Chameleon food brand summers at Bibo

Greg Sweeney's evolving HOM Street Food is an occasional pop-up restaurant, a catering and prepared meals service, a packaged food brand, and now the resident operator at Bibo Strathcona.

At Bibo, in the back alley at 10302 Whyte Avenue NW, the HOM menu is fragrant and bright, with dishes that make liberal use of herbs, chilis, garlic, and fermented ingredients. Sweeney informally founded the company after travelling across Southeast Asia in 2018.

"Southeast Asian food is fresh and bold," he told Taproot. "They do a lot of fermentation, and they do shrimp paste and fish sauces, and all these funky and umami flavors that I was blown away by."

Sweeney is putting his spin on regional specialties from countries such as Thailand and Indonesia rather than mass-consumed dishes that Western palates may be more familiar with. "Everybody knows green curry — which I love — but it's just not the type of thing I'm interested in making."

That said, one of Sweeney's current favourites is rendang daging, a dry, curried, caramelized beef dish. Rendang, or slow-cooked meat that is typically stewed in coconut milk and spices, is officially considered a national dish of Indonesia.

"It's one of my favourite dishes that I had over there," Sweeney said. "I serve it with peanuts and fried anchovies, so that's a little bit different, and with sambal, braised greens, and a turmeric rice."

When the Culina group opened Bibo in 2024, it was a sake-and-wine-bar reinterpretation of the Bibo that closed alongside Culina in Mill Creek in 2016. The operators tapped Sweeney for a June takeover after a turnover of kitchen staff turned into an opportunity to experiment, Sweeney said. It didn't hurt that he had worked for the Culina group in the past.

"This industry is really small," Sweeney said. "One thing I love about it is that the people who you respect and who you're friends with, they really want everybody to succeed and be great."

Dan Tansy, who works at nearby Boxer, built a cocktail menu to complement HOM's flavours. It includes the sake that is foundational to Bibo in a negroni named for Whyte Avenue, mixed with pandan gin and bianco (white) vermouth.

Sweeney has built these relationships through thick and thin since leaving his career as a machinist to pursue food in 2018. He was a vendor at 5th Street Food Hall before it folded (and moved and folded again); was an operator at Shamrock Curling; and took stints as a chef at restaurants such as Three Vikings and Arbour when HOM wasn't a full-time option.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a historic setback for restaurants and hospitality operators of all stripes, from which many say they have still not recovered. The hardship taught Sweeney to diversify. He began selling meal kits and packaged condiments, such as a chili jam and a crispy chili oil. His friends from Drift Food Truck gave him production and retail space at the Drift Retail Shop.

Bibo is trying out HOM until the end of September. With his future at the space unclear, Sweeney said he's ready to keep on evolving as his situation changes.

"The whole idea behind this is that the cost to start a restaurant, as everybody knows, is astronomical these days," he said. "If they do move on, I'll go back to doing some meal kits, pop-ups, and then try to grow back into my own space."

Sweeney may not need to look far for his next ephemeral opportunity, as pop-up opportunities are plentiful near Bibo.

Beljan Development has rechristened the space that was occupied by EPIC Market as Station Park Food Hall at the eponymous micro-retail development at the corner of Whyte Avenue and Gateway Boulevard. It hosts weeks-long pop-ups with multiple vendors at a time.

The Hub, created by the founders of Meuwly's, is just a few blocks west, offering opportunities to share space for months-long stints or even longer. Just a few blocks towards the river on 109 Street, Little Wolf regularly welcomes chefs to pop up for a few days or even just one night.

Also fleeting are the specials offered at HOM, with past offerings such as black cod-and-shrimp cakes and a grilled pork belly salad. The restaurant posts them on Instagram.