Robert Patterson with his daughter
Dissatisfied with the state of ramen in San Francisco at the time—the prevalence of prefab soup stock and MSG—Stefan and Robert took to their own kitchens and began a monthslong process of experimentation. During that time, Robert also opened a retail project called Revolver. “And that's where we met our chef, Taka Hori,” Stefan says. “He came looking for some obscure shoes and, you know, Robert's a very conversational person. They started talking like, ‘Oh, you know how to make Ramen? We're trying to make ramen and opening this shop!’ and Taka's like ‘That's my dream too!’” Robert and Stefan spent the next year doing pop-ups, meeting people who loved their ramen and, finally, settling on a space to open Ken Ken Ramen with Taka. Before long, Ken Ken would not only prove successful in and of itself, but helped to build a more authentic and thriving ramen culture in San Francisco. After more than seven years of growth, Robert and Stefan parted with Ken Ken in 2018. Having tasted success in the culinary world, Robert and Stefan kicked-off another venture in 2013, a brewery and restaurant, following many of the same strategies they used in building Ken Ken from the ground up. Robert and Stefan take a moment with Jarrad Jinks to open up about Black Sands Brewery—”beer is for sharing.”
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Stefan Roesch
JJ
Tell me how Black Sands began.
We actually became friends with the head brewer, Cole Emde, at Ken Ken, our ramen restaurant. He happened to come into Ken Ken and he was so passionate and made such awesome beers. Then there's actually another mutual friend, Andy, that kind of connected everyone. We all met for a beer one day and were like “Yeah, sure let's try a brewery, too. It's going to be just like Ken Ken but without the craziness of ramen.”
RP
So, we became friends and Stefan and I decided to invest and build everything around Cole. He's a world class brewer and that's the same thing we did for the ramen restaurant. Stefan and I aren't cooks, but we found a chef who is really great and we had an idea for a ramen restaurant. We offer the institution for the craft person to execute their practice, and we build everything around them—finding all the other pieces. But, in the end, it ended up being just as crazy as Ken Ken, because, you know, it takes eight hours or at least a whole day to make a good bowl of ramen but it also takes three weeks to make a good pint of beer. So it was basically the same thing but this time we had a lot of experience. Japan's craft beer culture is pretty new and it's growing. I'm wondering if you had a chance to experience that at all. Have you been back? Have you researched or had much Japanese craft beer?
JJ
THE AMBASSADOR \\ FALL/WINTER 2018
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