Famed chef tests delivery pop-up

How does a San Francisco chef like Brandon Jew, whose Mister Jiu restaurant in Chinatown is arguably one of the best in the country, test a new project in 2018? Carefully.

Jew plans a two-day pop-up on Feb. 24 and 25 called Mamahuhu. In an interesting twist, the food will be available only via the San Francisco delivery service Caviar. There’s no in-house dining.

“It just seems like there are more and more apps out there where people are ordering delivery,” Jew said.

“The industry is changing. But this also gives us a chance to explore something new without having to worry about doing a complete build-out for the space.”

Mamahuhu will share a kitchen with the Israeli street food spot Sababa, which is on the Chinatown-Financial District border.

Mamahuhu is a Chinese phrase meaning “so-so.” Jew said the name provides a lighthearted aspect to a project he’s been planning for well over a year. The Chinese menu includes duck, tofu flatbread sandwiches, cabbage chips and salads.

Since Mamahuhu will function as a delivery-only restaurant, Jew said he had to tweak recipes for certain dishes, sometimes scrapping them altogether if they couldn’t hold up to extended travel times.

“It’s unique because we had to look at things and ask ourselves if certain ingredients could hold up over 25, 35 or 45 minutes. It’s a new area for us,” he said.

Mamahuhu will also have an educational component, helping establish a connection between customers and their food sources, Jew said. So he will do things like listing the farms from which the Mamahuhu ducks and seasonal vegetables are sourced.

Though Mamahuhu isn’t a permanent project yet, the chef ’s decision to partner with Caviar is another example — along with counter service and food trucks — of how the restaurant industry is adapting to the Bay Area rents and wages.

Jew said eventually Mamahuhu will be a full-fledged restaurant, but only after he tests the concept through multiple popups. He and his team are already scouting locations.

“We’ve been working on this for over a year,” he said. “It’ll be interesting to see where it goes.”

Laura Morton / Special to The Chronicle 2013 Brandon Jew (right), who is planning a pop-up to test his deliveryonly concept, works at a benefit with Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese Food and Thomas McNaughton of Flour+Water.