Filipino Pop-Up FOB Kitchen to Leave Gashead Tavern in Hunt for Permanent Location

FOB Kitchen started as a weekly Filipino pop-up before transforming into a permanent residency at Gashead Tavern (2351 Mission St) where they’ve been cooking soulful dishes like adobo since 2016. Now, their time has come to an end, with a planned final service on February 2.

The pop-up, begun by wife-and-wife team Janice and Brandi Dulce, amassed a big following for its take on classic Filipino dishes like pancit, toncino and lumpia over the last three years, cooked by chef Janice. Dulce, a Bay Area native,started the pop-up as a way to bring the cooking of her grandmother closer to home. It’s part of a growing number of Filipino restaurants and pop-ups throughout the city, which has a dense Filipino population, and a newly minted cultural district in SoMa.

“Ownership is just going in a different direction,” Brandi told Eater SF. “We’ve been a pop-up for three years, we’ve got a great following... it’s time to grow up and hopefully get a brick-and-mortar.”

Dulce says that the duo would love to stay in the Mission, but it really depends on what is available; they’re also open to moving to the East Bay. For now, they plan to spend some time with their kids and focus energy on nailing down a location, so there won’t be many pop-ups in the interim. “But, we don’t want to go dark for too long, “ said Brandi.

No matter where it is, fans needn’t worry: FOB will return in its original form, but hopefully with a few more dishes on the menu. “Leaving [Gashead] is good, we had gotten comfortable,” said Brandi. “It lit a fire under us to really do FOB Kitchen.”

This weekend’s brunch will be followed by dinner Wednesday-Friday next week, with February 2 as FOB’s last day. Stay tuned for more.

• Filipino Pop-Up FOB Kitchen To Permanently Take Over Gashead Tavern’s Kitchen [ESF]