Sparked by 'terrible' dining hall food, Dakota Pekerti builds pop-ups that inspire

"Dakota Pekerti, who runs Kamu Siapa Kitchen, a Berkeley-based Indonesian pop-up and cooking class series, won't call himself a chef, but he's spent years cooking for others and helping them develop their own cooking skills and concepts. He teaches small classes of up to four people on how to plan a pop-up event, recipe development consultation, Sambalogy (an intensive study of Indonesian Sambal), and meal prep."

"Kamu siapa means "who are you?" in Indonesian. For Pekerti, this means "What food, what culture, has made you?" Through his classes, he's helped a lot of people turn their pop-up ideas into a reality. Leila Winn, who is in Pekerti's grad program at UC Berkeley, is a passionate baker and has always thought about opening a high tea concept."

"The son of Indonesian immigrants to the United States, he grew up in Texas as one of the only Asian families in his neighborhood. His parents are "huge foodies," Pekerti said. "Food for them was a way of not just escaping the little bubble we lived in but also keeping a connection to Indonesia," Pekerti said. His parents would take him to other parts of the Dallas region to go to Vietnamese, Indian restaurants - other "Immigrant enclaves," as Pekerti described."

Dakota Pekerti runs Kamu Siapa Kitchen, a Berkeley-based Indonesian pop-up and cooking class series. He teaches small classes of up to four people on pop-up planning, recipe development consultation, Sambalogy (an intensive study of Indonesian sambal), and meal prep. Kamu siapa means "who are you?" in Indonesian and, for Pekerti, asks "What food, what culture, has made you?" He has helped participants like Leila Winn turn pop-up concepts into reality; Winn launched three sold-out pop-ups called Cafe Goblin and now plans quarterly events centered on seasonal ingredients and tea pairings. Pekerti builds community by teaching, volunteering, and cooking while drawing on childhood exposure to diverse immigrant cuisines as the son of Indonesian immigrants raised in Texas.

Read at The Oaklandside