Zach Woody and Brandon Andrist moved to Charleston from Chicago with the dream of opening a restaurant together, and their new Hibari pop-up could be the first step towards achieving that goal. Every Wednesday in July, the duo is taking over the Warehouse (Downtown, 45 ½ Spring St.) kitchen from 6 p.m.-12 a.m., serving a menu of Japanese-inspired plates like bao buns, dumplings and crispy garlic pork noodles.
“We wanted to move to Charleston to do some stuff of our own, and we’re just kind of getting back to [that],” said Andrist, who has worked at Malagon and Mercantile & Mash since moving to Charleston. Woody spent time in the Xiao Bao Biscuit kitchen before joining Andrist at Mercantile & Mash.
The duo met at Chicago Japanese restaurant Momotaro, and while Hibari touches on those early roots, it’s not bound to one type of cuisine, Andrist said.
“Sometimes it’s a play on traditional things like our ramen cracklin’,” he said. “We tried to think of a way to enjoy ramen in a chip form.”
Look for a six-item menu at the Warehouse Wednesday’s, and moving forward, Andrist and Woody are hoping to schedule more pop-ups.
“It’s liberating doing our own thing, so just kind of nice taking the first steps,” Andrist said. “Everyday is work and anytime we’re not working, (at Mercantile & Mash) it’s work for the pop-up. We’d love to have the opportunity to do our own thing full time.”
For more information, follow Hibari on Instagram @hibarichs.
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