The day before Nat Talbot’s parents were going to sell the family’s Bernal Heights home in 2024, his father, the journalist and author David Talbot, had a stroke.
That pushed 31-year-old Nat Talbot into high gear, who, along with his older brother, Joe Talbot, the director of “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” is caring for his parents and helping to pay the mortgage on the family home.
While his brother works on filmmaking, Nat Talbot has found his calling in running Fatty Natty’s pop-up pizza operation at Charlie’s Cafe at Folsom Street and Precita Avenue. The pop-up’s name is Talbot’s nickname, made up by a friend. It leans into Talbot’s stocky appearance and love of rhymes.
“Everything changed when my dad had a stroke,” said Talbot. He applied to innumerable jobs, and worked as a rideshare delivery driver and a parking valet. Friends stepped in with a GoFundMe for his parents; his mother, Camille Peri, also a writer. It has raised $120,000 to help pay for medical and living expenses.
As he sat on a bench at Precita Park, a couple of blocks away from his childhood home, Nat Talbot recalled riding bikes and trash cans down the steep hills as a kid, and making music at the nearby Precita Center.
“Music, movies, books and food were all important in the house,” said Talbot about his upbringing. He discovered his passion for cooking at a summer camp in San Francisco.
“They taught us how to make this pasta with lemon sauce and prosciutto, and for years that’s all I made,” he said. Talbot would go on to enroll in the now-closed San Francisco Cooking School.
Talbot took internships at a couple of restaurants, preparing salads and working as a line cook at a restaurant at 18th and Valencia streets.
“It was fun, and definitely, like, if you ever watch ‘The Bear,’ it got intense too,” Talbot recalled. “Some chefs were crazy assholes, but you learned from them.”
Talbot enjoyed working in a traditional restaurant setting, but he eventually burned out.
Talbot said he always dreamed about starting his own restaurant, and was inspired by the East Oakland entrepreneur behind Hotdogco, who began selling food from his house before the pandemic via his Instagram page.
“I remember pulling up to an alleyway at his gate,” said Talbot. “ He came out with a plate of food, and I was like, ‘I love this.’ I would love to just sell food out of the fucking house.”
And so he did. Around three years ago, Talbot began selling food plates via his Instagram page. Every week, he had a new set menu to promote to his Instagram followers. Customers could pick up meals at his house, or he would deliver it to their location.
Talbot said his first menu was too extravagant. “Ribeye steak, scalloped potatoes, lobster tails, and a different vegetable,” he said.
“It was fun,” he said, “but I wasn’t making any money. I wasn’t making shit.”
On a trip to New York City, Talbot had a culinary epiphany: Less was more. “Just pick something traditional and do it right, with really good ingredients.” He decided on pizza.
Talbot said he was inspired by Chrissy’s Pizza, whose owner, Chris Hansel, began selling pizza from his Bushwick, Brooklyn apartment in 2022. “It was like the pizza we saw growing up (in films).”
Talbot began learning the science behind pizzamaking and developing his own recipe.
“I nerded out on pizzamaking.com, and found out about different dough calculators,” Talbot said. Before his father’s stroke, Nat was already meticulously developing his New York-inspired pizza recipe. He used his home oven and made pies for friends and family. He knew he was ready for primetime.
On a recent morning walk with his father by Precita Park this spring, Talbot said his dad wanted to visit an old family friend: Charlie, the owner of a neighborhood staple, Charlie’s Cafe at 3202 Folsom St. near Precita Park.
“It was the first time Charlie had seen my dad since he had his stroke. He immediately hugged him. I asked if I could possibly sell pizza out of his shop. And he said ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’” said Talbot.
He started selling pizza at Charlie’s Cafe in March, and now regularly sells on Thursdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays 2:30 p.m., until he sells out.
“I’m making enough right now where I don’t have to work a job. But my main goal is to build this up so I can take care of my parents full-time,” said Talbot.
Talbot also is seeking advice and guidance from La Cocina, a Mission neighborhood organization, which helps home cooks start their own businesses.
Talbot said he’s grateful for the support he’s received from the local community, friends and family.
So Talbot Sr. has a mortgage on his primary residence of 30 years, meaning he’s already taken equity out of the property, cashing in on the proceeds of being a San Francisco real estate investor. Talbor Jr. sells out of $20 cheese pies, meaning most of his audience is the well to do. I remember when Sr. would rant and rave about how rich people were ruining the soul of San Francisco or something. I guess techno-capital has come for them, too. Man’s gotta eat. May that be an empathy lesson.