A sandwich “worth a sunset.” A steakhouse named after a grandfather. Two chefs returning to the kitchen where they competed on the same team, this time with a full day to share food that tells their own stories.
On Monday, Nov. 16, Chef Jordan Domingo’s modern steakhouse pop-up, Slao, returns to Partake Collective’s R&D kitchen in Downtown Long Beach. Joining him is Chef Miguel Servin Perez Osorio, who served as his sous during the Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe competition and will introduce diners to Memoir, his sandwich concept rooted in preservation, local ingredients, and a very specific rooftop memory.
The day unfolds in two parts: Memoir handles lunch from 10AM to 2PM, or until sellout, with walk-ins. Slao takes over for dinner with four service times: 5PM, 5:45PM, 6:30PM, and 7:15PM.
One kitchen. Two concepts. And a chance to follow two burgeoning chefs beyond the competition that brought them together.
For Chef Miguel, Memoir starts with a sandwich—and a memory.
Before there was Memoir, there was a school rooftop. There were hand-recorded cassettes. Footlong sandwiches heavy on mustard and sour pickles. And a sunset that, years later, would become the nostalgic starting point for a sandwich shop.
“I believe every guest deserves to feel that memory while creating new ones,” Chef Miguel said. “A sandwich worth a sunset… Memoir is a sandwich shop rooted in preservation and local ingredients.”
That is the heart of Memoir: taking something as familiar as a sandwich and filling it with the time and care usually associated with a much more elaborate meal. For Miguel, that means making his own miso, lacto-fermented sauces, dried ingredients, and sour-pickled delicacies, then bringing them together with local bread and vegetables. The name works in two directions: It recalls that rooftop scene while treating the ferments and preserves themselves as memories of a season, saved to be experienced later.
It is a lovely way to think about a pantry. And how lunch can very much tell a story in the growing age of deliveries and automated food. The soundtrack? That will be part of it: Miguel plans to play music converted from those very same hand-recorded cassettes.
What’s on Memoir’s debut menu?
The opening lineup is compact: three sandwiches, French press coffee, and house-made ginger-rose bubbles.
The “Monsieur Ramon” ($16) pairs jamón with house-cultured butter and Vietnamese baguette. The ingredient list leaves room for the bread, butter, and cured meat to do the talking.
“Nuts for You” ($15) brings together spiced peanut butter, cheon, and compote on brioche, with an à la mode option for an additional $2. It reads like a playful route between lunch and dessert.
Then there is The MLT ($15): oyster mushroom, Gouda, avocado, and mustard. This meatless sandwich gives mushrooms the starring role while keeping the mustard that figures so prominently in Miguel’s original memory.
French press coffee is $3.50; ginger-rose bubbles are $4.
“All walk-ins,” Chef Miguel said.
Slao’s return continues Chef Jordan Domingo’s rethinking of the steakhouse.
Slao has its own relationship with memory. As I explored in my previous coverage, the name honors Jordan’s grandfather, a World War II veteran nicknamed Slao. The concept first appeared at Partake earlier this year through Jordan’s collaboration with Chef Maxwell Pfeiffer, before Chef Jordan returned with his own iteration. The ambition has remained consistent: Take the familiarity of an American steakhouse and ask how much more it can offer.
His response has been to rethink familiar dishes through technique, texture, and presentation, using the pop-up as a place to develop ideas toward a hoped-for permanent restaurant.
November’s menu brings that approach into autumn. Compressed beets meet fennel, green apple, and chimichurri yogurt. A squash course brings cappelletti, cauliflower, chestnut, and pomegranate. Halibut is paired with potato slivers acting as fish scales, Brussels sprouts, turnip, onion, and champagne.
The beef course is a 35-day dry-aged prime New York strip—with an optional upgrade: a 21-day dry-aged Mishima Reserve American Wagyu—with celeriac, carrot, broccoli, and peppercorn. Duck follows with a 14-day crown, leg bacon, parsnip, and white chocolate.
“The crown is dry-aged for 14 days and roasted to make the skin crispy,” Chef Jordan said. “The legs get deboned, pressed, cured, and smoked to make what resembles classic steakhouse thick-cut bacon on the plate. Duck bacon. All served with a white chocolate sauce and cabernet gastrique.”
For dessert: ube Basque cheesecake with banana, miso, and coconut.
Memoir x Slao takes place on Monday, Nov. 16, at Partake Collective’s R&D Kitchen located at 456 Elm Ave. Memoir serves walk-ins from 10AM to 2PM or until sold out. Slao has four service times: 5PM, 5:45PM, 6:30PM, and 7:15PM; reservations are required.
