A Tartine alum known for slinging creative tortas on fresh-baked sourdough at Bay Area popups is opening his first restaurant.
Jacob Croom of My Friend Fernando plans to open Pico, a Mexican-inspired bar and restaurant, in the East Bay. He is currently searching for a space — hopefully in Hayward, where he lives. Croom has been dreaming about Pico for well over a decade, since his earliest years as a cook, he said: a bar-forward restaurant that, like My Friend Fernando, honors his Mexican heritage.
Croom envisions it as a lively, late-night spot that’s for food-friendly drinks as much as his in-demand tortas. At popups, he has filled tortas with mole-drenched maitake mushrooms; an oversized, deep-fried pork chop, breaded in panko with sunflower seeds and dressed in salsa macha; or porchetta with pickled mango and herb salad…