Richmond pop-up Loaf & Co. opens Saturday with shokupan cubes and sea urchin pasta

Chef Dan Leung is opening Loaf & Co., a new Saturday pop-up in Richmond that transforms Japanese milk bread into a canvas for brunch, sweets and one strikingly luxe pasta dish.

The pop-up launches September 12 at Origo Club, 6888 River Rd. #110, and will run Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the end of the year. Leung, who previously ran The Rise Eatery in South Granville, trained at Dubrulle Culinary Arts and has managed food-service operations for The Salvation Army after the pandemic.

The concept began with a baking-focused trip to Italy earlier this year. Pizza dough came first, then a YouTube program about Japanese breads pointed Leung toward shokupan — the soft, lightly rich milk bread known for its pillowy texture. "Shokupan is a simple canvas, but the possibilities are endless when you start playing with flavours and textures," Leung says.

At Loaf & Co., that canvas becomes both sweet and savoury. The cubes are substantial enough for one hungry person or to share between two or three people alongside coffee or tea. The opening menu already includes an ambitious signature: the Uni Pasta, which revisits the Uni-Versal Pasta from The Rise. It serves sea urchin pasta inside a charcoal shokupan cube, then tops it with X.O. sauce prawns, egg yolk and tobiko.

Leung emphasizes that the "premium" part of the concept is not simply about luxe ingredients but the full experience — careful baking and cooking techniques, considered menu design, quality ingredients and service. The pop-up will feature rotating flavours and potential collaborations as the season changes.

For beverages, Loaf & Co. is partnering with local barista Sabrina Che, who will pull shots using beans from Grumpy Bunny Coffee. Pre-orders are available via Instagram DM, with full menu details and launch updates posted to their Instagram.