50Hertz Flavor On the Menu: A Two-Night Tingly Takeover at State Bird Provisions

I thought I knew Sichuan pepper.

Until this dinner.

Last month, we wrapped a two-night collaboration at State Bird Provisions — the legendary, cart-driven, Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco known for turning California ingredients into playful surprises.

For two nights, 50Hertz didn’t just get “featured.”

We took over the room.

Three seatings each night.
About 320 guests total.
Completely booked.

At one point, I even grabbed a cart and rolled it between tables like I worked there.

I was exhausted.

But also exhilarated.

What It Felt Like in the Room

Because State Bird is built around motion, the takeover didn’t feel like a fixed menu.

It felt alive.

Carts rolled past.
Plates landed fast.
People leaned forward in their chairs.

We filmed the whole thing too — not a polished promo, just the real energy of the room.

Guests reacting in real time. Chefs moving fast behind the pass. You can feel how electric the tingle made everything.

I spent both nights talking Sichuan pepper with guests — answering questions, explaining the tingle, and watching reactions when it hit for the first time.

The best moments were quiet ones.

Someone would pause mid-bite and ask:

“Wait… what is that?”

Not heat.

Something else.

Others simply clapped in support, demanding, “we want more tingly!”

The Dishes That Carried the Tingle

Image: The printed menu from our two-night takeover at State Bird Provisions, highlighting the three dishes built around 50Hertz Sichuan peppers.

For the takeover, the chefs built three dishes around our Sichuan peppers — each one completely different, stretching the tingle from savory to dessert.

My personal favorite?

Mushroom–Royal Corona Bean Donabe with Hodo soy tofu and green garlic fried rice.

Warm.
Comforting.
Deep.

It was served in a donabe — a Japanese clay pot — which kept everything bubbling hot at the table.

Then the green Sichuan pepper came in and lifted everything, changing the flavor with every bite.

Fun fact: this was the very first dish State Bird ever tested using our peppers.

From there, the tingle showed up in two more ways.

Stemple Creek Butcher’s Steak au Poivre with Sichuan peppercorn sauce and tingly potato salad.

A classic steakhouse idea, flipped.

Instead of black pepper’s blunt punch, Sichuan pepper brought citrus and floral notes, with a longer finish that carried through the whole plate.

And for dessert:

Chocolate Sichuan Pot de Crème with brown sugar crème fraîche, pecan florentine, and raspberry.

This one stopped conversations.

Sichuan pepper in dessert can be risky.

Here, it worked.

The chocolate tasted darker.
The raspberry popped brighter.
The tingle made everything last longer.

Each dish used Sichuan pepper in a different way.

Not just heat.

Aroma. 

Texture.

Sensation.

That range is what made the night so exciting — watching one ingredient stretch from donabe to steak to dessert without ever feeling repetitive.

Why State Bird Was the Perfect Partner

Image: In the heart of the kitchen — me with Chef Stuart to my right and the incredible State Bird team behind the Tingly Takeover.

State Bird is led by co-owners and chefs Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski.

Their restaurant grew out of recession-era necessity — tight budgets, constant improvisation, and lots of trial and error.

Out of that pressure came the format they’re famous for: becoming one of the first in San Francisco to serve non-Chinese food on rolling carts and trays, mixing dim-sum energy with California cooking.

Their breakthrough came in 2012, when Bon Appétit named them Best New Restaurant in America — followed by a James Beard Award in 2013 and a Michelin star by 2014, which is still shining today.

Once the recognition hit, the city took notice.

Phones exploded nonstop.
Reservations vanished as soon as they were put up.
Lines wrapped the block.

The dining room eventually expanded into three complementary restaurants — State Bird Provisions, The Progress, and The Anchovy Bar — and the reputation was sealed.

What hasn’t changed?

The noise.
The movement.
The curiosity.

That energy carried straight into our takeover.

After the event, Stuart sent a note reflecting on the collaboration:

How This Collaboration Started

Image: How it started – meeting Chef Stuart during an incredibly delicious and fun dinner with Fuchsia Dunlop and Deborah Kwan at State Bird Provisions in 2023.

Our relationship with State Bird began in 2023.

That year, cookbook author Fuchsia Dunlop was touring for Invitation to a Banquet. We brought our Tingly Peanuts to her U.S. events.

After her San Francisco talk, a group of us went to State Bird for dinner.

Dishes flew by on carts.

I joked it felt like speed dating — those fast decisions reveal everything about taste.

At the end of the meal, Chef Stuart stopped by.

I introduced myself.
And our Sichuan peppers.

I never imagined his team would later start ordering them — let alone build a full collaboration dinner around them.

Then this July, an email landed in my inbox.

Would we want to do a takeover?

When we got on the call, Chef Stuart already had the night mapped out.

As someone who usually pitches ideas and asks others to take a chance on us, being on the receiving end of that trust meant a lot.

A Few Surreal Moments From the Night

Some familiar faces came through, too.

Harold McGee — the legendary food-science writer and friend of the company, whose work has shaped how chefs think about flavor and technique for decades.

Amy Tan — the celebrated novelist and friend of the company, whose stories about family, food, and heritage many of us grew up reading.

The Bi-Rite team — icons of San Francisco food culture and champions of ingredient-driven cooking long before it was trendy — and a place you can get our tingly creations in person in San Francisco.

Seeing all of them in the room felt surreal.

And yet the evening kept delivering moments that reminded us why we love doing this in the first place.

Watching people experience Sichuan pepper in real time.

Not just heat.

A sensation.

The citrus aroma hitting first.
That gentle electrical tingle spreading across the tongue.
The pause mid-bite… then the grin.
Then the second bite.

And then there was a customer moment that perfectly captured the spirit of the night.

During dinner, I struck up a conversation with a guest named Jay — a longtime fan of our Tingly snacks. We talked about Sichuan pepper, the collaboration, and what had brought him that evening.

Earlier that day, Jay had written to us about a technical issue on our website.

We had personally responded earlier in the day.

A few days later, Jay shared the encounter on LinkedIn, and we’re so touched by his support! 

Nights like this aren’t only about accolades or big names.

They’re about connection.

Curiosity.

And that electric moment when someone tastes huājiāo and realizes: oh — this is different!

What This Takeover Really Proved

This is what happens when chefs get curious.

Sichuan pepper stops being a novelty and starts becoming part of how a dish is built.

Not a gimmick.
Not “málà on everything.”
Not heat for shock value.

At State Bird, it showed up in quiet ways and bold ones.

It lifted rich dishes.
Cut through fat.
Made chocolate taste deeper.
Made fruit pop brighter.
Let flavors hang around longer.

Watching those plates roll through the dining room — and watching guests slowly realize what they were tasting — made something clear to me:

Sichuan pepper isn’t a trick.

It’s a tool.

If you thought it only belonged in Chinese cooking, this dinner gently — and deliciously — argued otherwise.

That’s what excites me about where this goes next.

Not hype.

Just more chefs getting curious about what this ingredient can actually do.

⚡ That’s my hope for the future of tingle.

Where This Goes Next

If you’re a chef, a restaurateur, or just someone who loves experimenting in the kitchen — and this dinner sparked ideas — reach out.

We love working with people who are curious about ingredients and open to trying something new.

If you’ve ever wondered what a tingly dinner at your favorite restaurant might look like, let’s talk.

And if you cook with Sichuan pepper at home, tag us.

I want to see where you take it next.