“I’ve always loved milk tea and tea drinks. They are comforting to me. I have tried to walk the fine line of showcasing the tea and its flavors while adding just a few ingredients I believe enhance the overall drink. Simple but great. I hope this food and drink provide even just the smallest second of joy for you. Thanks for the support!”
“ I like pan-fried mantou because the browning process really transforms it—like toast. We eat toast pretty regularly, but rarely do we eat pan-fried steamed bread. Unfortunately, since we are placing the mantou sandwich into a bag instead of on a plate, you may lose some of the crispy texture that comes with pan-frying. Alas, this is like most of 2020. Many things are not ideal, but we are willing to make some concessions so we can still continue to enjoy life.”
Wrap Up
Why do a pop-up?
Fun fact: Willet dreads doing pop-ups. Usually Diane comes up with some idea and ropes him into doing it. This time was no different. Our good friend Carlos was slated to do a pop-up, but it got cancelled. We randomly ran into him at the climbing gym, and Diane mentioned that it'd be fun to do a milk tea pop-up. Carlos said he was down, so Diane asked Willet what he thought would pair well with milk tea. His idea: panfried mantou breakfast sandwiches.
Order stats:
We had 50 orders for close to 150 mantou sandos and 80 milk and non-milk teas. Sold out of foie gras sandos via pre-order a day before the event.
How things went:
Most pop-ups are not efficient or optimized despite our best intentions. We don't practice service, we don't time how long it takes to make a product, and we usually are testing out new kitchens and recipes for the first time. We shoot to get orders out in a timely manner, but often times wait times are longer than we'd like. For that we apologize. We know it sucks to wait for food that was due at a certain time. Especially if you have a kiddo in the car or other places to be by a certain time. After a pop-up, Willet immediately starts reflecting on how he would do things better the next time (don't get too excited--Willet rarely likes to repeat a pop-up...and remember, he dreads doing pop-ups to begin with).
Our hope is everyone enjoyed the food and beverages that we provided.
When's the next pop-up?
After Willet does a pop-up, he swears off pop-ups for a while. But he does have a couple ideas in his head based off others' requests and suggestions. So curry laksa noodle soup and a twist on Japanese egg salad sandos are maybes. Stay tuned!
Special thanks to Chef Gabe for helping out on your day off, and to Click for letting us use your space. Also, shoutout to Vinita, Emily, and Natalie for helping us send out orders in a timely and safe manner.
