There’s some interesting cuisine going on in our neighborhood. The folks behind People’s Bao, who sell Asian buns at local farmers markets and plan to start a food truck selling the same, have also opened a pop-up ramen shop.
The shop, called People’s Noodle Bar, is open every Saturday from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm in the Senor Chicken in DCUSA, on Park Road just west of 14th. They serve up big bowls of traditional ramen with pork or duck skin or a vegetarian variety. Some friends and I went a few weeks ago and it was pretty tasty stuff. Always nice to see new, interesting businesses in the neighborhood.
Recently we talked with Peter, who runs the business.
How did you get into the food business?
I got into the food business in 2008, working in various restaurants as a line cook or floor manager.
Can you tell me some more about the food truck?
The
truck is still part of the plan. People’s bao and People’s noodle bar
share many ingredients and cooking methods. Hopefully People’s Bao
truck will run from the kitchen of People’s Noodle Bar.
How did the ramen pop-up shop come about?
I
already rent Senor Chicken’s kitchen for People’s Bao. The owner of
senor chicken and I one day were just bouncing ideas about our future
plans. He kindly offered me the opportunity to do a ramen popup in his
restaurant.
And finally, what are your future plans?
We
are still working on the plans. There are many unknown factors.
However the immediate or constant plan to make great food and become
involved in the community.
Specifically it means:
1, source high quality ingredients such as free range pork, organic chicken, fresh mushrooms and etc.
2, Source ingredients from local farms as much as possible. Nothing beats fresh produce picked right out of the ground.
3,
cook with classic techniques with attention to all the detail. For
example, we filter all our cooking water, wash our vegetables 3 times,
cook our pork bone stock with the classic 3 step and 18 hour method.
We are also working with a local homeless shelter on a plan to donating/delivering some food on a more regular basis.
We
are just starting; so things will be gradually rolled out. We believe
in do good, do it right and having fun while doing it. I guess that’s
our high level plan.
Check out the People’s Noodle Bar this Saturday from 6:30 to 9:30 pm on the Park Road side of DCUSA. You can follow them on Twitter too.
