A hub for Black chefs’ popups
Crispy burnt ends, fried avocado tacos and fatty oxtail bowls are all finding a home at Epic Ventures Test Kitchen, a hub designed to support Blackowned food businesses in East Oakland opening Thursday. For diners, it’s a central place to order exciting takeout from rotating popups. For business owners, it’s a way to support each other and try to build wealth within the Black community.
The effort is helmed by chef Rashad Armstead, a Black chef and Food
Rashad Armstead (right, with sister Rianna Armstead) is resurrecting Grammie’s DownHome Chicken as a popup as part of his Epic Ventures Test Kitchen in Oakland.
Network “Chopped” champion who closed two restaurants — Grammie’s DownHome Chicken & Seafood in Oakland and Crave BBQ in Richmond — last year due to funding issues. Since then, he’s focused on building up his Black Food Collective, a group of 10 food entrepreneurs who cater events together. For a while he was able to survive on catering gigs, but the pandemic took those events away.
“I don’t have an opportunity to go back to a job and get back to a nor
mal routine,” he said. “I have to do something that will pay off longterm, because I’m at risk of my entire life going down the drain.”
After Armstead lost his catering work, seven of his family members tested positive for the coronavirus. The pandemic became real in a whole new way, and he hunkered down as a caretaker. His 19yearold brother suffered the most, losing 15 pounds, feeling ripped apart by sharp pains in his stomach and visiting the hospital five times to no relief. All of Armstead’s family members have since recovered.
The experience made him rethink the way he wants to feed people now with safety as a priority.
“I don’t want to be responsible for anybody getting sick or having to experience what I saw my baby brother go through,” he said.
He started looking for ghost kitchen spaces — commercial kitchens designed for delivery-only restaurants without dining rooms — but he was baffled by the high prices. Instead, he moved into a 2,500squarefoot commercial kitchen in East Oakland in July — and he said the rent is cheaper than what he would get for a smaller space at one of the Bay Area’s existing ghost kitchens.
Because he doesn’t actually need that whole space all the time, he’s inviting members of the Black Food Collective to hold popups there on a rotating basis. Opening week will feature Mi Granny’s Kitchen, which serves AfroCaribbean meals; Vaco’s Tacos, which touts vegan tacos with fillings like chipotle jackfruit; and Briya Be Cookin’, whose Instagram feed is full of soul food and Cajun classics. They’re all owned by Black women.
Armstead’s former restaurants, Grammie’s and Crave BBQ, will operate as popups on Fridays and Saturdays. He’s excited to expand their menus to include items like soul pies, a Southern take on an empanada; a corn dog featuring his blue cornbread batter; and a host of vegan options. In the future, he said he expects to bring on Black chefs who specialize in barbecue, salads, juice and more.
Customers initially will place orders online or through a new QR code payment service called Cheqout, and will then get a text message when their order is ready, meaning the only human interaction is picking up the food. Cheqout is free to restaurants, with customers paying a 3% credit card processing fee instead. Armstead refuses to sign on with thirdparty delivery apps because of the steep commission fees — often as much as 30%. Instead, he plans to start an inhouse delivery service later in August.
Ultimately, Epic Ventures Test Kitchen is all about ownership and equity, Armstead said.
“We can keep speaking, we can keep marching, we can keep protesting, but until we control the way our dollar circulates in our community, no one is going to listen to us,” he continued. “I’m going to show on a small scale what can happen when Black food businesses work together.”