Hot 'Canto Nostalgia' Pop-Up Four Kings Locks Down a Permanent Home in San Francisco
Four Kings will be settling down in Chinatown.
Eater SF
Flavors of Hong Kong hangin' on ya taste buds.
90's Cantopop bangin' on ya eardrums.
Eater SFHere Are the Hottest Pop-Ups to Watch in the Bay Area Right Now
Four Kings is all about “Canto nostalgia” and it's apparent from the Cantopop that plays in the background of each pop-up to the dishes that are served, such as the fried squab or honey walnut shrimp toast.
Eater SFThese Mister Jiu's Alums Are Cooking the Nostalgic Hong Kong and Canto Food of Their Childhoods
Four Kings is the hot new pop-up of San Francisco with fine dining cred, serving fried squab, XO butter escargot, and black bean mussels.
Eater SFMeet the team
Franky and Mike have both been cooking professionally for well over a decade and their combined years of experience is now a fully formed adult of drinking age. Bonded by their shared Cantonese heritage and love of eating (but mostly drinking), so begins the Four Kings origin story.
Their aim is to create a menu of food they grew up eating made up of flavors that elicit fond memories tucked under an overpass or down narrow alleys by the side of the road. Their food is not fussy or uptight and is meant to be enjoyed with friends (or foes) over a tall glass of beer.
Franky Ho
Cook
Personality Type:Tsundere
Cooked at:Champa Garden, Maven, China (yes, the country), Mister Jiu's
Franky is a walking encyclopedia* of Chinese food knowledge, and was most notably named Chef de Cuisine of a Michelin Star and James Beard winning Chinese restaurant all at the ripe age of 28. Needless to say we are walking in the midst of a real life main character from a cooking anime.
*For all you young’ns, an encyclopedia is basically google before the internet, but worse, because you have to flip through volumes of books just to find one thing. Come to think of it, Franky is better than an encyclopedia
Michael Long
Cook
Personality Type:Phoenix Suns fan
Cooked at:Bazaar, Son of a Gun, SAAM, Bestia, Mister Jiu's
After graduating with a mechanical engineering degree, Mike completely forsook his destiny of becoming yet another Asian stereotype to pursue cooking; bringing absolute dishonor to his family Mulan style. Since verse-jumping into the raccacoonie universe, he collected his fair share of infinity stones across the LA and SF food scenes, until finally finding someone to do laundry dishes and taxes with.