Event Recap: Umami Mart SF Official Launch Party!

In November, we snuck in to San Francisco and popped-up in The Perish Trust for the holidays. But it's now April, spring is in bloom, and we're still here! We'll actually be staying in San Francisco until the new year, so on April 10th, we had a little party to celebrate our semi-perminant-pop-up. In this past year alone, The Mill, Bi-Rite Market, and La Urbana all opened along a two block stretch of the Divisadero corridor, so there is a lot going on in our new 'hood. In the coming weeks, 4505 Burgers & BBQ will be open right across the street (!!) by local-butcher and author, Ryan Farr. With all this activity, we wanted to splash a little UMAMI MART flava into the mix, and hosted a modest block party. The Divisadero corridor provided the ultimate urban feel, with narrow sidewalks -- the saving grace was the new parklet right outside of The Mill, which gave us a bit of breathing room. At 6pm, the party started and so did Emeryville Taiko! Captivating and bold, the taiko drumming is the best way to make yourself heard! We invited 4505 Meats to be a part of the party. The city cannot wait for 4505 BBQ and Burgers to open its doors, so we were super excited to have them hand out some of their brisket BBQ. It was delicious! The 4505 staging area: in between a large tree and parklet! There she is, isn't she pretty? Andrew, the chef of 4505 BBQ & Burgers, told us that the brisket is slow cooked for over 10 hours. Deeelish! Needless to say, the offerings didn't last very long! Next up: San Francisco Skate Club! This lil shop snuck into the old Workshop space next to Mojo Cafe. Not only is it a rad retail shop for  the board-life, but founders Shawn Connolly and educator Thuy Nguyen host a skate program for youngsters! Some of the kids from the program even came to hang, and they made cupcakes! Definitely a great addition to the neighborhood and party, and we were excited to have them join us! Who knew Karl the Fog would make such an epic cameo? Well, he did. Longtime SF residents will tell you that Karl loves the summer, so the foggy evening was the most classic way to be greeted by this city by the bay! Luckily Kei, aka Casa de Kei, made the most warm and comforting tonjiru, a miso soup with pork belly, potatoes and carrots. (Maybe Kei invited Karl)?! Kei brought Christy's favorite snack: SPAM MUSUBI. Kei even set up shop in the Umami Mart kitchen, making use of our most asked about item: THE STOVE! No the stove is not for sale, but YES the stove still works wonders. Now for the fiesta. As the sun set, the winds kicked up, but the was shop was warm and full of  friends & funky beats! DJ Spaziale killed it by spinning Japanese porn music. Ya, you heard me, our DJ is inspired by the soundtracks of Japanese erotica, and funk music, naturally. However, DJ Spaziale did not disappoint, and his set list kept the night movin' and groovin'! HONESTLY, I would listen to his library of record simply for the covers. You know, reading Playboy for the articles kinda thing. Friends from the neighborhood showed love! Here is Valerie, of Rice Paper Scissors, with the 4505 BBQ & Burgers crew: RPS is an awesome weekly Vietnamese pop-up that takes place Thursday at Mojo Bicycle Cafe, located just down the street. Oh yes, the night was filled with familiar faces and new friends. Yuko-san! Photo by Johnny Lopes. This one was definitely one of our cutes party goers! Mena! And these guys aren't bad either: The men behind Manual Labor, Joe right, Devin center: the incredibly talented design team behind many of our built surfaces in the shop! Erin Gleeson, left of The Forest Feast Cookbook (now in stores!), Keisuke and Nicole: Photo by Johnny Lopes Kishi, our web-savvy Umami Mart member and Kelly of The Perish Trust: Photo by Johnny Lopes Photo by Johnny Lopes Yo, these guys got HIGH ON UMAMI!!! Photo by Johnny Lopes Photo by Johnny Lopes Kayoko and MC held it down in the Umami Mart shop, cute and cozy! Photo by Johnny Lopes The ladies are all lined up, enjoying their soup and probably thinking: MISO-ENOYING THIS! Alas, all good things must come to a close! Thank you San Francisco for a wonderful evening, we are excited to be a part of this new community. So many thank you's to give! Emeryville Taiko, safe to say you guys know how to start the party! Kelly, Rod, Katie, and Bruce of The Perish Trust -- thank you for all of your help and support in organizing this evenings details, and boy were there A LOT of those! A shout out to the folks at Bi-Rite Market, NA Sales, Shawn and Thuy of SF Skate Club, Jim and Linda of Martin Mattox, Josey Baker Bread and The Mill, The City and County of San Francisco. Andrew, Katie, Michelle, and Ryan of 4505 Burgers & BBQ, we can't wait for you to join the block! The tasty treats provided by Casa de Kei and the sultry beats by DJ Spatziale. Stephen of Nopalize and the incredible Nopa restaurant, thank you for your support and for hosting us for a lovely late-night meal afterwards! A special thanks to our Oakland customers and friends who came to the city and helped us celebrate our new semi-perminant-pop-up in San Francisco! OK, SF, my hometown, Umami Mart is open and ready to spice up your life! See you all very soon! Kanpai! UMAMI MART FOR LIFE! Friends mentioned and who participated in this post/event include: The Perish Trust Emeryville Taiko 4505 BBQ & Burgers Bi-Rite Market Manual Labor Nopalize + Nopa Restaurant Casa de Kei NA Sales Josey Baker Bread + The Mill San Francisco Skate Club Martin & Mattox All photos were taken by Melissa D. Gordon, unless otherwise noted.