The Bold Italic’s 2020 Awards

This article is part of The Bold Italic’s 2020 Awards, which celebrate the Bay Area’s small businesses and local residents who have hustled and shown creativity throughout 2020. See all the award winners here.

Pop-up restaurants have become a major player in the Bay Area food scene. With ever-increasing financial and logistical battles to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant, many food entrepreneurs have opted for the pop-up model as a way to gain a loyal fan base and cut costs.

The pandemic has only increased the use of this model. Chefs, laid off or needing to switch gears to survive in 2020, have started side gigs, partnered with other businesses, and gone through a series of innovations to cook for their customers.

Ox & Tiger is one well-known Filipino and Japanese pop-up that started back in 2018 by Daly City couple EJ Macayan (who is Filipino) and Hitomi Wada (who is Japanese) that has caught the food world’s attention. The business — named after the owners’ zodiac animals (Macayan is the ox and Wada is the tiger) — is thriving with a cult-like following.

It is chefs Macayan and Wada’s commitment to local ingredients, love for art and their heritage married to warm hospitality that has made them our readers’ Restaurant Pop-Up of the Year amid a sea of pop-ups.

Then there’s the food itself. Think shoyu chili braised pork tacos at Dogpatch’s Harmonic Brewing pop-up, or pickup and delivery dishes like wok-fried maitake mushrooms bistek bowl or a salt and pepper fried chicken bowl seasoned with pepper tamarind vinegar dressing, accompanied by cabbage slaw and rice.

During the shutdowns, Ox & Tiger has had to switch to a take-out operation. But when outdoor dining has been allowed, they’ve partnered with various businesses to pop-up yet again.

We caught up with Ox & Tiger chef EJ Macayan to talk about the pop-up’s year and what’s in store for 2021. Read that interview below — and keep scrolling to see the other nominees for best pop-up in San Francisco.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Bold Italic: How have you managed to stay afloat this year?
Macayan:
Once the first shelter-in-place was put into effect, we have had tremendous support from our customers and community. We pivoted to creating at-home meal kits where our customers can prepare the dish themselves or choose ready-to-heat meals. Shout-out to our team for their collaborative effort to make this happen.

One of the biggest helps through the year was Filipino community organizers like Undiscovered SF, Kultivate Labs, Balaykreative, who started a crowdfunding campaign called Filipinos Feed The Frontlines. We were included, along with a handful of Filipino-owned businesses, to provide meals to frontline workers, seniors, and families in need in the San Francisco Area. This gave us the privilege of supporting our community in need.

Once outdoor dining opened, we partnered with our friends Vineyard Gate in Millbrae (a natural wine shop). They invested in a safe and enclosed patio tucked away in their backyard and invited us to pop-up there for dinner and brunch. It felt rejuvenating to serve people again because we truly enjoy this part of our job. We also had monthly pop-ups with our friends at Hunter’s Point Brewery/Speakeasy Ales & Lager, which was the cherry on top!

How are you holding up now, heading into another month of shelter-in-place?
This year has been tough, to say the least. However, seeing our community band together and navigate through these times keeps us hopeful and motivated. We will work diligently to find creative ways to provide while maintaining safety as our priority. WISH US LUCK!

What are your hopes for 2021?
We are definitely looking forward to serving our customers in person again. Nothing else beats this. But until then, we will continue to develop our menu, look for different opportunities, and maybe even start looking for a brick-and-mortar location.

How can people help support your business?

• Order conbini meals for lunch or dinner Wednesday–Friday
• Order holiday kits
• Order our Year of the Ox New Year’s kit 2021
• Purchase gift cards

The other nominees for Best Pop-Up in San Francisco

1. Big H BBQ at Bayview Bistro

This well-known barbecue pop-up from Bayview native Harold Agee serves up mouth-watering ribs, pork chops, chicken sandwiches, and more. In the past, Agree’s relied on catering gigs, but he now has a place in the Bayview’s new food park, Bayview Bistro, at Third Street and Hudson Avenue.

Before the shelter-in-place, the vendors were open Wednesday to Friday, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. “There’s hasn’t been anything like this out here before, so you have to feel it’s going to make a difference,” Agee told the San Francisco Chronicle.

2. Reem’s at Alkali Rye

Reem Assil, the well-known chef behind Reem’s California — an Arab bakery in Fruitvale, Oakland, that Assil opened as a La Cocina participant back in 2016 — has had quite the year. In March, just a couple of days before the shelter-in-place hit, Assil opened a Reem’s California outpost in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco only to have to takeout. And when the pandemic hit, she also changed business models completely for the Reem’s Oakland location — teaming up World Central Kitchen, chef José Andrés’ nonprofit, to turn it a commissary kitchen supplying hundreds of meals a day to frontline workers and other vulnerable communities. Then, just a few days ago, the Reem’s location in the Mission had its central oven explode, shutting it down.

On top of all that, Assil held a pop-up series at Alkali Rye this year, a new beverage shop in Oakland, which gave locals a chance to dine on Reem’s fare once a year. For that, she is nominated for this category.

Follow Assil on Instagram to learn ways to continue to support her community work and help the Mission restaurant get back on its feet.

3. Eko Kitchen

Eko Kitchen is the result of head chef and owner Simileoluwa Adebajo’s love of food from her home country of Nigeria. She has operated as a pop-up, partnering with local vendors and using recipes from her family, to bring a taste of Lagos to San Francisco. During 2020, Eko Kitchen got involved with SF New Deal, a nonprofit that pays restaurants to employ workers to provide meals to those in need.

To support them, order their holiday tray to pick up on Christmas or New Year’s Eve or make a donation to SF New Deal.

4. Arepas en Bici

Chef Victor Aguilera, who hails from Venezuela, has served as a kitchen manager at The Brixton and executive chef at Sabrosa. After being laid off due to the pandemic, he decided to launch an arepas and Venezuelan comfort food business using recipes from his family.

He has been a one-man show for the most part: prepping food, assembling, packing, and even delivering on his bike across the city. “This year has been a pretty difficult year — running into survival mode with a lot of hard work nights and no sleep,” he said. “It’s not an easy task, but I’m really happy making the food I love. I will keep pushing to provide my country traditional dishes and make my abuelas proud of the knowledge they left in me.”

Aguilera is taking text orders one day in advance for delivery, or on the same day for pickup.

Sign up for The Bold Italic newsletter to get the best of the Bay Area in your inbox every week.