Calling on Brackett's Japanese heritage and two years' experience cooking in a Tokyo-area soba restaurant, Peko-Peko caters izakaya-style meals and sells exquisite bento boxes that John Birdsall has talked up in SFoodie and Alice's daughter, Fanny, has praised on (RIP) Gourmet.com.
With its shoebox size and wraparound counter, Guerrilla Cafe should be the perfect place to recreate that crowded, Sapporo'd-up izakaya feel. However, the small room also means that the dinners sell out fast. Brackett says that he is no longer taking reservations but is leaving half the seats open for walk-ins ― and at his first pop-up izakaya, in early October, 125 diners circulated through the 25-seat cafe.
Brackett has hired a friend who grew up in her grandmother's izakaya to grill the yakitori (Soul Food Farms chicken meatballs, wings, livers, and more esoteric bits). Meanwhile, he'll be cooking dishes like donburi topped with ikura (steelhead roe) and Santa Barbara uni; a crab and watercress salad (the greens come from the stream in back of a friend's house); and petrale sole kara-age. The chef scores the small flatfish to the bone before deep-frying them, and they're meant to be crunched through, head, tail, and all. Prices aren't firmed up yet, but Brackett says they should range from about $2.50 per yakitori skewer to $14 for larger items like the sole.
Oh, and Brackett had one more bit of news regarding his bento business:
Right now, San Franciscans have to travel to Rockridge to pick up the bentos they order or pay a $15 delivery fee. Brackett's working out a deal with the owner of Mato Creative on Post and Hyde to serve as a pickup spot one day a week, which may start up as soon as the end of this month. Stay posted by signing up for Peko-Peko's mailing list.
Event details:
Peko-Peko Pop-Up Izakaya
Date: Jan. 18, 5:30-10 p.m.
Location: Guerrilla Café, 1620 Shattuck (at Lincoln), Berkeley
Reservations: none left
CORRECTION: This post original cited the day of the event as Sunday, not Monday. The author apologizes for his poor calendar-reading skills.
