Nonstaurants

Sneak a Taste of the Food at The Cook & Her Farmer and Box & Bells at Pop-Ups Next Month

Romney Steele
Romney Steele

Several upcoming pop-ups will give East Bay foodinistas a preview of the menus at both Romney Steele’s upcoming The Cook and Her Farmer — slated to open, maybe, by late spring in Old Oakland — and James Syhabout’s Box & Bells — coming to 5912 College Avenue in Rockridge around the same time. First up, Steele is doing a series of pop-ups at Guerrilla Cafe (1620 Shattuck Avenue), and Luke Tsai at the East Bay Express just went to one on Friday. Steele tells him that she’s looking to create a restaurant without “much fuss,” and as you can see from the pop-up meal menu, the focus is, as promised, seafood, Tomales Bay oysters, and a main-dish “platter salad.” The next two Cook and Her Farmer meals will be on February 8 and February 22.

Next up, Commis chef James Syhabout will be testing out food for his new casual concept Box & Bells at his Southeast Asian casual concept, Hawker Fare. The first event at Hawker Fare will be February 17, and there may be more to follow, but reservations for the first one are expected to go fast. In fact, he’s treating them like concert tickets, and they’re set to go on sale at noon on Friday, February 1. Box & Bells is moving into the former Somerset, hopefully, by late spring, but Syhabout joked to the Scoop that the opening is slated for 2015, so that it will be “the only restaurant in history to open early.”

Pop-Up Chronicles: A Preview of The Cook and Her Farmer [EBX]
James Syhabout opens up the preview night concept as Box & Bells pops up in Oakland [Scoop]
Earlier: The Cook and Her Farmer, an Oyster Bar, Coming to Old Oakland

Sneak a Taste of the Food at The Cook & Her Farmer and Box & Bells at Pop-Ups