On the heels of their majorly successful “Parachute” taco with Hayley Williams, Los Angeles’ popular taco spot HomeState is revealing their newest collaboration with comedian Atsuko Okatsuka.
HomeState announced Thursday the new collab, which is an extension of their band program, will be a departure from tacos with a new limited time Tex-Mex bowl.
“It is a huge thing. It’s definitely a first time thing,” HomeState’s founder & CEO, Briana Valdez, exclusively told Page Six, adding that Okatsuka and her husband, Ryan Harper Gray, have been frequent customers since her first restaurant in Hollywood opened in 2013.
The Atsuko Bowl — which will be available to customers from May 6 – June 14 in conjunction with the comedian’s “Big Bowl Tour” and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month — will blend Japanese and Tejano ingredients.
Valdez told us it was extremely important to them to highlight the Mexican American and Japanese American cultures in the new bowl.
“We’re really proud of it and I think that people are going to love it,” the Texas native said. “I mean, I’m obsessed with it. I think it is so good. It’s so delicious.”
The bowl includes Kokuho Calrose rice from California — similar to sushi rice, but with lime juice instead of rice vinegar — achiote-marinated chicken, black beans, mushrooms, shredded cabbage, pickled jalapeños and topped with sour cream, tortilla strips, cilantro and a miso-chipotle sauce.
HomeState’s band program, which began in 2015 and includes previous collaborations with Questlove, Phoebe Bridgers, Leon Bridges, Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, The Marías and Fred Armisen, has raised over $500,000 for nonprofit organizations.
Okatsuka’s bowl and Williams’ recent taco are currently raising money for The Immigrant Defenders Law Center, who work to defend immigrant communities.
“They are doing such important work,” Valdez told us. “It feels it feels really good to be aligned in that with this partner and be able to raise funds that can create such tangible impact.”
The process of creating the band tacos, Valdez explained, is different for each person depending on their schedule.
“We start off by finding out what is it that you order when you come to HomeState,” she told us, noting that they’ve never done a collab with someone who doesn’t eat at the restaurant. “That’s a big criteria for the program at large is they have to be guest.”
“Leon Bridges came in and tried the taco beforehand, and he just like took one bite and was like, ‘Yes.’ And then we had other artists that come in and they’re like, ‘Well, I don’t love that. Can we try this? Can we try that?’ And they get a lot more involved in the creative process and both are awesome.”
Though the band collaborations — which are so popular bands have actually sent in videos and campaigns requesting one — come to an end, some of them are so popular, like Armisen’s Emo’s and Leon Bridges’ Fort Worth tacos, they remain mainstays on the menu.
“We don’t decide the guests do, you guys do,” Valdez said of which celebrity creations they keep around. “Some magic that happens every now and then where it fills a need that we don’t have, like a mushroom taco.”
Seemingly hinting at Williams’ Parachute taco — which is set to leave the menu on May 17 and features mushrooms, black beans, lettuce, Monterey Jack cheese and crunchy tortilla strips, topped with tomatillo ranch — Valdez teased there are “already rumblings of it potentially sticking around.”
HomeState, which brings in A-list regular customers including Elijah Wood and Mia Goth, have opened eight locations across Los Angeles, with two more on the way.
“We have the best community,” Valdez said. “It’s like unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We have such loyal guests and such kind, passionate people. … I’m so grateful for that.”