Nora Haron
The components of her laksa with Forbidden black rice noodles.
#Istandbymyvision
Nora is ready for the next stage. After deciding to end her partnership with the other Drip Line owners, she is staying true to her vision and is ready to launch her own projects under her own name.
As of Summer 2018, she is looking for a new space in Oakland, planning on packaging some of her foods, traveling to the Middle East, and visiting family in Singapore. This is in between hosting pop ups, recipe development, writing cookbooks, and collaborating with other chefs. Just check out her Insta feed for a taste of what’s happening (@nora_haron).
UPDATE: As of October 2018, she has purchased Local Kitchen and Wine Merchant in San Francisco. She will be changing over the menu to her food in 2019.
After running the food program for Blue Bottle Cafe she got the opportunity to head up Drip Line. Her menu was an eclectic mix of American and Singaporean favorites. Burgers next to gado gado salad. Singaporean chicken rice along with shrimp and grits. Sourdough waffles are topped with kaya butter. If you don’t know what kaya is, trust me when I say you need it in your life. The menu is a delicious expression of her past, present, and future. She is blending her Indonesian and Indian roots, her childhood in Singapore, and her current life in California.
As she says, she makes simple food. And simple food is hard. She makes it look easy. Her burger is grassfed beef, mixed with roasted shiitake mushrooms, served on a housemade challah roll (one of the advantages of being trained as a pastry chef). With her blessing (and prep hints), I put a version of this burger on the menu at the Chef’s Table. The burger is 60% beef, and 40% mushrooms. It’s a delicious umami bomb that doubles as a lesson in sustainability. Her shrimp and grits are spiced with coconut milk and sambal and topped with a fried egg - an unexpected mix that works perfectly.
As she finalizes the details of her new restaurant, her pop ups keep her connected with customers, who have clearly missed her food and her warmth.
When I help out at a pop up in June, I was taking orders and running the cash draw. We were serving laksa - a customer favorite and also a favorite of the late Anthony Bourdain. News of his suicide had just rocked the food world and Nora chose to make the pop up a benefit - donating a portion of the profits to the Crisis Support Center of Alameda County. The line was out the door from the time we opened. The first batch sold out and a second batch was being made. I had the slightly awkward task of telling a long line of people that they had to wait 20 minutes for their lunch. No one blinked.
The second batch sold just as quickly as the first. There was a bit of giddiness to the couple who purchased the last dish of laksa. This was tempered by the look of disappointment on the face of the person standing next in line. We were completely sold out of everything 90 minutes after opening the door.
Her food, “Singaporean flavors with California sensibilities” is clearly connecting with people.
