MOFU stands for Missouri tofu, but it does more than just the vegetarian-meat alternative. The homegrown tofu company is now collaborating with Sump Coffee (3700 South Jefferson Avenue; 917-412-5670) this summer for several ramen pop-ups. The first is this weekend, May 31. We talked to MOFU co-owner Daniel Brewer about the partnership.
"I think we've been in business for a year, and we're trying to see what the next step is," Brewer tells us. "A place where we can produce the best tofu and sell that to our customers and fans, but also have a place where we can serve really good food that features our product."
See also: Sump Coffee Hosts Pop-Up Brunch with Lulu's Local Eatery
Brewer compares the idea to that of a microbrewery like Schlafly, which has rave-worthy food as well as its beer. He says the menu with Sump will mostly be ramen, despite MOFU being a tofu company, because he and his partners want to expand the business.
"We're aspiring to do more than [tofu], and the pop-up up is one way to get traction," Brewer says. "We did one last year at Sump [Coffee] about the same time, and now I was talking to Scott [Carey], and we thought it'd be a good idea to do a series, because it's a lot of fun."
The pop-up will take place at Sump this Saturday, May 31, as well as June 28, July 26 and August 30. For $12, guests can get: MOFU mazemen, chicken fried MOFU, sesame, dashi, radish, harissa and egg; MOFU vegan mazemen, tonkatsu MOFU, cabbage, sesame, dashi and harissa; smoked chicken shoyu, chicken broth, chashu, nettles, pickled ramps and egg. Diners can also get chicken-fried MOFU, marinated MOFU sashimi, kitchen kulture kimchi and roasted garlic rayu. The ingredients comes from local farms Lee Farms, Buttonwood Farm and Missouri Wild Edibles.
Check out the MOFU website for more information.
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