Poleng Lounge Boys Resurface With Eastern Addition

Back in January, an enormous rent increase forced Desi Danganan to vacate 780 Valencia Street, closing his two-year-old baby, The Summit. There was a a pop-up sendoff with chef and former Poleng partner Tim Luym, and then the pair went back into hiding to plot their next move. Today Danganan reveals The Eastern Addition, a new collaboration with Luym and Jacobo Juarez of Som. In what he's calling "a homecoming of sorts," they'll curate a weekly series of Asian pop-ups every Wednesday at Vinyl. Luym will work with former Bushi-tei owner Tak Matsuba for the first month. The second month will bring in Dennis Lin of Burmese Kitchen, and the third month will explore the food of the Phillipines, most likely with Luym behind the stove.

Depending how Eastern Addition is received, the project may be extended beyond the planned three months. Danganan elaborates: "What's really exciting is that if the concept of crowd funding underdog chefs resonates with the public—there's no reason not to spin off the Eastern Addition as its own brick and mortar entity. As a long time resident of the Panhandle/Nopa area, we really need more Asian options."

For now, there a kick-off party on October 6 at The Bold Italic, and a kickstarter to help fund the series. The first Eastern Addition pop-up takes place on October 17 from 6 to 11 p.m. And the hats Tim Luym wears in this video about the concept are not to be missed.

· All The Summit Coverage [~ ESF ~]
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