Chefs Daniel Patterson and Roy Choi have been amping up for Loco'l, a surprising foray into fast food announced last August. At that point, Patterson had already developed burger of 70 percent beef and 30 percent tofu and grain to keep costs at fast-food levels. Now they've got a koji burger bun from Tartine's Chad Robertson, and Choi is tweeting up a storm, saying the menu is written and the lease is being drafted for the flagship Tenderloin location.
The last step is to get the crowd in on the action with a campaign on Indiegogo, where they've quickly raised over $12,000. The goal is $150,000.
"Loco'l is not just a fast food restaurant," says Choi in the video, "it's a fast food restaurant that's being built by Daniel Patterson, René [Redzepi] from Noma, Chad [Robertson] from Tartine, and myself. But then I don't want anyone to know that if you don't need to know that." Okay. Meanwhile, Patterson, who loves to think and talk big, discusses extrapolating from the business to feed institutions like schools, hospitals, and prisons. It's an exciting project, and we'll have more as the campaign for and development of Loco'l continue.
