Since its arrival in Mill Valley in 2022, Mamahuhu, Michelin-starred chef Brandon Jew’s more casual restaurant and his first move outside of San Francisco, has sought to engage the community in a variety of ways, from churning out deliciousness at the 2022 Mill Valley Music Festival and launching a book club with support from the venerable Mill Valley Public Library to hosting a Lunar New Year event in January.
On September 15th, Mamahuhu Mill Valley’s first anniversary arrives on Sept. 15th, and one day later on Sept. 16th, the restaurant celebrates the occasion by inviting patrons to try their three classic vegan, dairy-free soft serve flavors, which have become increasingly popular. Customers who dine in, order takeout or even stop by to get to know Mamahuhu can enjoy the paper coloring at Mamahuhu’s kids’ table and more.
In addition to the boba soft serve, Mamahuhu has added two new soft serves to their menu that they will be giving out on the anniversary – the Mango Coconut Sundae (banana oat milk soft serve, dried mango, toasted coconut, and mango syrup) and the Malted Milk Sundae (malted chocolate sauce, ovaltine powder, and candied cashews). The Malted Milk Sundae is not vegan.
“We’ve worked hard to serve the community,” says Michelle Lu, Mamahuhu’s general manager. “ As the has year has gone by, we’ve been consistently gaining support support from local families and visitors to town. We believe our concept and quality products are a good fit.”
Since it opened in September 2022, Mamahuhu has been serving up delicious Chinese-American food in Mill Valley natives Justin and Tyler Catalana’s former Mill Valley Beerworks space at 173 Throckmorton Ave.
The first Mamahuhu opened on Clement Street in January 2020; both are collaborations with Anmao Sun and Ben Moore, who opened Shanghai’s first seed-to-table restaurant Hunter Gatherer but are now San Francisco-based. The menu is crisp and brief, a departure from your typical Chinese takeout restaurant. Five protein combinations are made from scratch with “transparently raised animals” and are served with jasmine rice and organically grown “wok’d vegetables” which form the core of each dish.
The latest iteration of the menu includes two new chicken sandwiches, a Honey Hawthorn and Tingly Spicy, both made with black vinegar mayo and shredded cabbage and served on a pineapple bun, as well as Hot & Sour Soup, made with chicken broth, wood ear mushrooms, organic tofu, vinegar, and white pepper.
The initial Mill Valley opening coincided with Mamahuhu’s introduction of boba tea soft serve made with banana oat milk, Ceylon tea syrup, tapioca pearls and sesame crunch. Moore says that the restaurant’s exclusive tap and canned beer selection from Fort Point Beer Co. pays a small homage to the legacy of Mill Valley Beerworks where the brewery got its start in 2009. “We love their brand and their beer,” Moore shares.
There’s also a rotation of wine, cider and hot teas and two house-made sodas on tap — snow jasmine and red tea cola.
On Sept. 16th, Mamahuhu has its normal operating hours of 11:30am – 9:30pm, but their vegan soft serve promotion time will be from 11:30am – 4pm.