East Bay pop-ups have found a consistent place to land at a few bodegas, boutiques and markets. Of All Places, Honey Bird Market, Island Savoy Market and Morningtide are just a few of the many local hosts. Morningtide recently hit a bump in the road with them and subsequently posted about a county permit issue. Responding to its need for financial assistance, the community contributed to a small fund to offset the unexpected fee.
Online, people in support of Morningtide’s pop-ups responded with Instagram comments like these: “The endless hoops small business owners have to jump through to build community and third spaces in our neighborhoods is beyond frustrating!” And, “You are not a huge corporation, but a small local business. What is the possible reason for such a steep cost for a one-time permit?!”
At Ayda Algazzali’s Honey Bird Market, the owner also addresses the needs of her community. Algazzali hosts Quiet Earth Coffee on Friday mornings because that part of Alameda’s High Street isn’t packed with cafés. But before she started bringing in pop-ups, Algazzali checked in with Celia and Joe Catalino, who own Of All Places, to find out how they operate them out of their location on Solano Avenue. I didn’t ask her if a secret society of bodega owners exists, but there might just be a hotline for those in the know.
Weiwei Xie’s Haochi Bakery popped up at Honey Bird on a recent Friday. I count both coffee and pastries as neighborhood essentials. I dropped by to try one of Xie’s roti salt breads, which was coated in a coffee crust. Texturally, it’s wonderfully soft and light. Flavor-wise, the bread dexterously manages to balance sweetness and saltiness together. A pleasing, eggy taste is prominent in the dough. And the taste of coffee is subtle and, dare I say it, provides the bread with a kick of umami—that marvelous x-factor—in every bite.
Xie makes the soft roll in the shape of a puffy croissant, stuffing it with salted butter, but it’s not a laminated pastry. When we spoke on the phone, Xie cited a Malaysian Mexican bun as the source of her inspiration for it. In turn, that bun, according to the internet, was inspired by conchas. But sourdough bread was the real starting point for Haochi Bakery—hǎo chī means “delicious” in Chinese.
During both of her pregnancies, Xie experienced gestational diabetes and tested her blood sugar after every meal. After the birth of her first child, she began to really enjoy eating and baking her own sourdough bread. After our interview, Xie followed up with more details. She wrote, “I found that a sourdough bread made with 50% whole wheat flour and 50% bread flour worked really well for me.” This combination didn’t cause her blood sugar to spike as quickly. Xie also became friends with Vivian Mao, a writer and baker. Mao gave Xie a copy of one of her books about baking sourdough bread, which helped her to further develop her own baking skills.
Xie holds a doctorate in mathematics, runs an export business and is a full-time mother. Opening a cottage bakery, her side hobby, works because Xie can balance the demands of both her family and the bakery. “Between the drop-off, the pickup and all the activities after school, I can be home working on the dough,” she said. “And, at the same time, I can do laundry and plan the day.”
Since April, Haochi Bakery has held a weekly Hotplate drop, along with occasional pop-ups. Xie’s home bakery is in Hayward and her baked goods can be picked up there when she’s not popping up. At the end of May Xie made four different kinds of sourdough loaves: plain, country, jalapeño cheddar cheese and ube.
“From my Asian background, I love adding new things to sourdough,” she said. “Bread is a very Western thing, right? But I love to add Asian flavors and ingredients, which makes it feel a little different.” Xie added that Chinese bakeries tend to make soft bread with fillings such as red bean paste or custards, saying, “I want to combine the healthy benefits of sourdough and combine them with Asian flavors.”
Haochi Bakery, check Xie’s Instagram for weekly updates about pop-ups and drops: @haochi_bakery_.
