastes like Fruity Pebbles because, well, they put Fruity Pebbles in it. The goal, the partners say, is to not only feed stomachs, but to feed memories, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898464\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898464\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Crispy, triangular-shaped laing wontons on a plate with a side of dipping sauce. \" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_wonton-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The laing wontons are one of the restaurant’s new-school mash-ups. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898462\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898462\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Alcasabas holds two of Uncle Tito's housemade beverages in his outstretched arm.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/UncleTito_juices-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alcasabas shows off two of Uncle Tito’s signature drinks. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We want our food to be a gateway into learning more about our culture,” Alcasabas says. “For our kids, we want them to eat the kind of foods our parents would make us and ask questions about where it comes from, but present it in a way that is more interesting and familiar to them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alcasabas and the Dayao brothers also strive to be intentional about the businesses they choose to collaborate with. It’s about keeping their parents’ culture alive by giving back to those OG influences—like the aforementioned Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop—while also being a part of a bigger movement for the future of Pinoy cuisine alongside places like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.senorsisig.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Señor Sisig\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.loskuyas.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Los Kuyas\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fobkitchen.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">FOB Kitchen\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, whom they credit as being at the forefront of the Bay Area scene. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The restaurant is part of a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://sanfran.com/finally-the-bay-areas-filipino-food-scene-takes-star-turn\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">growing wave of new Filipino food businesses\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that have emerged in the past five years in the Bay Area, where the cuisine has achieved a new level of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/133626/how-has-the-bays-filipino-food-scene-changed-just-ask-daly-citys-chel-gilla\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">mainstream popularity\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Uncle Tito is just one of several new restaurants located in SoMa Pilipinas, the city’s five-year-old Filipino Heritage District—a self-described “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.somapilipinas.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">celebration of the love, pride and people power of generations of Filipinos in San Francisco and beyond.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” A recent \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CPXQFqgFVlX/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mercedes-Benz commercial\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> even featured Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors racing through the streets of San Francisco to snag a Señor Sisig burrito. But the cuisine—and the Filipino-American community it reflects—isn’t a trend. It’s a true staple of our region. And each new purveyor has something dope to offer—from pop-ups to events like the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Undiscovered night market\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which highlights emerging Filipino businesses in the area.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uncle Tito seems to be building on this exposure. The team is also applying its streetwear aesthetic and rap influences—alongside its fresh take on the cuisine—in a way that has major crossover appeal. From their specialty dishes and business label designs to the merchandise they offer, like a ’90s-era snapback cap with a modified Wu Tang Clan logo written in Tagalog, the Uncle Tito crew really does it all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Our goal is much bigger than food, because it pertains to preserving what was taught to us and pushing it forward to be taught to the next generation,” Alcasabas says. “There is a bigger mission in what we are doing. We want to leave a legacy and an imprint in our culture as first-generation Filipino Americans in the Bay Area.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It reminds me of how hip hop DJs, especially back in the day, would sample older sounds from soul and funk albums, then scratch them up, repackage them in newly updated formats and spin that noise for an emcee to lace his or her poetry over. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What Uncle Tito is doing feels just as radically creative to me. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But instead of taking the sounds of the past, they’ve taken the aromas and textures and flavors of what their moms and uncles cooked up, and they’ve cut and remixed them for us all to nod our heads in unison to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Uncle Tito is located at 59 9th Street in San Francisco; it’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.uncletito.bar/order\">open for takeout\u003c/a> Thursday through Sunday, 4–8 p.m., with in-person dining set to debut on June 15.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "New ‘Lunchbox Moments’ Zine Offers One Antidote to Anti-Asian Racism",
"headTitle": "New ‘Lunchbox Moments’ Zine Offers One Antidote to Anti-Asian Racism | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you run in first- and second-generation immigrant circles, you’ve probably heard your share of “stinky lunchbox” stories—about the time someone’s mother packed them dumplings or curry, and the other elementary school kids acted like it was the grossest thing ever. Deep shame ensues, followed eventually by acceptance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or so the narrative goes.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For many Asian Americans, in particular, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eater.com/22239499/lunchbox-moment-pop-culture-tropes\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“lunchbox moment” anecdote\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> has become a stand-in for the broad range of microaggressions they suffer in this country. It’s fitting, then, that a new Bay Area-based zine called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lunchboxmoments.com/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lunchbox Moments\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> would use these types of memories as a vehicle for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to share personal stories about food and identity on the heels of AAPI Heritage Month—and to do so during a time when \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896306/public-safety-for-asian-americans-starts-with-nurturing-our-communities\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">violent attacks against Asian Americans\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have dominated the headlines.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Starting on Monday, June 7, the zine will be \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lunchboxmoments.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">available for purchase online\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for $30 a copy. All proceeds will benefit San Francisco’s Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), which has run two iterations of its \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chinatowncdc.org/feed-fuel-chinatown-2\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Feed + Fuel Chinatown Fund\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a COVID relief program that pays Chinatown restaurants to provide free meals for the low-income residents of the neighborhood’s Single Resident Occupancy hotels (SROs). \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The zine is the brainchild of Shirley Huey, Diann Leo-Omine and Anthony Shu, Bay Area food writers who met at the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thefoodmedialab.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Food Media Lab\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> workshop in San Francisco in 2019. The three had been talking about collaborating on some kind of project when the double whammy of 2020 hit—the pandemic, of course, but also the wave of anti-Chinese, anti-Asian sentiment that accompanied its arrival in the U.S.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Even before the government shutdowns, we all saw that restaurants in Chinatowns were completely deserted of customers,” Huey says. “And we saw, also, the rhetoric that was happening all around. We wanted to do something that would respond to what we were seeing.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13896306']Despite an initial blitz of media coverage on some of the most egregious attacks on Asian elders, Shu says he felt there weren’t a lot of platforms for stories about the racism that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders experience in this country. A collection of stories about these often fraught lunchbox memories seemed like one way to respond to the current wave of hatred.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It was a project that satisfied our passion for food but also storytelling,” Shu says. “We didn’t want to do a pure fundraiser or a bake sale.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lunchbox moment theme seemed apt. For many Asian Americans, memories of those so-called “stinky lunchbox” moments became the impetus, years later, for their own political awakening: They saw that Asian food had suddenly become trendy—that the same type of person who may have bullied them for their dumpling/curry/kimchi lunch as a kid might now own the hip, $40-an-entree Asian-inspired restaurant that just got a photo spread in \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bon Appetit\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In fact, this type of story is now so commonplace that it has become something of a cliche. “Being bullied for your lunch only to grow up and find white people putting chile crisp on everything is a trajectory that’s easy to understand—and easy to sell to a white editor,” Eater’s Jaya Saxena writes in “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eater.com/22239499/lunchbox-moment-pop-culture-tropes\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Limits of the Lunchbox Moment\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” Among the trope’s other shortcomings, including the fact that not \u003cem>all\u003c/em> immigrants experience it, Saxena argues that these lunchbox stories let white readers off the hook too easily—as though they couldn’t possibly be racist if they’re willing to try new foods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The creators of the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lunchbox Moments \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">zine say they’re well aware of the pitfalls of leaning too heavily into the trope. “We realized we didn’t want 30 pieces on how ashamed people were of their food,” Shu says. “It’s not just this simple narrative: I brought food, I was ashamed, and now I’m proud.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, Shu says, they aimed to collect a wide variety of different lunchbox stories. Yes, there is a story about a Chinese American girl who secretly threw away her mother’s oxtail stew, or the Taiwanese American whose long string of white boyfriends treated the food she grew up eating as either unpalatable or exotic. But there’s also an essay about the way the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Betty Crocker Cookbook\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and the sitcom \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Father Knows Best\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> complicated a Japanese American girl’s relationship with her own mother during the 1950s. The Bay Area writer Grace Hwang Lynch writes about her love of picture menus, as an Asian American who can’t read the Chinese characters on the menus of her favorite restaurants. There are stories by Asian Americans who were \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">always\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> proud of their food. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Often, [the lunchbox moment is] in relation to white supremacy and white culture,” Leo-Omine explains. “But in many of these stories, it’s actually not—it’s in relation to our families and to ourselves.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898199\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 528px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898199\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/LunchboxMoments_LeeDaisy.jpg\" alt=\"A comic strip: 1st panel - "House Special! Braised chicken with mushroom," the dish is pictured in a black clay pot. Second panel: "A server approaches the table. "So! How are you enjoying the special?" "Well, for starters..." 3rd panel: Tears running down the diner's cheeks - "Way too much MSG! And oily! Please bring back a different dish." 4th panel: server walks away holding the clay pot. "Alright I will bring back something that will fit your taste." Fifth panel: "15 minutes later" Customer says, "This tastes heavenly! What is this dish called?" 6th panel: Server's enraged face. "Orange chicken. It's the same dish you had, but we took out the herbs, deep-fried it, added dangerous levels of high fructose corn syrup. We stripped all the cultural aspects of our food JUST FOR YOU."\" width=\"528\" height=\"792\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/LunchboxMoments_LeeDaisy.jpg 528w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/LunchboxMoments_LeeDaisy-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 528px) 100vw, 528px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“American Chinese Restaurant” by Daisy Lee.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All told, the zine collects essays and artwork from 28 contributors from around the country, with colorful illustrations—like from a children’s picture book—by designers Haylie Chan and Jeffrey Liu interspersed throughout. On the heels of this very, very difficult year for Asian Americans, the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lunchbox Moments\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> curators say they hope the zine will help show the broad diversity of the AAPI experience.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There’s a kind of stereotype about silence or lack of voice or lack of presence of Asians that isn’t true,” Huey says. “People have been telling their stories and speaking their stories for a long time. It’s just this larger world has started paying attention.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you run in first- and second-generation immigrant circles, you’ve probably heard your share of “stinky lunchbox” stories—about the time someone’s mother packed them dumplings or curry, and the other elementary school kids acted like it was the grossest thing ever. Deep shame ensues, followed eventually by acceptance.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or so the narrative goes.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For many Asian Americans, in particular, the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eater.com/22239499/lunchbox-moment-pop-culture-tropes\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“lunchbox moment” anecdote\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> has become a stand-in for the broad range of microaggressions they suffer in this country. It’s fitting, then, that a new Bay Area-based zine called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lunchboxmoments.com/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lunchbox Moments\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> would use these types of memories as a vehicle for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to share personal stories about food and identity on the heels of AAPI Heritage Month—and to do so during a time when \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896306/public-safety-for-asian-americans-starts-with-nurturing-our-communities\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">violent attacks against Asian Americans\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have dominated the headlines.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Starting on Monday, June 7, the zine will be \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lunchboxmoments.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">available for purchase online\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for $30 a copy. All proceeds will benefit San Francisco’s Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), which has run two iterations of its \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chinatowncdc.org/feed-fuel-chinatown-2\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Feed + Fuel Chinatown Fund\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a COVID relief program that pays Chinatown restaurants to provide free meals for the low-income residents of the neighborhood’s Single Resident Occupancy hotels (SROs). \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The zine is the brainchild of Shirley Huey, Diann Leo-Omine and Anthony Shu, Bay Area food writers who met at the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thefoodmedialab.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Food Media Lab\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> workshop in San Francisco in 2019. The three had been talking about collaborating on some kind of project when the double whammy of 2020 hit—the pandemic, of course, but also the wave of anti-Chinese, anti-Asian sentiment that accompanied its arrival in the U.S.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Even before the government shutdowns, we all saw that restaurants in Chinatowns were completely deserted of customers,” Huey says. “And we saw, also, the rhetoric that was happening all around. We wanted to do something that would respond to what we were seeing.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Despite an initial blitz of media coverage on some of the most egregious attacks on Asian elders, Shu says he felt there weren’t a lot of platforms for stories about the racism that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders experience in this country. A collection of stories about these often fraught lunchbox memories seemed like one way to respond to the current wave of hatred.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It was a project that satisfied our passion for food but also storytelling,” Shu says. “We didn’t want to do a pure fundraiser or a bake sale.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lunchbox moment theme seemed apt. For many Asian Americans, memories of those so-called “stinky lunchbox” moments became the impetus, years later, for their own political awakening: They saw that Asian food had suddenly become trendy—that the same type of person who may have bullied them for their dumpling/curry/kimchi lunch as a kid might now own the hip, $40-an-entree Asian-inspired restaurant that just got a photo spread in \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bon Appetit\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In fact, this type of story is now so commonplace that it has become something of a cliche. “Being bullied for your lunch only to grow up and find white people putting chile crisp on everything is a trajectory that’s easy to understand—and easy to sell to a white editor,” Eater’s Jaya Saxena writes in “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eater.com/22239499/lunchbox-moment-pop-culture-tropes\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Limits of the Lunchbox Moment\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” Among the trope’s other shortcomings, including the fact that not \u003cem>all\u003c/em> immigrants experience it, Saxena argues that these lunchbox stories let white readers off the hook too easily—as though they couldn’t possibly be racist if they’re willing to try new foods.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The creators of the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lunchbox Moments \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">zine say they’re well aware of the pitfalls of leaning too heavily into the trope. “We realized we didn’t want 30 pieces on how ashamed people were of their food,” Shu says. “It’s not just this simple narrative: I brought food, I was ashamed, and now I’m proud.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, Shu says, they aimed to collect a wide variety of different lunchbox stories. Yes, there is a story about a Chinese American girl who secretly threw away her mother’s oxtail stew, or the Taiwanese American whose long string of white boyfriends treated the food she grew up eating as either unpalatable or exotic. But there’s also an essay about the way the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Betty Crocker Cookbook\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and the sitcom \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Father Knows Best\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> complicated a Japanese American girl’s relationship with her own mother during the 1950s. The Bay Area writer Grace Hwang Lynch writes about her love of picture menus, as an Asian American who can’t read the Chinese characters on the menus of her favorite restaurants. There are stories by Asian Americans who were \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">always\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> proud of their food. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Often, [the lunchbox moment is] in relation to white supremacy and white culture,” Leo-Omine explains. “But in many of these stories, it’s actually not—it’s in relation to our families and to ourselves.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898199\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 528px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898199\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/LunchboxMoments_LeeDaisy.jpg\" alt=\"A comic strip: 1st panel - "House Special! Braised chicken with mushroom," the dish is pictured in a black clay pot. Second panel: "A server approaches the table. "So! How are you enjoying the special?" "Well, for starters..." 3rd panel: Tears running down the diner's cheeks - "Way too much MSG! And oily! Please bring back a different dish." 4th panel: server walks away holding the clay pot. "Alright I will bring back something that will fit your taste." Fifth panel: "15 minutes later" Customer says, "This tastes heavenly! What is this dish called?" 6th panel: Server's enraged face. "Orange chicken. It's the same dish you had, but we took out the herbs, deep-fried it, added dangerous levels of high fructose corn syrup. We stripped all the cultural aspects of our food JUST FOR YOU."\" width=\"528\" height=\"792\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/LunchboxMoments_LeeDaisy.jpg 528w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/LunchboxMoments_LeeDaisy-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 528px) 100vw, 528px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“American Chinese Restaurant” by Daisy Lee.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All told, the zine collects essays and artwork from 28 contributors from around the country, with colorful illustrations—like from a children’s picture book—by designers Haylie Chan and Jeffrey Liu interspersed throughout. On the heels of this very, very difficult year for Asian Americans, the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lunchbox Moments\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> curators say they hope the zine will help show the broad diversity of the AAPI experience.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There’s a kind of stereotype about silence or lack of voice or lack of presence of Asians that isn’t true,” Huey says. “People have been telling their stories and speaking their stories for a long time. It’s just this larger world has started paying attention.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "KQED’s Ultimate Guide to Taiwanese Restaurants in the Bay",
"headTitle": "KQED’s Ultimate Guide to Taiwanese Restaurants in the Bay | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897983\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13897983\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto.jpg\" alt=\"An illustrated map of the Bay Area with drawings of various Taiwanese foods at different locations on the map—gua bao near San Francisco, stinky tofu near San Mateo, pork chop bento near Oakland, fan tuan near Fremont, and lu rou fan near Milpitas.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-800x640.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-1020x816.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-160x128.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-768x614.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-1536x1229.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003cem>(Illustration by \u003ca href=\"https://www.felicia-liang.com/\">Felicia Liang\u003c/a>; design by Rebecca Kao)\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">KQED’s \u003c/i>\u003c/em>Eating Taiwanese in the Bay\u003cem>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\"> is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/eatingtaiwanese\">series of stories\u003c/a> exploring Taiwanese food culture in all of its glorious, delicious complexity.\u003c/i>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you ask a Taiwanese American about the Bay Area’s Taiwanese food scene, chances are they’ll complain about how hard it is to find stinky tofu or savory soy milk or a decent bowl of beef noodle soup. And it’s true: This isn’t exactly the San Gabriel Valley. But it’s also true that anyone who knocks the Bay Area’s Taiwanese food community probably hasn’t spent a lot of time in suburban enclaves like Fremont and Cupertino, where there’s big enough of a Taiwanese market that even niche restaurants—specializing in sweet potato congee or Taiwanese breakfast sandwiches—can survive and thrive. They also probably haven’t paid attention to the new wave of pop-ups that are bringing Taiwanese food into the mainstream in Oakland and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, then, are 26 of the Bay Area’s most delicious Taiwanese dining destinations, from the UC Berkeley campus down to the strip malls of Cupertino. Eating your way through the list will help cure any expat’s culinary homesickness. For newcomers to the cuisine, it also serves as an excellent introduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Note: These entries aren’t ranked; instead, they’re listed in rough geographical order from north to south.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13897264\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"127\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish-160x25.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish-768x122.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>1. Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>2431 Durant Ave. Suite B, Berkeley\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.shihlinca.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This local chain\u003c/a> specializes in the kinds of quick bites you’d find at Taiwan’s night markets and street stalls, including a surprisingly homey version of orh ah mee sua, aka oyster vermicelli. But the headliner is the “XXL” crispy chicken, a solid rendition of the oversized fried cutlets that are one of the signatures of the actual Shilin night market in Taipei. In addition to this Cal campus-adjacent storefront, which has been a hit with students from day one, and its original Milpitas shop, Shihlin has also expanded to Pleasanton, San Mateo and the Stonestown Galleria mall. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>2. Yilan Foods\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Previously at 4066 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://yilan-foods.square.site/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This popular pop-up restaurant\u003c/a> that started during the pandemic has been a welcome addition to the local Taiwanese food scene. Offering Sunday-only pickup for preorder customers in San Francisco and Oakland, the pop-up quickly amassed a following through social media and word-of-mouth. Yilan’s collagen-rich niu rou mian is truly a standout among the Bay Area’s beef noodle soup options, and its chunky, fatty pork over rice (lu rou fan) is hearty and satisfying. Yilan Foods is on temporary hiatus while its owners search for a permanent brick-and-mortar location; in the meantime, they’re also seeking a new home for the pop-up incarnation. Follow their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/yilanfoods/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram page\u003c/a> for the latest updates. —M.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897876\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1761px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13897876\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a takeout box with sticky rice rolls, scallion egg pancake, and other Taiwanese breakfast items from Taiwan Bento.\" width=\"1761\" height=\"1174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021.jpg 1761w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1761px) 100vw, 1761px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taiwan Bento is now hosting occasional Taiwanese breakfast pop-ups. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>3. Taiwan Bento\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>412 22nd St., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nOpen since 2014, \u003ca href=\"http://www.taiwanbento.us/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taiwan Bento\u003c/a> is one of the mainstays of Oakland’s Taiwanese restaurant community. As its name suggests, the restaurant is best known for its biandang, or Taiwanese lunch boxes—set meals that might come with a fried pork chop or braised minced pork, some pickled vegetables, a half a tea egg and a scoop of rice.The beef noodle soup is a hearty, belly-warming option; the basil-topped popcorn chicken is impeccably fried. Recently, the restaurant has also been dabbling in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897868/taiwanese-breakfast-bay-area\">Taiwanese breakfast\u003c/a>—fan tuan (rice rolls) and dan bing (scallion egg pancakes)—during occasional weekend pop-ups. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>4. HoDaLa\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>5801 Geary Blvd., San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThe most \u003ca href=\"https://www.hodalausa.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prominent new Taiwanese restaurant\u003c/a> to open in S.F. proper in many years, this Outer Richmond restaurant rocks a vintage aesthetic, with a display of old Taiwanese post office memorabilia and toys front and center. The menu leans toward Taiwan Beer–friendly bar snacks, with plenty of fried foods in the mix. The gua bao (or steamed bun “sandwich”) section alone runs five options deep and includes fusion-y versions stuffed with fried fish or barbecue pulled pork. HoDaLa is also one of the few spots in the city that serves tsua bing, or Taiwanese-style shaved ice, available with a host of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897410/taiwanese-food-texture-q-boba-love-boat\">different QQ toppings\u003c/a>. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>5. Dragon Gate Bar and Grille\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>300 Broadway, Oakland\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThis moody, neon-backlit cocktail bar has private karaoke rooms and one of the most extensive Taiwanese food menus in the entire East Bay—a win-win for devotees of these two cornerstones of Taiwanese culture. \u003ca href=\"https://www.dragongate300.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dragon Gate\u003c/a> has long been one of the only restaurants in Oakland where you can get stinky tofu, but the highlights of the menu are actually the more rustic, homestyle dishes: dried radish omelet, a variety of three-cup dishes (traditionally made with an entire cup each of soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine) and one of the East Bay’s better bowls of beef noodle soup. After staying closed for the bulk of the pandemic, the karaoke rooms are now back open for small gatherings as well. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898040\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2015px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898040\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of long potstickers next to a takeout carton of noodles.\" width=\"2015\" height=\"2048\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers.jpg 2015w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-800x813.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-1020x1037.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-768x781.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-1511x1536.jpg 1511w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-1920x1951.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2015px) 100vw, 2015px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The potstickers are Good-to-Eat Dumplings’ signature dish. \u003ccite>(Good-to-Eat Dumplings)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>6. Good-to-Eat Dumplings\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>292 4th St., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nRun by founders Tony Tung and Angie Lin, \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodtoeatdumplings.com\">this casual restaurant\u003c/a> specializes in Taiwan-style potstickers—elongated pan-fried dumplings with a thin wrapper and crunchy bottom. These are notable for their fillings, which include a popular version that’s filled with chicken and basil. While dumplings are the focus, the flavorful gua baos and wontons are also just like what you’d find in Taiwan. And during the pandemic, the pop-up has expanded its repertoire of locally-sourced Taiwanese dishes even further outside the realm of dumplings, serving things like noodles with minced pork sauce and \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/9/16/21439018/good-to-eat-dumplings-taiwanese-caprese-tomatoes-soy-sauce-pop-up-oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taiwanese\u003c/a> “\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/9/16/21439018/good-to-eat-dumplings-taiwanese-caprese-tomatoes-soy-sauce-pop-up-oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caprese\u003c/a>.” Good-to-Eat is located at Original Pattern Brewing in Oakland’s Jack London neighborhood, and has plenty of outdoor seating. —M.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>7. Bentolicious\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>4833 Hopyard Rd. E3, Pleasanton\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nMarvel at the efficiency of this strip mall \u003ca href=\"https://bentolicious.us/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bento shop’s\u003c/a> assembly line setup, as bandanna-clad workers load up your lunchbox, scooping home-style dishes from a steam table that gets replenished so frequently, the food never has a chance to lose its freshness. Main course options run the gamut from railroad (i.e., fried pork chop) bentos to lion’s head meatballs and saucy Chiayi chicken rice, and the rotating selection of sides, like fried pumpkin and Taiwanese-style mapo tofu, is just as compelling. Come on the early side, as the most popular dishes tend to sell out well before the end of the lunch rush. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898053\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 971px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898053\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco.jpg\" alt='A view of the \"Taiwan taco,\" a scallion pancake stuffed with eggs, slaw, and edible flowers.' width=\"971\" height=\"1295\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco.jpg 971w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 971px) 100vw, 971px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Chino Grande’s “Taiwan Taco.” \u003ccite>(El Chino Grande)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>8. El Chino Grande / Hén-zhi\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1195 Evans Ave., San Francisco; various other locations\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nBefore he started these pop-ups with his partner Marcelle Gonzales Yang, Christopher Yang made a name for himself cooking at celebrated Bay Area restaurants like the now-shuttered ’Aina in S.F. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/el_chino_grande/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">El Chino Grande\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.henzhisf.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hén-zhí\u003c/a> are the chef’s tribute to his Taiwanese heritage—and to Taiwanese night markets, specifically. At El Chino Grande, for instance, he mixes Taiwanese flavors with California ingredients to create dishes like his “Taiwan Taco,” a take on a scallion pancake roll, or dan bing, that incorporates kabayaki tare, mayo, crispy nori furikake, cabbage slaw and pickled daikon. Hén-zhí, which takes more of a fine dining approach, has been doing mostly private events during the pandemic, but El Chino Grande makes regular appearances at Hunters Point Brewery on Sundays and at a Lafayette commissary kitchen every other Saturday. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>9. China Bee\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>31 S. B St., San Mateo\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside tag='eating-taiwanese' label='Eating Taiwanese']\u003c/span>Mixed in among Chinese American standards like chow mein and General’s chicken, Taiwanese dishes are the real star and focal point at \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/chinabeerestaurant/\">China Bee\u003c/a>—even more so during the pandemic, when the downtown San Mateo restaurant has served an abbreviated (and almost entirely Taiwanese) takeout menu. It’s one of a handful of spots on the Peninsula that serves Taiwanese breakfast on the weekend, and the impeccably fried stinky tofu is one of the best versions around. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>10. Joy Restaurant\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1489 Beach Park Blvd., Foster City\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nLocated near the Foster City waterfront, \u003ca href=\"http://joystw.com/\">Joy Restaurant\u003c/a> spans a wide range of regional Chinese cuisines, from Sichuan to Shanghainese, in addition to its explicitly Taiwanese dishes. At its core, however, the kitchen is cooking to suit Taiwanese tastes. The oversized Chunghua Road potstickers have a fantastically lacy, crunchy crust; the stinky tofu is genuinely pungent and delicious; and the claypot lion’s head meatball is just spectacular. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>11. Mary’s Bakery\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>34370 Fremont Blvd., Fremont\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://marys-bakery.square.site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mary’s Bakery\u003c/a> is the kind of small bakery you would wander into while walking around a local neighborhood in Taipei. It specializes in Taiwanese-style cakes such as fresh mango cake, covered in thinly sliced mangoes shaped like flowers, as well as Taiwanese-style baked goods, and it’s a little bit more homey and idiosyncratic than what you’d find at big bakery chains. The concise menu includes popular staples such as green onion buns and several different varieties of pineapple bun (buo luo bao). Call ahead if you’ve got your heart set on a particular cake. —M.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898027\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898027\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of savory soy milk in a bowl, with pieces of fried cruller floating on top.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1778\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-800x556.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-1020x708.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-768x533.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-1536x1067.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-2048x1422.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-1920x1333.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chef Wu is one of the only local restaurants that serves Taiwanese breakfast dishes like savory soy milk five days a week. \u003ccite>(Chef Wu)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>12. Chef Wu\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>36926 Sycamore St., Newark\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://chefwuchineserestaurant.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This Newark mainstay\u003c/a> is one of the Bay Area’s only restaurants (perhaps \u003ci>the\u003c/i> only restaurant) that’s primarily known for serving \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897868/taiwanese-breakfast-bay-area\">Taiwanese breakfast\u003c/a>—the kind that includes fresh soy milk, shaobing (sesame flatbread), you tiao (fried crullers) and fan tuan (Taiwanese rice rolls). All of the dough-based specialties are made in-house, and, unlike most of the local Taiwanese restaurants dabbling in breakfast, Chef Wu doesn’t relegate those items to weekend service only. The restaurant has been closed for the duration of the pandemic, but it’s planning to reopen in mid-June. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>13. Cafe Mei\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>43761 Boscell Rd. #5125, Fremont\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nAccording to owner Kandy Wang, this new Fremont strip mall spot is the first restaurant to bring the recipes of Mei Er Mei, Taiwan’s most popular Western-style breakfast chain, to the U.S. When \u003ca href=\"http://www.cafemeiusa.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cafe Mei\u003c/a> officially opens, probably in mid-June, the restaurant will serve crustless ham-and-egg breakfast sandwiches, dan bing (egg crepe rolls) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897868/taiwanese-breakfast-bay-area\">Taiwanese-style breakfast burgers\u003c/a> featuring a proprietary marinated pork patty, sliced cucumbers, a fried egg and sweet mayonnaise. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898033\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898033\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a red yeast pork bento box: slices of red-tinged crispy pork, corn kernels, a braised egg and tofu over white rice. \" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Du Xiao Yue’s lunchbox game is topnotch: The red yeast pork over rice is a thing of beauty. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>14. Du Xiao Yue\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>4161 Cushing Pkwy., Fremont\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThough it has nothing to do with the famous \u003ca href=\"https://hungryintaipei.blogspot.com/2018/10/taiwaneserevisited-i-still-strongly.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tainan-style noodle chain\u003c/a> in Taiwan that shares its name, the Fremont incarnation of Du Xiao Yue nevertheless serves some of the tastiest Taiwanese food in the area, with a particular emphasis on the kinds of snacky foods you might find at a night market—your pork blood rice cakes and oyster vermicellis. The restaurant’s lunchtime bento game is especially strong: The slightly tangy, immaculately crispy red yeast pork rice is a thing of beauty. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>15. Old Taro\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>46825 Warm Springs Blvd., Fremont\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nNewly moved across town to a different Fremont strip mall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/laoyuzai/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Old Taro\u003c/a> has a fairly extensive menu of Taiwanese rice plates and noodle soups, but the restaurant’s main point of attraction is its seven—count them!—different varieties of gloriously overstuffed fan tuan, including one version that features sweet Taiwanese sausage and another that’s spicy and includes an entire braised egg. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>16. Taiwan Cafe\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>568 N. Abel St., Milpitas\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nDuring the pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.taiwancafemilpitas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this country-style restaurant\u003c/a> has been delivering frozen Taiwanese and Hakka specialities to 24 states. Wan Luan pork hock with bamboo shoots is the speciality here, but the southern-style bah ûan (Taiwanese meatball) and five-spice rolls taste just like they do on the island. Hot bentos, oyster omelets and other ready-to-eat dishes can be ordered through the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/groups/taiwancafemilpitas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taiwan Cafe Facebook group\u003c/a> for weekend pickup. The dining room is currently closed. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898034\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898034\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A takeout container of fried stinky tofu, with pickled cabbage and a tub of sauce on the side.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mama Liu’s stinky tofu is one of the Bay Area’s most potent versions. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>17. Mama Liu\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>550 Barber Ln., Milpitas and other locations\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nDuring pre-pandemic times, \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Mama-Liu-Taiwanese-Street-Food-424857264260232/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mama Liu\u003c/a> made its money on the lunchtime office park circuit, following a set route that included several Silicon Valley tech campuses. But with in-person working still largely on hold, the food truck, which specializes in Taiwanese street food, has only been selling once a week, at a different location each week (Milpitas, Fremont, Cupertino and so forth), to customers who pre-order via its \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Mama-Liu-Taiwanese-Street-Food-424857264260232/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chinese-language online form\u003c/a>. One the truck’s showstoppers is one of the Bay Area’s best versions of fried stinky tofu—extra juicy and pungent because they fry larger cubes of the tofu first before cutting them into smaller pieces. Another is an incredibly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897498/mama-liu-lu-rou-fan-taiwanese-food-comic\">tender, well balanced lu rou fan\u003c/a> (braised pork belly rice), made with hand-cut pork belly. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>18. Queen House\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>273 Castro Street, Mountain View\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nOne of the oldest restaurants on Castro Street in Mountain View, \u003ca href=\"http://www.queenhouserestaurant.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Queen House\u003c/a> offers an array of Taiwanese dishes hidden on the back side of its American Chinese menu. The restaurant is best known for its beef noodle soup, which boasts generous cuts of meat. Other items to check out are the squid soup, which will appeal to fans of hot and sour, and the Taiwanese breakfast foods, which include beef rolls and crispy you tiao to dip into fresh soybean milk—all available on weekend mornings only. Outdoor dining, takeout and delivery are available. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>19. Chick & Tea\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>587 E. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nOriginally located in \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/where-to-get-taiwanese-fried-chicken-in-the-east-bay-2-1/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland\u003c/a>, this \u003ca href=\"https://www.chick-tea.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">standout boba drink and bento shop\u003c/a> now has storefronts in Sunnyvale and Milpitas. The cafe sells a variety of lunch boxes and five-spice-dusted fried appetizers, but the main reason to visit is the house special “GPIE.” That’s what the shop calls its wonderfully crunchy and well seasoned version of ji pai, the oversized fried chicken cutlets that are a staple of Taiwanese night markets. For the full experience, order your GPIE whole, not sliced, and eat it standing up, straight out of the paper bag. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898037\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898037\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Side dishes to be eaten with Taiwan Porridge Kingdom's sweet potato congee: pork ribs, pig's tongue, a dried radish omelet, fried peanuts and more.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The congee at Taiwan Porridge Kingdom is meant to be a blank canvas for the restaurant’s many delicious side dishes. \u003ccite>(Taiwan Porridge Kingdom)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>20. Taiwan Porridge Kingdom\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>20956 Homestead Rd. Ste. A1, Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThere’s a stretch of Fuxing S. Road in Taipei that’s made up almost entirely of 24-hour restaurants that specialize in congee, or rice porridge, served on an all-you-can-eat basis. What you pay for are the dozens of little side dishes that you eat with it, pulling what you like off the cafeteria-style buffet. The South Bay might not have a whole street dedicated to the genre, but it is lucky enough to have at least one truly great restaurant in this style: Cupertino’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.taiwanporridge.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taiwan Porridge Kingdom\u003c/a>. The restaurant’s velvety, comfortingly bland sweet potato congee is a soothing blank canvas for a huge array of tasty side dishes—everything from tangy marinated bamboo shoots to tender slices of spicy pig tongue. For takeout orders, the rice porridge isn’t all-you-can-eat, but it does come in big, absurdly inexpensive tubs. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>21. Liang’s Village\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19772 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://liangsvillage.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This restaurant\u003c/a> in Cupertino’s Merlion Center features Chinese-Taiwanese military village cooking. The beef tendon noodle soup, with its many bite-size chunks of beef and rich but not oily broth, is one of the best versions in the South Bay. The pigs’ feet with peanut noodle soup is another classic, made succulent by long braising. Currently offering takeout and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897684/pandemic-taiwanese-food-liangs-village\">Bay Area–wide delivery\u003c/a> (with free pickup available at several designated locations)—but no in-person dining—Liang’s also gives the option of providing uncooked noodles that can be boiled at home. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>22. L’Epi D’Or\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19675 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nAt \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Lepi-Dor-Bakery-291550974196298/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this independent bakery\u003c/a>, cloud-like milk bread is shaped into buns with traditional fillings (red bean, taro, mustard greens) and unexpected fusion pastries like conchas or jalapeño buns. Don’t pass up on the refrigerated case, which is packed with fried egg or potato salad sandwiches, as well as a rainbow of konjac desserts flavored with osmanthus, lychee or matcha. Or if you want shaved ice or boba, the shop still has you covered. During non-pandemic times, the bakery often turned out fresh waffle-like wheel cakes on the weekend. Everything’s baked in small batches, so visit in the morning for best selection. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>23. Tiger Sugar\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19620 Stevens Creek Blvd. Ste. 180, Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThis Cupertino shop is the Bay Area’s first location of \u003ca href=\"https://www.toasttab.com/tigersugarcupertino/v3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tiger Sugar\u003c/a>, a wildly popular boba chain from Taiwan that’s widely credited with kicking off the whole brown sugar boba milk craze on Instagram and TikTok. It’s one of those rare viral food products that lives up to the hype—not \u003ci>just\u003c/i> aesthetically pleasing, with the tiger stripe-shaped streaks of syrup running down the length of the cup, but also satisfyingly creamy and refreshing. On a hot day, you’ll want to make sure to grab a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897410/taiwanese-food-texture-q-boba-love-boat\">brown sugar boba ice cream\u003c/a> pop out of the freezer while you’re there. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>24. Red Hot Wok\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>10074 E. Estates Dr., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.redhotwokcupertino.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Red Hot Wok\u003c/a> is a Taiwanese restaurant-pub that makes for a great hangout spot where friends can share bar bites and popular Taiwanese dishes and enjoy a Taiwan Beer. Standout dishes include the san bei ji (three-cup chicken)—a clay pot of aromatic, caramelized goodness—or the stir-fried clam and basil dish. Don’t miss the shaved ice; their version of the popular Taiwanese summer treat is a fluffy snow ice, which comes in flavors such as green tea or taro, and gets topped with fresh mango. The cozy restaurant has reopened indoor dining; it also offers one table outside for dining al fresco, as well as delivery and takeout. —M.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898038\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1432px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898038\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021.jpg\" alt=\"A traditional pork belly gua bao on a plate, on a white countertop.\" width=\"1432\" height=\"955\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021.jpg 1432w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1432px) 100vw, 1432px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A traditional pork belly gua bao at Mama Chen’s Kitchen. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>25. Mama Chen’s Kitchen\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19052 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThe vast menu at \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Mama-Chens-Kitchen-292054490826\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this South Bay institution\u003c/a>, which is named after a local matriarch, includes nearly 200 items. Many of the best choices are listed under the snacks and “Ma Ma Chen’s Special” categories, including the oyster pancake, bah ûan (a kind of Taiwanese steamed meatball) and gua bao, i.e. braised pork belly folded inside a fluffy steamed bun, all made with family recipes. Order small plates to share, and round out the meal with an order of stir-fried rice noodles. The restaurant currently offers both takeout and dine-in service. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>26. O2 Valley\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19058 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nNext door to Mama Chen’s Kitchen, \u003ca href=\"https://order.o2-valley.com\">O2 Valley\u003c/a> is a small boba and bento shop that offers classic Taiwanese flavors in its excellent, takeout-friendly rice plates, whose main entree options include pork chop (fried, braised, or grilled), fried squid and several vegetarian dishes like three-cup oyster mushrooms or dried tofu. Appetizers include street food favorites such as pig’s blood cake, grilled squid and fried mantou. It’s all great drinking food—though at O2 Valley, what you’ll want to wash everything down with is the shop’s wide variety of boba drinks, including many tea-forward options. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13897264\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"127\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish-160x25.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish-768x122.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897983\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13897983\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto.jpg\" alt=\"An illustrated map of the Bay Area with drawings of various Taiwanese foods at different locations on the map—gua bao near San Francisco, stinky tofu near San Mateo, pork chop bento near Oakland, fan tuan near Fremont, and lu rou fan near Milpitas.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-800x640.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-1020x816.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-160x128.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-768x614.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanMap_FinalInArticlePhoto-1536x1229.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003cem>(Illustration by \u003ca href=\"https://www.felicia-liang.com/\">Felicia Liang\u003c/a>; design by Rebecca Kao)\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">KQED’s \u003c/i>\u003c/em>Eating Taiwanese in the Bay\u003cem>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\"> is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/eatingtaiwanese\">series of stories\u003c/a> exploring Taiwanese food culture in all of its glorious, delicious complexity.\u003c/i>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you ask a Taiwanese American about the Bay Area’s Taiwanese food scene, chances are they’ll complain about how hard it is to find stinky tofu or savory soy milk or a decent bowl of beef noodle soup. And it’s true: This isn’t exactly the San Gabriel Valley. But it’s also true that anyone who knocks the Bay Area’s Taiwanese food community probably hasn’t spent a lot of time in suburban enclaves like Fremont and Cupertino, where there’s big enough of a Taiwanese market that even niche restaurants—specializing in sweet potato congee or Taiwanese breakfast sandwiches—can survive and thrive. They also probably haven’t paid attention to the new wave of pop-ups that are bringing Taiwanese food into the mainstream in Oakland and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, then, are 26 of the Bay Area’s most delicious Taiwanese dining destinations, from the UC Berkeley campus down to the strip malls of Cupertino. Eating your way through the list will help cure any expat’s culinary homesickness. For newcomers to the cuisine, it also serves as an excellent introduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Note: These entries aren’t ranked; instead, they’re listed in rough geographical order from north to south.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13897264\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"127\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish-160x25.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Taiwan.logobreak.greyish-768x122.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>1. Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>2431 Durant Ave. Suite B, Berkeley\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.shihlinca.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This local chain\u003c/a> specializes in the kinds of quick bites you’d find at Taiwan’s night markets and street stalls, including a surprisingly homey version of orh ah mee sua, aka oyster vermicelli. But the headliner is the “XXL” crispy chicken, a solid rendition of the oversized fried cutlets that are one of the signatures of the actual Shilin night market in Taipei. In addition to this Cal campus-adjacent storefront, which has been a hit with students from day one, and its original Milpitas shop, Shihlin has also expanded to Pleasanton, San Mateo and the Stonestown Galleria mall. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>2. Yilan Foods\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Previously at 4066 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://yilan-foods.square.site/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This popular pop-up restaurant\u003c/a> that started during the pandemic has been a welcome addition to the local Taiwanese food scene. Offering Sunday-only pickup for preorder customers in San Francisco and Oakland, the pop-up quickly amassed a following through social media and word-of-mouth. Yilan’s collagen-rich niu rou mian is truly a standout among the Bay Area’s beef noodle soup options, and its chunky, fatty pork over rice (lu rou fan) is hearty and satisfying. Yilan Foods is on temporary hiatus while its owners search for a permanent brick-and-mortar location; in the meantime, they’re also seeking a new home for the pop-up incarnation. Follow their \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/yilanfoods/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram page\u003c/a> for the latest updates. —M.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897876\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1761px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13897876\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a takeout box with sticky rice rolls, scallion egg pancake, and other Taiwanese breakfast items from Taiwan Bento.\" width=\"1761\" height=\"1174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021.jpg 1761w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/005_KQEDArts_TaiwanBento_05082021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1761px) 100vw, 1761px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taiwan Bento is now hosting occasional Taiwanese breakfast pop-ups. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>3. Taiwan Bento\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>412 22nd St., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nOpen since 2014, \u003ca href=\"http://www.taiwanbento.us/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taiwan Bento\u003c/a> is one of the mainstays of Oakland’s Taiwanese restaurant community. As its name suggests, the restaurant is best known for its biandang, or Taiwanese lunch boxes—set meals that might come with a fried pork chop or braised minced pork, some pickled vegetables, a half a tea egg and a scoop of rice.The beef noodle soup is a hearty, belly-warming option; the basil-topped popcorn chicken is impeccably fried. Recently, the restaurant has also been dabbling in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897868/taiwanese-breakfast-bay-area\">Taiwanese breakfast\u003c/a>—fan tuan (rice rolls) and dan bing (scallion egg pancakes)—during occasional weekend pop-ups. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>4. HoDaLa\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>5801 Geary Blvd., San Francisco\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThe most \u003ca href=\"https://www.hodalausa.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prominent new Taiwanese restaurant\u003c/a> to open in S.F. proper in many years, this Outer Richmond restaurant rocks a vintage aesthetic, with a display of old Taiwanese post office memorabilia and toys front and center. The menu leans toward Taiwan Beer–friendly bar snacks, with plenty of fried foods in the mix. The gua bao (or steamed bun “sandwich”) section alone runs five options deep and includes fusion-y versions stuffed with fried fish or barbecue pulled pork. HoDaLa is also one of the few spots in the city that serves tsua bing, or Taiwanese-style shaved ice, available with a host of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897410/taiwanese-food-texture-q-boba-love-boat\">different QQ toppings\u003c/a>. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>5. Dragon Gate Bar and Grille\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>300 Broadway, Oakland\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThis moody, neon-backlit cocktail bar has private karaoke rooms and one of the most extensive Taiwanese food menus in the entire East Bay—a win-win for devotees of these two cornerstones of Taiwanese culture. \u003ca href=\"https://www.dragongate300.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dragon Gate\u003c/a> has long been one of the only restaurants in Oakland where you can get stinky tofu, but the highlights of the menu are actually the more rustic, homestyle dishes: dried radish omelet, a variety of three-cup dishes (traditionally made with an entire cup each of soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine) and one of the East Bay’s better bowls of beef noodle soup. After staying closed for the bulk of the pandemic, the karaoke rooms are now back open for small gatherings as well. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898040\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2015px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898040\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers.jpg\" alt=\"A plate of long potstickers next to a takeout carton of noodles.\" width=\"2015\" height=\"2048\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers.jpg 2015w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-800x813.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-1020x1037.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-768x781.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-1511x1536.jpg 1511w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/GoodToEat_potstickers-1920x1951.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2015px) 100vw, 2015px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The potstickers are Good-to-Eat Dumplings’ signature dish. \u003ccite>(Good-to-Eat Dumplings)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>6. Good-to-Eat Dumplings\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>292 4th St., Oakland\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nRun by founders Tony Tung and Angie Lin, \u003ca href=\"https://www.goodtoeatdumplings.com\">this casual restaurant\u003c/a> specializes in Taiwan-style potstickers—elongated pan-fried dumplings with a thin wrapper and crunchy bottom. These are notable for their fillings, which include a popular version that’s filled with chicken and basil. While dumplings are the focus, the flavorful gua baos and wontons are also just like what you’d find in Taiwan. And during the pandemic, the pop-up has expanded its repertoire of locally-sourced Taiwanese dishes even further outside the realm of dumplings, serving things like noodles with minced pork sauce and \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/9/16/21439018/good-to-eat-dumplings-taiwanese-caprese-tomatoes-soy-sauce-pop-up-oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taiwanese\u003c/a> “\u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/9/16/21439018/good-to-eat-dumplings-taiwanese-caprese-tomatoes-soy-sauce-pop-up-oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caprese\u003c/a>.” Good-to-Eat is located at Original Pattern Brewing in Oakland’s Jack London neighborhood, and has plenty of outdoor seating. —M.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>7. Bentolicious\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>4833 Hopyard Rd. E3, Pleasanton\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nMarvel at the efficiency of this strip mall \u003ca href=\"https://bentolicious.us/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bento shop’s\u003c/a> assembly line setup, as bandanna-clad workers load up your lunchbox, scooping home-style dishes from a steam table that gets replenished so frequently, the food never has a chance to lose its freshness. Main course options run the gamut from railroad (i.e., fried pork chop) bentos to lion’s head meatballs and saucy Chiayi chicken rice, and the rotating selection of sides, like fried pumpkin and Taiwanese-style mapo tofu, is just as compelling. Come on the early side, as the most popular dishes tend to sell out well before the end of the lunch rush. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898053\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 971px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898053\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco.jpg\" alt='A view of the \"Taiwan taco,\" a scallion pancake stuffed with eggs, slaw, and edible flowers.' width=\"971\" height=\"1295\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco.jpg 971w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/ElChinoGrande_TaiwanTaco-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 971px) 100vw, 971px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Chino Grande’s “Taiwan Taco.” \u003ccite>(El Chino Grande)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>8. El Chino Grande / Hén-zhi\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1195 Evans Ave., San Francisco; various other locations\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nBefore he started these pop-ups with his partner Marcelle Gonzales Yang, Christopher Yang made a name for himself cooking at celebrated Bay Area restaurants like the now-shuttered ’Aina in S.F. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/el_chino_grande/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">El Chino Grande\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.henzhisf.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hén-zhí\u003c/a> are the chef’s tribute to his Taiwanese heritage—and to Taiwanese night markets, specifically. At El Chino Grande, for instance, he mixes Taiwanese flavors with California ingredients to create dishes like his “Taiwan Taco,” a take on a scallion pancake roll, or dan bing, that incorporates kabayaki tare, mayo, crispy nori furikake, cabbage slaw and pickled daikon. Hén-zhí, which takes more of a fine dining approach, has been doing mostly private events during the pandemic, but El Chino Grande makes regular appearances at Hunters Point Brewery on Sundays and at a Lafayette commissary kitchen every other Saturday. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>9. China Bee\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>31 S. B St., San Mateo\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Mixed in among Chinese American standards like chow mein and General’s chicken, Taiwanese dishes are the real star and focal point at \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/chinabeerestaurant/\">China Bee\u003c/a>—even more so during the pandemic, when the downtown San Mateo restaurant has served an abbreviated (and almost entirely Taiwanese) takeout menu. It’s one of a handful of spots on the Peninsula that serves Taiwanese breakfast on the weekend, and the impeccably fried stinky tofu is one of the best versions around. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>10. Joy Restaurant\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>1489 Beach Park Blvd., Foster City\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nLocated near the Foster City waterfront, \u003ca href=\"http://joystw.com/\">Joy Restaurant\u003c/a> spans a wide range of regional Chinese cuisines, from Sichuan to Shanghainese, in addition to its explicitly Taiwanese dishes. At its core, however, the kitchen is cooking to suit Taiwanese tastes. The oversized Chunghua Road potstickers have a fantastically lacy, crunchy crust; the stinky tofu is genuinely pungent and delicious; and the claypot lion’s head meatball is just spectacular. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>11. Mary’s Bakery\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>34370 Fremont Blvd., Fremont\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://marys-bakery.square.site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mary’s Bakery\u003c/a> is the kind of small bakery you would wander into while walking around a local neighborhood in Taipei. It specializes in Taiwanese-style cakes such as fresh mango cake, covered in thinly sliced mangoes shaped like flowers, as well as Taiwanese-style baked goods, and it’s a little bit more homey and idiosyncratic than what you’d find at big bakery chains. The concise menu includes popular staples such as green onion buns and several different varieties of pineapple bun (buo luo bao). Call ahead if you’ve got your heart set on a particular cake. —M.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898027\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898027\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A bowl of savory soy milk in a bowl, with pieces of fried cruller floating on top.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1778\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-800x556.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-1020x708.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-768x533.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-1536x1067.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-2048x1422.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/chefwu_soymilk-1920x1333.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chef Wu is one of the only local restaurants that serves Taiwanese breakfast dishes like savory soy milk five days a week. \u003ccite>(Chef Wu)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>12. Chef Wu\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>36926 Sycamore St., Newark\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://chefwuchineserestaurant.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This Newark mainstay\u003c/a> is one of the Bay Area’s only restaurants (perhaps \u003ci>the\u003c/i> only restaurant) that’s primarily known for serving \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897868/taiwanese-breakfast-bay-area\">Taiwanese breakfast\u003c/a>—the kind that includes fresh soy milk, shaobing (sesame flatbread), you tiao (fried crullers) and fan tuan (Taiwanese rice rolls). All of the dough-based specialties are made in-house, and, unlike most of the local Taiwanese restaurants dabbling in breakfast, Chef Wu doesn’t relegate those items to weekend service only. The restaurant has been closed for the duration of the pandemic, but it’s planning to reopen in mid-June. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>13. Cafe Mei\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>43761 Boscell Rd. #5125, Fremont\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nAccording to owner Kandy Wang, this new Fremont strip mall spot is the first restaurant to bring the recipes of Mei Er Mei, Taiwan’s most popular Western-style breakfast chain, to the U.S. When \u003ca href=\"http://www.cafemeiusa.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cafe Mei\u003c/a> officially opens, probably in mid-June, the restaurant will serve crustless ham-and-egg breakfast sandwiches, dan bing (egg crepe rolls) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897868/taiwanese-breakfast-bay-area\">Taiwanese-style breakfast burgers\u003c/a> featuring a proprietary marinated pork patty, sliced cucumbers, a fried egg and sweet mayonnaise. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898033\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898033\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Overhead view of a red yeast pork bento box: slices of red-tinged crispy pork, corn kernels, a braised egg and tofu over white rice. \" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DuXiaoYue_redporkrice-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Du Xiao Yue’s lunchbox game is topnotch: The red yeast pork over rice is a thing of beauty. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>14. Du Xiao Yue\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>4161 Cushing Pkwy., Fremont\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThough it has nothing to do with the famous \u003ca href=\"https://hungryintaipei.blogspot.com/2018/10/taiwaneserevisited-i-still-strongly.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tainan-style noodle chain\u003c/a> in Taiwan that shares its name, the Fremont incarnation of Du Xiao Yue nevertheless serves some of the tastiest Taiwanese food in the area, with a particular emphasis on the kinds of snacky foods you might find at a night market—your pork blood rice cakes and oyster vermicellis. The restaurant’s lunchtime bento game is especially strong: The slightly tangy, immaculately crispy red yeast pork rice is a thing of beauty. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>15. Old Taro\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>46825 Warm Springs Blvd., Fremont\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nNewly moved across town to a different Fremont strip mall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/laoyuzai/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Old Taro\u003c/a> has a fairly extensive menu of Taiwanese rice plates and noodle soups, but the restaurant’s main point of attraction is its seven—count them!—different varieties of gloriously overstuffed fan tuan, including one version that features sweet Taiwanese sausage and another that’s spicy and includes an entire braised egg. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>16. Taiwan Cafe\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>568 N. Abel St., Milpitas\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nDuring the pandemic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.taiwancafemilpitas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this country-style restaurant\u003c/a> has been delivering frozen Taiwanese and Hakka specialities to 24 states. Wan Luan pork hock with bamboo shoots is the speciality here, but the southern-style bah ûan (Taiwanese meatball) and five-spice rolls taste just like they do on the island. Hot bentos, oyster omelets and other ready-to-eat dishes can be ordered through the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/groups/taiwancafemilpitas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taiwan Cafe Facebook group\u003c/a> for weekend pickup. The dining room is currently closed. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898034\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898034\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A takeout container of fried stinky tofu, with pickled cabbage and a tub of sauce on the side.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/MamaLiu_stinkytofu-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mama Liu’s stinky tofu is one of the Bay Area’s most potent versions. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>17. Mama Liu\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>550 Barber Ln., Milpitas and other locations\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nDuring pre-pandemic times, \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Mama-Liu-Taiwanese-Street-Food-424857264260232/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mama Liu\u003c/a> made its money on the lunchtime office park circuit, following a set route that included several Silicon Valley tech campuses. But with in-person working still largely on hold, the food truck, which specializes in Taiwanese street food, has only been selling once a week, at a different location each week (Milpitas, Fremont, Cupertino and so forth), to customers who pre-order via its \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Mama-Liu-Taiwanese-Street-Food-424857264260232/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chinese-language online form\u003c/a>. One the truck’s showstoppers is one of the Bay Area’s best versions of fried stinky tofu—extra juicy and pungent because they fry larger cubes of the tofu first before cutting them into smaller pieces. Another is an incredibly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897498/mama-liu-lu-rou-fan-taiwanese-food-comic\">tender, well balanced lu rou fan\u003c/a> (braised pork belly rice), made with hand-cut pork belly. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>18. Queen House\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>273 Castro Street, Mountain View\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nOne of the oldest restaurants on Castro Street in Mountain View, \u003ca href=\"http://www.queenhouserestaurant.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Queen House\u003c/a> offers an array of Taiwanese dishes hidden on the back side of its American Chinese menu. The restaurant is best known for its beef noodle soup, which boasts generous cuts of meat. Other items to check out are the squid soup, which will appeal to fans of hot and sour, and the Taiwanese breakfast foods, which include beef rolls and crispy you tiao to dip into fresh soybean milk—all available on weekend mornings only. Outdoor dining, takeout and delivery are available. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>19. Chick & Tea\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>587 E. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nOriginally located in \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/where-to-get-taiwanese-fried-chicken-in-the-east-bay-2-1/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland\u003c/a>, this \u003ca href=\"https://www.chick-tea.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">standout boba drink and bento shop\u003c/a> now has storefronts in Sunnyvale and Milpitas. The cafe sells a variety of lunch boxes and five-spice-dusted fried appetizers, but the main reason to visit is the house special “GPIE.” That’s what the shop calls its wonderfully crunchy and well seasoned version of ji pai, the oversized fried chicken cutlets that are a staple of Taiwanese night markets. For the full experience, order your GPIE whole, not sliced, and eat it standing up, straight out of the paper bag. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898037\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898037\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Side dishes to be eaten with Taiwan Porridge Kingdom's sweet potato congee: pork ribs, pig's tongue, a dried radish omelet, fried peanuts and more.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/TaiwanPorridge_sides-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The congee at Taiwan Porridge Kingdom is meant to be a blank canvas for the restaurant’s many delicious side dishes. \u003ccite>(Taiwan Porridge Kingdom)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>20. Taiwan Porridge Kingdom\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>20956 Homestead Rd. Ste. A1, Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThere’s a stretch of Fuxing S. Road in Taipei that’s made up almost entirely of 24-hour restaurants that specialize in congee, or rice porridge, served on an all-you-can-eat basis. What you pay for are the dozens of little side dishes that you eat with it, pulling what you like off the cafeteria-style buffet. The South Bay might not have a whole street dedicated to the genre, but it is lucky enough to have at least one truly great restaurant in this style: Cupertino’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.taiwanporridge.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taiwan Porridge Kingdom\u003c/a>. The restaurant’s velvety, comfortingly bland sweet potato congee is a soothing blank canvas for a huge array of tasty side dishes—everything from tangy marinated bamboo shoots to tender slices of spicy pig tongue. For takeout orders, the rice porridge isn’t all-you-can-eat, but it does come in big, absurdly inexpensive tubs. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>21. Liang’s Village\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19772 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://liangsvillage.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This restaurant\u003c/a> in Cupertino’s Merlion Center features Chinese-Taiwanese military village cooking. The beef tendon noodle soup, with its many bite-size chunks of beef and rich but not oily broth, is one of the best versions in the South Bay. The pigs’ feet with peanut noodle soup is another classic, made succulent by long braising. Currently offering takeout and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897684/pandemic-taiwanese-food-liangs-village\">Bay Area–wide delivery\u003c/a> (with free pickup available at several designated locations)—but no in-person dining—Liang’s also gives the option of providing uncooked noodles that can be boiled at home. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>22. L’Epi D’Or\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19675 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nAt \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Lepi-Dor-Bakery-291550974196298/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this independent bakery\u003c/a>, cloud-like milk bread is shaped into buns with traditional fillings (red bean, taro, mustard greens) and unexpected fusion pastries like conchas or jalapeño buns. Don’t pass up on the refrigerated case, which is packed with fried egg or potato salad sandwiches, as well as a rainbow of konjac desserts flavored with osmanthus, lychee or matcha. Or if you want shaved ice or boba, the shop still has you covered. During non-pandemic times, the bakery often turned out fresh waffle-like wheel cakes on the weekend. Everything’s baked in small batches, so visit in the morning for best selection. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>23. Tiger Sugar\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19620 Stevens Creek Blvd. Ste. 180, Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThis Cupertino shop is the Bay Area’s first location of \u003ca href=\"https://www.toasttab.com/tigersugarcupertino/v3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tiger Sugar\u003c/a>, a wildly popular boba chain from Taiwan that’s widely credited with kicking off the whole brown sugar boba milk craze on Instagram and TikTok. It’s one of those rare viral food products that lives up to the hype—not \u003ci>just\u003c/i> aesthetically pleasing, with the tiger stripe-shaped streaks of syrup running down the length of the cup, but also satisfyingly creamy and refreshing. On a hot day, you’ll want to make sure to grab a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897410/taiwanese-food-texture-q-boba-love-boat\">brown sugar boba ice cream\u003c/a> pop out of the freezer while you’re there. —L.T.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>24. Red Hot Wok\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>10074 E. Estates Dr., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.redhotwokcupertino.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Red Hot Wok\u003c/a> is a Taiwanese restaurant-pub that makes for a great hangout spot where friends can share bar bites and popular Taiwanese dishes and enjoy a Taiwan Beer. Standout dishes include the san bei ji (three-cup chicken)—a clay pot of aromatic, caramelized goodness—or the stir-fried clam and basil dish. Don’t miss the shaved ice; their version of the popular Taiwanese summer treat is a fluffy snow ice, which comes in flavors such as green tea or taro, and gets topped with fresh mango. The cozy restaurant has reopened indoor dining; it also offers one table outside for dining al fresco, as well as delivery and takeout. —M.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898038\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1432px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898038\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021.jpg\" alt=\"A traditional pork belly gua bao on a plate, on a white countertop.\" width=\"1432\" height=\"955\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021.jpg 1432w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/016_Cupertino_MamaChensKitchen_05172021-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1432px) 100vw, 1432px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A traditional pork belly gua bao at Mama Chen’s Kitchen. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch4>25. Mama Chen’s Kitchen\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19052 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nThe vast menu at \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Mama-Chens-Kitchen-292054490826\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this South Bay institution\u003c/a>, which is named after a local matriarch, includes nearly 200 items. Many of the best choices are listed under the snacks and “Ma Ma Chen’s Special” categories, including the oyster pancake, bah ûan (a kind of Taiwanese steamed meatball) and gua bao, i.e. braised pork belly folded inside a fluffy steamed bun, all made with family recipes. Order small plates to share, and round out the meal with an order of stir-fried rice noodles. The restaurant currently offers both takeout and dine-in service. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>26. O2 Valley\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>19058 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nNext door to Mama Chen’s Kitchen, \u003ca href=\"https://order.o2-valley.com\">O2 Valley\u003c/a> is a small boba and bento shop that offers classic Taiwanese flavors in its excellent, takeout-friendly rice plates, whose main entree options include pork chop (fried, braised, or grilled), fried squid and several vegetarian dishes like three-cup oyster mushrooms or dried tofu. Appetizers include street food favorites such as pig’s blood cake, grilled squid and fried mantou. It’s all great drinking food—though at O2 Valley, what you’ll want to wash everything down with is the shop’s wide variety of boba drinks, including many tea-forward options. —G.H.L.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Legendary Oakland Barbecue Spot Flint's Will Open for Takeout This Summer",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the past few months, Crystal Martin was on the verge of achieving a long-held dream. The granddaughter of the founder of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/flintsbarbecue/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Flint’s Barbecue\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894423/flints-an-icon-of-oakland-barbecue-plots-return-to-original-location\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">iconic restaurant in the annals of Oakland barbecue\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, had been working to resurrect the family business—in one of the original Flint’s locations, on San Pablo Avenue in West Oakland, no less.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, Martin says she’s one step closer to achieving her goal, though perhaps not in the way she expected: This summer, Martin will open Flint’s as a takeout- and delivery-only restaurant that will be part of a new \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cloudkitchens.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CloudKitchens\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> ghost kitchen facility located in a big warehouse at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.loopnet.com/portfolio-property/5325-5333-Adeline-St-Emeryville-CA/5971289/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">5325 Adeline Street\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, at the border of North Oakland and Emeryville. She just signed the lease this week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The upshot is that, for the first time in more than a decade, customers both old and new will be able to get a hold of Flint’s Barbecue’s famous coarse-ground links, ribs and barbecue sauce on a regular basis. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CPUOjEcsNSJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The decision comes, in part, because Martin wasn’t able to secure the old San Pablo Avenue space after all. Her original plan was an ambitious one: The original Flint’s building has sat empty since the late ’90s, and its prospective buyer had told Martin that it needed upwards of $40,000 in construction work before she’d be able to move in. But then it seems the buyer had a change of heart, and now, Martin says, someone \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">else\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is buying the building—someone who has other plans for the space. [aside postID='arts_13894423' \u003ci>label=\u003c/i>'More on Flint’s']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a disappointment, Martin concedes. But she’d also already started looking into alternatives. “Something told me to prepare a plan B,” she says. “The dream was to go back to that San Pablo location, but you know, maybe that wasn’t meant for us.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of course, opening in a ghost kitchen isn’t necessarily the ideal. According to Martin, the yet-unnamed Adeline Street facility will be home to 40 different businesses, each of them with their own little kitchen space in the warehouse. There won’t be any seating for customers; there won’t even be any signage for Flint’s outside of the building—the number of other restaurants sharing the space makes that unfeasible. Customers will be able to order takeout in person, but a lot of the business will be filtered through delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats. CloudKitchens, a company backed by Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, is one of a number of so-called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/135793/delivery-only-the-rise-of-restaurants-with-no-diners-as-apps-take-orders\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ghost kitchen, or virtual kitchen, companies\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that have expanded their operations during the pandemic—companies whose long-term impact on the restaurant industry remains \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eater.com/21540765/ghost-kitchens-virtual-restaurants-covid-19-industry-impact\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">very much an open question\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894445\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13894445\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/flints_crystalmartin.crop_.jpg\" alt=\"Crystal Martin stands inside her Alameda commercial kitchen space during one of her Flint's pop-ups.\" width=\"640\" height=\"908\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/flints_crystalmartin.crop_.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/flints_crystalmartin.crop_-160x227.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crystal Martin at her Alameda commercial kitchen space during one of her Flint’s pop-ups. \u003ccite>(HMTWNHERO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Oakland, CloudKitchens already runs one big ghost kitchen facility, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://oaklandfoodhall.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland Food Hall\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, in East Oakland. It has yet to formally announce the North Oakland/Emeryville project, though Martin says her understanding is that construction is well under way. (KQED reached out to CloudKitchens to confirm the details of the new ghost kitchen, but had not received a response at time of publication.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nevertheless, Martin is excited about the prospect of being able to finally turn the new Flint’s into a full-fledged business after spending the past year only selling her barbecue once every few months. When she opens in the ghost kitchen space—tentatively around July 15, Martin says—she plans to be open Thursday through Sunday to start out, and then eventually six days a week. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894446\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13894446\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/FlintSlinks.Crop_.jpg\" alt=\"Two trays full of Flint's house-made links.\" width=\"800\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/FlintSlinks.Crop_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/FlintSlinks.Crop_-160x129.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/FlintSlinks.Crop_-768x620.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The coarse-ground links were one of Flint’s signature items. \u003ccite>(Flint's Barbecue)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a good starting place,” Martin says. She won’t have to take on the risk of signing a five- or 10-year lease right out of the gate, and she’ll be able to make sure the business is profitable and sustainable before making a larger commitment. “We do hope to someday have our own brick and mortar,” she says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Meanwhile, Martin has raised a little over $7,000 toward opening her restaurant via a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-move-back-to-san-pablo\">GoFundMe campaign\u003c/a>—money she says she wound up using for the down payment on her \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CloudKitchens spot\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. She’s hoping supporters of the restaurant will still consider chipping in: She still needs to buy about $15,000 worth of equipment, including a new indoor smoker, before she can open for business.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the past few months, Crystal Martin was on the verge of achieving a long-held dream. The granddaughter of the founder of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/flintsbarbecue/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Flint’s Barbecue\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894423/flints-an-icon-of-oakland-barbecue-plots-return-to-original-location\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">iconic restaurant in the annals of Oakland barbecue\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, had been working to resurrect the family business—in one of the original Flint’s locations, on San Pablo Avenue in West Oakland, no less.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, Martin says she’s one step closer to achieving her goal, though perhaps not in the way she expected: This summer, Martin will open Flint’s as a takeout- and delivery-only restaurant that will be part of a new \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cloudkitchens.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CloudKitchens\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> ghost kitchen facility located in a big warehouse at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.loopnet.com/portfolio-property/5325-5333-Adeline-St-Emeryville-CA/5971289/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">5325 Adeline Street\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, at the border of North Oakland and Emeryville. She just signed the lease this week.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The upshot is that, for the first time in more than a decade, customers both old and new will be able to get a hold of Flint’s Barbecue’s famous coarse-ground links, ribs and barbecue sauce on a regular basis. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The decision comes, in part, because Martin wasn’t able to secure the old San Pablo Avenue space after all. Her original plan was an ambitious one: The original Flint’s building has sat empty since the late ’90s, and its prospective buyer had told Martin that it needed upwards of $40,000 in construction work before she’d be able to move in. But then it seems the buyer had a change of heart, and now, Martin says, someone \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">else\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is buying the building—someone who has other plans for the space. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was a disappointment, Martin concedes. But she’d also already started looking into alternatives. “Something told me to prepare a plan B,” she says. “The dream was to go back to that San Pablo location, but you know, maybe that wasn’t meant for us.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of course, opening in a ghost kitchen isn’t necessarily the ideal. According to Martin, the yet-unnamed Adeline Street facility will be home to 40 different businesses, each of them with their own little kitchen space in the warehouse. There won’t be any seating for customers; there won’t even be any signage for Flint’s outside of the building—the number of other restaurants sharing the space makes that unfeasible. Customers will be able to order takeout in person, but a lot of the business will be filtered through delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats. CloudKitchens, a company backed by Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, is one of a number of so-called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/135793/delivery-only-the-rise-of-restaurants-with-no-diners-as-apps-take-orders\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ghost kitchen, or virtual kitchen, companies\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that have expanded their operations during the pandemic—companies whose long-term impact on the restaurant industry remains \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eater.com/21540765/ghost-kitchens-virtual-restaurants-covid-19-industry-impact\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">very much an open question\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894445\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13894445\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/flints_crystalmartin.crop_.jpg\" alt=\"Crystal Martin stands inside her Alameda commercial kitchen space during one of her Flint's pop-ups.\" width=\"640\" height=\"908\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/flints_crystalmartin.crop_.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/flints_crystalmartin.crop_-160x227.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crystal Martin at her Alameda commercial kitchen space during one of her Flint’s pop-ups. \u003ccite>(HMTWNHERO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In Oakland, CloudKitchens already runs one big ghost kitchen facility, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://oaklandfoodhall.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland Food Hall\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, in East Oakland. It has yet to formally announce the North Oakland/Emeryville project, though Martin says her understanding is that construction is well under way. (KQED reached out to CloudKitchens to confirm the details of the new ghost kitchen, but had not received a response at time of publication.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nevertheless, Martin is excited about the prospect of being able to finally turn the new Flint’s into a full-fledged business after spending the past year only selling her barbecue once every few months. When she opens in the ghost kitchen space—tentatively around July 15, Martin says—she plans to be open Thursday through Sunday to start out, and then eventually six days a week. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894446\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13894446\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/FlintSlinks.Crop_.jpg\" alt=\"Two trays full of Flint's house-made links.\" width=\"800\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/FlintSlinks.Crop_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/FlintSlinks.Crop_-160x129.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/FlintSlinks.Crop_-768x620.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The coarse-ground links were one of Flint’s signature items. \u003ccite>(Flint's Barbecue)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a good starting place,” Martin says. She won’t have to take on the risk of signing a five- or 10-year lease right out of the gate, and she’ll be able to make sure the business is profitable and sustainable before making a larger commitment. “We do hope to someday have our own brick and mortar,” she says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Meanwhile, Martin has raised a little over $7,000 toward opening her restaurant via a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-move-back-to-san-pablo\">GoFundMe campaign\u003c/a>—money she says she wound up using for the down payment on her \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CloudKitchens spot\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. She’s hoping supporters of the restaurant will still consider chipping in: She still needs to buy about $15,000 worth of equipment, including a new indoor smoker, before she can open for business.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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}
},
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"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
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},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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}
},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"order": 1
},
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"order": 15
},
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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