Surprising sports fans, mysterious hums, and something called “the handshake of monogamy.” These are the stories we didn’t wind up doing, but kind of wish we had.
Why S.F.'s Coolest Party Hosts Now Throw 9am Ragers Instead
A mix of neighborhood runs, one-day burrito collaborations, and Filipino-inspired cold brews highlight this new series of San Francisco-focused morning events.
Morning Blend organizers Aaron Lau and Arthur Alcantar, center, will host their latest event at Señor Sisig in San Francisco on November 22, 2025. (Courtesy of Matthew Chou)
What happens when the children of San Francisco immigrants grow up to work in nightlife, and then, after hosting hella parties for celebrities like P-Lo and Aaron Kai, decide to stop drinking?
You get Morning Blend: a series of Saturday morning hangouts that feature group runs, specialty coffees, breakfast burrito collabs, live DJs, and hella community love that gets spread across Frisco’s kaleidoscopically diverse cafe scene.
Arthur Alcantar and Aaron Lau are behind it. As lifelong locals, the friends have done their part to cultivate and preserve a healthy ecosystem of Bay Area culture, having each been fixtures in the nightlife and entertainment circuits. As they’ve grown older, though, they realized that not everyone is built to attend rap shows at midnight — there’s a massive segment of Bay Area residents who wake up early, roll up their sleeves, and put in work. So why not create events for those folks, too?
"It’s trendy to get people together in a third space. Coffee, running clubs, the whole thing. But this isn’t about that. This is about our relationships in these communities for the past decade."
“People want to come and support small businesses and be in community. But not everyone can go out at night. We know the DJs, we know how to film it all, but nightlife can be too chaotic,” says Alcantar. “The morning is way more chill, and you can actually speak to people and connect with them. We’re only doing hand-to-hand sales for our shirts right now. We shake hands with anyone who visits to support. We get to know them. That would be impossible for nightlife.”
Alcantar and Lau began their collaboration a decade ago with Free Bread, a brand focused on uplifting Bay Area culture through food, music, clothing, and more. Now, they’ve partnered with local fitness trainer David So of No Fake Sweat to launch Morning Blend.
Since debuting at Outside Lands, the group has lapped their way around coffee shops in the Marina, Excelsior, Outer Sunset, Dogpatch, and Noe Valley neighborhoods, attracting anywhere from 30 to 100 runners with the goal of boosting sales for small businesses in areas that may not otherwise get tons of foot traffic.
“It’s trendy to get people together in a third space. Coffee, running clubs, the whole thing. But this isn’t about that. This is about our relationships in these communities for the past decade, about our parents who have been entrepreneurs in San Francisco for over 30 years,” says Alcantar, also known as the Grammy-winning hip-hop producer, Cal-A. “This is an extension of that legacy.”
Morning Blend events begin with a 9am run and end at a pre-designated cafe where music plays and coffee is poured for hungry runners and curious passersby alike.
On Saturday, November 22nd, the crew will be pulling up to Señor Sisig at Thrive City in Mission Bay. The event is meant to be a celebration: Ten years ago, Alcantar and Lau filmed a video about Señor Sisig as an up-and-coming food truck. Those Filipino culinary artists have since gone on to open various chain locations in the region and gain accolades for their “groundbreaking,” new-school take on Filipino cuisine.
For this special iteration of Morning Blend, a breakfast burrito will be served — the first-ever breakfast offering from the taqueria. The signature burrito will include Filipino-style ribeye bistek, tater tots, pickled red onions, scrambled eggs with cheese, Mexican crema, and tomatillo salsa. In addition, Excelsior Coffee will supply a turon-inspired cold brew featuring a banana cream foam that is meant to play on the flavor profile of the Filipino dessert lumpia filled with plantains and jackfruit.
Free Bread co-founder Arthur Alcantar and Señor Sisig co-owner Evan Kidera dig into the taqueria's first-ever breakfast burrito, which will be served at an upcoming Morning Blend event in San Francisco. (Courtesy of Matthew Chou)
In many ways, it’s an ode to their parents’ working-class hustles. Alcantar and Lau can both sympathize with what it takes to keep an independent operation afloat: Alcantar’s father has been running AA Builders since 1989, and Lau’s parents have long operated Danny's Cleaners in Noe Valley.
Besides the “human-to-human connection” of it all, Alcantar emphasizes the “storytelling” that goes into each Morning Blend pop-up.
“Some of the businesses we’re working with, they’re not all hella aesthetic,” Alcantar says. “Java Beach is a staple in the community, but it’s not like they’re serving TikTok-friendly matcha swirls on top of your drinks. It’s a place for San Francisco bluebloods. Patrick, the owner, is a gem of a man, a real legend. It’s cool getting to hear the stories of business owners like him and sharing that with others. These owners are just trying to keep the lights on. That’s the common thread.”
The last Morning Blend of this year will take place at Señor Sisig SF Thrive City (151 Warriors Way Suite 103, San Francisco, CA) on Sat., Nov. 22. The group run begins at 9am, and music begins at 9:30am. Señor Sisig will unveil their first-ever breakfast burrito for one day only.
Alan Chazaro is a traveling Bay Area dad and writer currently based in Veracruz, Mexico. His forthcoming poetry collection, These Spaceships Weren't Built For Us, will be published with Tia Chucha Press in 2026.
