'Powered By Pork' To Bring Mexican-Vietnamese Street Food To The Empire Room

'Powered By Pork' To Bring Mexican-Vietnamese Street Food To The Empire RoomPhotos: Powered by Pork
Brittany Hopkins
Published on March 27, 2015

The city’s newest nightclub, The Empire Room, plans to open its doors on Golden Gate Avenue at the edge of the Tenderloin in a couple of weeks. Much is known about the venue's history as the former Jeremiah Tower's Stars and later, Trader Vic's tiki bar, but we wanted to know more about the chef poised to take over the kitchen previously run by the “father of California cuisine”.

We tracked down the kitchen’s newest tenant, Justin Lanska of Powered by Pork, to hear his grand plans for The Empire Room and uncovered his even grander plans to make local, organic street fair accessible to Bay Area residents of all income levels.

When asked about taking over The Empire Room’s kitchen at 555 Golden Gate, Lanska’s simply said, “It’s bananas!” Lanska got his culinary start on the streets. With unemployment benefits running out, he pulled together his last bit of savings, rigged a tricycle with a grill and began slinging pork tacos after dark.

“I always wanted to open a restaurant, but street food made a lot of sense,” he said.

As a San Jose native, Lanska says his diet consisted of Mexican and Vietnamese food, and he always appreciated the similarities between the two styles. He gradually began serving his own breed of late-night Mexican-Vietnamese fusion—think pork belly tacos with a Vietnamese flavor profile and carnitas bahn mi with a Mexican flavor profile—at local bars. Once he learned about ZeroCater and Cater2Me, services from the owner of Soul Groove that connect companies with caterers, he jumped into the catering business.

(Justin [right], pops-up at the SOMA Street Food Park & Urban Air Night Market)

Next stop: The Empire Room. “Somehow we weaseled our way in,” Lanska joked. 

Faced with three to four times the amount of space he had in Oakland and no experience furnishing a kitchen, he admitted that he’s still a bit overwhelmed by the 2,500 sq. foot space. But the extra space makes it possible to experiment with new ideas and move beyond the staples—tacos, tortas, bahn mis, rice and noodle bowls—he’s perfected. One idea he’s currently toying with is a play on "hotdish", a casserole-like favorite in Minnesota, where his father grew up.

“One of the classic hotdishes is called Tater Tot Hotdish. It’s like ground beef, cream of mushroom soup and vegetables with tater tots on top,” he said. “It’s just like this weird food from a different era.”

But prepping his kitchen and menu at The Empire Room isn’t the only thing on his mind right now. Lanska is in the final stretch of a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to take his Powered by Pork mobile operation. Determined to bring “fresh, wholesome, and dietary sensitive food to the people who need it most”, Lanska plans to debut the first food truck that accepts payment through EBT cards.

“I remember driving around in East Oakland and seeing Burger King, KFC, just fast food joints and thinking, ‘Oh, they accept EBT, that’s interesting,’” he said. “For awhile I was on unemployment and I was going to get EBT. I never had to, but I should have. And for months I thought, ‘Why do they get to accept EBT and other restaurants can’t?’”

Photo: Steve Rhodes/Flickr

While he’s still looking into the fine print of the CalFresh Benefits program, he refuses to let regulations stand in his way. 

“It will happen,” he said. “People can just flash us their EBT card and we’ll just give them food. It’s ridiculous that there’d be any exception to purchasing well-made food with fresh ingredients.”

Once the truck is up and running, Lanska said you’ll be able to find Powered by Pork at food truck stops and community events all over the Bay Area, including Off The Grid, SOMA Street Food Park and Mission Truck Stop. And of course, he and his team will be serving on club nights and possibly during happy hour at The Empire Room once it opens next month.