and the server says you want some what would you like some water boo yow it's like that boo yow on the street with the hawkers don't want there's none of this oh no thanks I'll you know I don't think I'd like any now maybe I house simulatorthank you very much thanks a lot no it's just no softeners boo yow in fact I
about 110 we're talking about upwards of 100 hawkers vendors and the model is very much the Hawker centers of Singapore Hong Kong's die Padang
There's still liquid in there, and you'll see it. At Hawker Fare, there's always an element of surprise.
And then the way he sounds, it's just how I used to sound when I was growing up. You go to a hawker center or coffee shop, you see these types of uncles in, say, their wife beater, sitting with a leg on a chair at the coffee shop, you know?
Then in 2009, James opened his first restaurant in Oakland, called Commis, which holds two Michelin stars. He then opened Hawker Fare in Oakland, which is now closed, and then reopened in San Francisco in 2015. He's also the co-owner of Old Kan Beer and Company.
There's still liquid in there, and you'll see it. The original Hawker Fare had graffiti, and I got rid of that.
You did one a while back. I think right before we opened Hawker Fare in San Francisco. I think 2015, yeah.
Is this one of your more popular sellers at the restaurant? But then I eventually circled back to Hawker Fare because it's, like-- I want to say Commis is, like, what I love to do,
There's still liquid in there, and you'll see it. So it's kind of Hawker Fare grew up.
There's still liquid in there, and you'll see it. So that's why the Hawker Fare in San Francisco, we have a Thai style som tam, and we also have a Lao style som tam.
There's still liquid in there, and you'll see it. I took my chef from Hawker Fare, Oakland to Thailand for a month, and that's all we did was eat out.
You want me to add at least 40 characters by the time I'm done with the transfer. But a mom-and-pop store or a hawker are not going to give you 1%.
you know we're selling produce and meat and fish there will be small red there will be some restaurants kind of in there but mostly the heart and soul will be basically hawkers and we're hoping to get them to bring their original signage so it's not going to be like a you know a unifying design theme you're gonna
And they say, as you get older, you kind of gravitate towards your past and try to identity search. So that's a big part of it for me right now is Hawker Fare. I'm opening one. After I leave here, we're opening-- opening night at Hawker Fare, San Francisco is tonight.
So James, you guys-- you really encourage an atmosphere of collaboration at Commis in particular. The menu is constantly changing, where at Hawker Fare, they're foods from your youth. And the menu is relatively consistent as you would go there from one month to the next to another year.
There's still liquid in there, and you'll see it. Hi. I'm wondering how the San Francisco Hawker Fare is going to be different from the Oakland Hawker Fare?
If that made more sense, it certainly would have taken a whole lot less time. Afong Moy's life as a traveler, as a hawker of Chinese goods, and herself an object of exotic interest, led her from 1834 to 1837 to cities and small towns in America.
He's the founder of Hawking Bird, both of which are in Oakland. His book today, which everyone has, "Hawker Fare," was created to honor his heritage and immigrant parents. His parents were born from two distinct Asian cultures.
Is this one of your more popular sellers at the restaurant? When I was doing the cookbook shoot, and we shot the whole-- all the recipes Hawker Fare Oakland.
Is this one of your more popular sellers at the restaurant? but, like, the Hawker Fare is kind of who I am.
But going back full circle, why I got involved in cooking and why I like cooking is-- is anyone familiar with my restaurants at all? They're all very different, if you notice-- Commis to Hawker Fare to The Dock. I've always been told, if you ever do something, and you're really into it, have it reflect who you are.
There's still liquid in there, and you'll see it. Sometimes I'm at Commis, I'm working on dishes for Hawker Fare, and I will serve it as a staff meal, get feedback from them.
But I think first, just talking about it. I think it's taking vacant lots, creating the kind of like Hawker Centres.
Today, we're honored to have two extreme pilots from very different extremes. We have Andre Borschberg, who flies jets, so Hawker Hunters, F-5's at one end of the envelope. And we have Bertrand Piccard, world-record-setting balloonist, first to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon.
You want me to add at least 40 characters by the time I'm done with the transfer. So if I'm going into Pakistan, you have a lot of hawkers , people with the small trades.
So the OCD part of me is Commis. It's my training. But the soulfulness of who I am, my identity, is Hawker Fare, kind of cooking Thai street food, kind of rediscovering myself. And they say, as you get older, you kind of gravitate towards your past and try to identity search.
So that's a big part of it for me right now is Hawker Fare. I'm opening one. After I leave here, we're opening-- opening night at Hawker Fare, San Francisco is tonight. So we have a big night ahead of us.