Bay Area’s Plant-Based Pop-Ups
I’ve been favoring food pop-ups lately and I began wondering, why? What is it about a local pop-up that sparks enough adrenaline and motivation to keep track of all the new locations, vendors, menu updates, and social media announcements? Then it dawned on me, it’s the level of passion and rawness. It’s a certain sort of atmosphere and tone, and a camaraderie that is hard to replicate at a stable and established location like a restaurant. There is no separation between “you” as the customer, and the chef’s passion and self-expression through food. You are directly connected to them, watching an artist firsthand create a tasteful experience. There’s a sense of unpredictability too, with menus ever changing and the rise of new collaborations. You are sharing directly in someone’s vision and livelihood, and becoming part of their story. It’s a sort of “heat” as Chef Rene Pugh of Vegan Heat may put it. In other words, the food and the accompanying experience is simply: “fire.”
This article tells the stories behind three plant-based chefs who active throughout the Bay Area food pop-up scene: Gabriel Ventura of Nixta Foods in San Francisco, Rene Pugh of Vegan Heat in Vallejo, and Kim Pham of Vegan Kimist in Richmond and San Jose.
Background and History:
Gabriel Ventura – Nixta Foods
Gabriel and I met in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco. He took me towards the back of the commissary kitchen he works in, where he was cooking a dozen fresh red bean and mint pupusas on a flat top grill. This is one of four variations he makes, yet this particular flavor is special, rooted in nostalgia. Gabriel grew up in a small country town in El Salvador. His dad is a farmer who grows corn, sugar cane, and beans. As a child, Gabriel would help his dad with the crops, while his mom and sister were busy tending to their chickens, cows, and cooking traditional foods in the kitchen. Gabriel recalls getting hungry and asking his mom for pupusas, his favorite being the pupusas with red bean and mint: My mom used to make it for me and I missed it so much when I moved here [San Francisco].
After I finished college, I wanted to go to the U.S. to see what it was like. This was in 2013. I wanted to find new opportunities in life and find my way, figure out what it was that I wanted to do. Cooking was not even in my head. I never thought I’d become a cook. Gabriel’s first job in San Francisco was as a dishwasher at a restaurant. After six months of being there, he quickly moved up the ladder, and was a cook in their kitchen. Two years in, he became the Kitchen Supervisor. His curiosity grew, and so he left to join the restaurant Little Gem, where he had to start his career all over again. Gabriel said: I liked it because there was always something new, there were new techniques I didn’t know about. I moved up to the meat and fish station, and then a year later, I became the Sous-chef.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Little Gem was sold and Gabriel had the opportunity to start his own business, which he had intended to do for some time. I would take my friends to pupuserias in the city but they were vegan or had dairy allergies, so there was nothing that they could eat. So I made vegan pupusas for them. They came out pretty good so I thought, maybe I can do a pop up with pupusas. Gabriel’s good friend Kimberly also played a foundational role by pushing him to get started, helping him with planning, and designing his logo. The name Nixta is a tribute to his family and heritage, just like his red bean and mint pupusas. As a child, his mom would always ask his sister to nixtamalize maize and make masa. The word Nixtamal stuck with Gabriel until a chef recommended Nixta for short.
For Gabriel, Nixta Foods is about showing culture and what El Salvador is, and what our food is. Our traditions with food have been there for 1000s of years.
Rene Pugh – Vegan Heat
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Rene Pugh is cooking unforgettable vegan food in the North and East Bay. As someone who takes pride in customer service and community building, Rene has built quite a following for herself in only two years. Her vegan and non-vegan fans rave about her food, such as her mac and cheese, her soul food plate, and the vegan ribs. Rene’s inherent love and passion for cooking was very apparent in the way she spoke about her business. For Rene, her inspiration was fueled by the lack of vegan food in the Bay Area in comparison to what she was used to in the South. Rene also wants to prove a point by showing that vegan food doesn’t lack flavor.
When asked about her thoughts of her transition to the Bay Area, she said: It was a cultural shock being from the South, only because it was so different from Atlanta. But I welcomed it…California feels like home now, I can’t see myself moving back to Atlanta. A nurse by trade, Rene couldn’t find the time to pursue her passion with food until her new chapter in life here in the Bay. This provided the opportunity for her to start Vegan Heat in 2020. Vegan Heat has a double meaning, one being: It’s “fire” because I find the general consensus from those that have tried my food have never had anything like it in regards to flavor, and they can’t believe it is vegan. The other being: No matter what you get from me, something will have some kind of heat. I’m big on spice.
Her food is unique in the sense that you can’t label it. On Vegan Heat’s Instagram it may say “vegan soul food with a twist” but as Rene points out, I make so many types of cuisine that touch on Italian, African, Jamaican, Mediterranean, and Soul. I wouldn’t put myself in a box and say I’m selling just Soul food. And that’s what makes her business so intriguing. The menu constantly changes and features different items catering to what the people want. For anyone curious about Vegan Heat, Rene emphasized: Be open minded. Don’t think of it as vegan, think of it as good food. It’s regular food that happens to be vegan. Most of my customers are vegan and are regular meat eaters. The meat eaters even tell me: “Rene, I’m not even vegan but your food is just so good.”
Kim Pham – Vegan Kimist
Kim and I crossed paths over Instagram when she was just starting out. A food pop-up star based in Vallejo, she’s selling her food all the way up in Richmond and down to San Jose. Although she has a handful of stand out dishes, she is best known for her vegan vermicelli bowls, rice plates, and her chả giò chay which are fried Vietnamese spring rolls. Kim’s are unique because she uses rice paper, which she says is a more traditional way of making them. Yet, you won’t find this very often at Vietnamese restaurants. I love the texture and it gives them more of that authentic flavor. A lot of Kim’s cooking and vegan Vietnamese dishes are tied to family history, as some of these recipes were passed down by learning from her mom. However, the driving factor and motivator behind her cooking is so much more than family.
I was wondering what inspired her to step into the food pop-up scene. She talked about her Grandma, her passion for veganism, and the lack of satiating vegan Vietnamese options in her community. When Kim was a child, she saw footage of factory farms and animals being slaughtered. She knew she didn’t want to support animal cruelty and chose to adjust the way she ate.
It wasn’t until 2020 when Kim experienced some major life changes that sparked the start of her food pop-up business. My Grandma passed away in 2020 and I was really close to her. She was a big fan of restaurants and had owned some herself. She always talked about cooking and how everybody would work hard and stay late at the restaurant. She used to cook a lot for the family until she got older. I feel closer to her by making this food and carrying on something that she was very passionate about. All of these elements brought together Kim’s creative side and ambition in a way that is aligned with her goal of promoting flavorful vegan Vietnamese cuisine.
Let’s Talk Pop-Ups
A common thread I noticed between Gabe, Rene, and Kim during our conversations was their mutual ability to connect with their history or family through their food. They then are able to extend and share those connections and moments with others. Gabe was reminiscing how customers go out of their way to follow me and taste my food…they [even] come back to me to talk about it. It’s a nice feeling. Nixta Foods recently participated at the 2022 Bizerkeley Food Festival hosted by the Bizerkeley Vegan. For that experience, Gabe told me he sold over 300 pupusas, and that he had to spend a week preparing for that event. It’s a labor of love, but to all three of these chefs, the connections they make keep them going.
Rene mentioned the love she received from the vendors at the Hella Plants Markets, the owner of Malibu Burgers, and Chef Reina. Or how she looks out to long lines of people waiting for her food, even before she is “open.” When talking about pop-ups and one-off events like the Bizerkeley Food Festival, Rene gave the Bizerkeley Vegan a shoutout: The food this year had some of the best vegan chefs in the Bay, bringing a group together for an amazing experience. I’m just grateful.
One of the highlights for Kim is the support from the community, whether it’s a vendor or a customer. Kim enjoys meeting other like-minded people and feels motivated when they rave about her food. Her favorite pop-ups are ones with Pangaea Kitchea, another plant-based vendor located in San Jose. Kim says: I like his vibe and the way he connects with customers. I hope to be more like that too while juggling multiple things such as cooking and taking orders.
Food pop-ups are a grassroots way to build common ground over food. It’s a larger movement led by talented people in our own communities. During the last couple years of hardships and uncertainties — some that we are still feeling to this day —I find pop-ups to be refreshing and rejuvenating. Whether you see yourself eating a pupusa with your hands, hanging out with a bowl of fresh vegan mac and cheese, or picking up some vegan chả giò chay to take home, show some love for your community by coming out and supporting your local food pop-up scene.