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A pop-up restaurant is a temporary restaurant. These restaurants often operate from a private home, former factory, existing restaurants or similar space, and during festivals. [1] Various other names have been used to describe the concept of setting up a restaurant without the typical level of up-front costs, such as guerrilla diners and underground supper clubs. [2] [3]
Pop-up restaurants have been popular since the 2000s in Britain and Australia, but they are not a new phenomenon. Pop-up restaurants have existed in the United States and Cuba. [4] Diners typically make use of social media, such as the blogosphere and Twitter, to follow the movement of these restaurants and make online reservations. [5] [6]
Pop-up restaurants, like food trucks, are an effective way for young professionals to gain exposure of their skills in the field of hospitality as they seek investors and attention pursuant to opening a restaurant or another culinary concept. [7]
Pop-up restaurants have been seen as useful for younger chefs, allowing them to utilize underused kitchen facilities and "experiment without the risk of bankruptcy". [5] By 2013, this restaurant style had gained steam and prevalence in larger cities thanks in part to crowd-funding efforts that offered the short-term capital needed to fund start-up costs. [8]
Notable entrepreneurs, chefs, and restaurateurs have opened pop-up restaurants:
Differently from traditional pop-up restaurants, which tend to financially support their restaurateurs as means of profit or living, the Restaurant Day event (Finnish : Ravintolapäivä) invites people to put up their own restaurants, cafés, and bars for one day only. Founded by Timo Santala, Olli Sirén, and Antti Tuomola in Helsinki, Finland, in 2011, the movement is intended to promote and celebrate food culture. [16]
Thomas Aloysius Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997. The restaurant is a perennial winner in the annual Restaurant Magazine list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World.
The French Laundry is a three-Michelin-star French and Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1978 and designed her menus around local, seasonal ingredients; she was a visionary chef and pioneer of California cuisine. Since 1994, the chef and owner of The French Laundry is Thomas Keller. The restaurant building dates from 1900 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
A supper club is a traditional dining establishment that also functions as a social club. The term may describe different establishments depending on the region, but in general, supper clubs tend to present themselves as having a high-class image, even if the price is affordable to all. In the 2010s, a newer usage of the term supper club emerged, referring to underground restaurants.
Guy Ramsay Fieri is an American restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award winning television presenter. He co-owned three now defunct restaurants in California. He licenses his name to restaurants in cities all over the world, and is known for hosting various television series on the Food Network. By 2010, The New York Times reported that Fieri had become the "face of the network", bringing an "element of rowdy, mass-market culture to American food television" and that his "prime-time shows attract more male viewers than any others on the network".
An underground restaurant, sometimes known as a supper club or closed door restaurant, is a social dining restaurant operated out of someone's home, generally bypassing local zoning and health-code regulations. They are usually advertised by word of mouth or unwanted advertising. Websites such as BonAppetour have been created to help people find and book these restaurants.
The Ghetto Gourmet was an underground dining experience in Oakland, California that ran from 2003 to 2008. Diners paid between $40 and $100 and were served a table d'hôte meal prepared by a professional chef at a non-restaurant location. Local restaurant chefs cooked on their days off. Douglas Adesko at Time magazine wrote: "Jeremy Townsend, the original Ghetto Gourmet, came up with the idea when his brother, a line cook, wanted to try some dishes. They started in their house in Oakland, California. Two years and one visit from a health inspector later, Townsend took his idea mobile, trying out chefs in other cities. 'My ultimate dream is to tour the country like a rock band, except with dinner parties,' he says."
Noma is a three-Michelin-star restaurant run by chef René Redzepi, and co-founded by Claus Meyer, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The name is a syllabic abbreviation of the two Danish words "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food). Opened in 2003, the restaurant is known for its focus on foraging, invention and interpretation of New Nordic Cuisine. In 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014, it was ranked as the Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant magazine. In 2021 it won the first spot in the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards.
Tom Wahl's is a chain of fast-food restaurants based in the Rochester, New York area that currently has several restaurants around the Finger Lakes region. USA Today named it one of "51 great burger joints across the USA" in 2010.
Jason Atherton is an English chef and restaurateur. His flagship restaurant Pollen Street Social gained a Michelin Star in 2011, its opening year. He was the Executive Chef at Gordon Ramsay's Michelin starred Maze in London until 30 April 2010. In 2014 he co-hosted the Sky Living TV series My Kitchen Rules.
Ludovic Lefebvre is a Michelin-star French chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality. He trained in France for 12 years before moving to Los Angeles. He was awarded the prestigious Forbes Travel Guide Five Star Award at two different restaurants, L'Orangerie in 1999 and 2000 and Bastide in 2006.
The first season of the American reality competition show Top Chef Masters was broadcast on Bravo. It is a spin-off of Bravo's hit show Top Chef. In the first season, 24 world-renowned chefs competed against each other in weekly challenges. The program took place in Los Angeles. In the season finale that premiered on August 19, 2009, Rick Bayless was crowned Top Chef Master.
L'Autre Pied was a one Michelin star restaurant situated in Marylebone, in London's West End in England, specialising in French cuisine.
Charlie's Burgers is a series of private dining events originated in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2009 operated by Franco Stalteri and Donato Carozza. In 2010, it was ranked by Food and Wine Magazine as one of the top three "word of mouth" supper clubs on its list of "100 Best New Food and Drink Experiences in the World". Each dinner event is hosted by a different high-profile chef and is held in a different location, with the location being secret until the last minute. Charlie's Burgers has collaborated with chefs recognized by The World's 50 Best Restaurants, The Michelin Guide and Relais & Chateaux, in Canada, England and France. In January 2010 it held a dinner event featuring insects for which guests paid $155. In July 2010 it expanded beyond Toronto to offer events in London and Paris. In August 2011, Charlie's Burgers launched its own Champagne, a Grand Cru, Blanc de Blancs from a grower from Oger, Marne, France. Franco is a voter on the world’s 50 Best Restaurant List.
Pollen Street Social is a restaurant in London, England, run by chef Jason Atherton. It was Atherton's first UK solo restaurant, and in 2011 was named the best new UK restaurant by the Good Food Guide, and the best new fine-dining restaurant in London by Time Out. It currently holds one Michelin star, which it gained within a year of opening. Elements in the restaurant such as the dessert bar have been subsequently included in Atherton's other restaurants. On 22 March 2024, Atherton announced on Instagram that the restaurant would be closing permanently on 31 July 2024.
Myles Alan Chefetz is an American restaurateur and chief executive officer of Myles Restaurant Group. He has been twice nominated for the James Beard Foundation "Outstanding Restaurateur" Award and has been referred to as the "Sultan of South of Fifth."
Irving Street Kitchen was a restaurant serving American cuisine in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District, in the United States. Conceived by Doug Washington, Mitch Rosenthal and Steve Rosenthal as their interpretation on American cuisine with a Southern influence, it opened on May 6, 2010. With executive chef Sarah Schafer, Irving Street Kitchen added to their serving hours over the years, opening up for lunch and brunch. The restaurant also shifted towards casual dining in 2019, revamping its menu and ambiance. Irving Street Kitchen ultimately closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Clocktower is an American restaurant located at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. Despite its name it is on the second floor of the building, not in the structure's clock tower. The Clocktower received a Michelin star in the 2018 Michelin Guide for New York City. The restaurant lost the star in 2022.
Lil' Deb's Oasis is a tropical restaurant, bar, and art installation in Hudson, New York, in the upper Hudson Valley. The restaurant has a unique menu, self-described as "tropical comfort food" and including elements of South Asian and Latin American cuisines while sourcing ingredients from the Hudson Valley. Lil' Deb's operates as an interactive art project, performance venue, and community gathering space, as well as operating as a business. The restaurant is oriented toward LGBT cultural themes, defining its hospitality style, and aims to be an LGBT-inclusive space, including hosting queer performance events. The restaurant is positively reviewed by critics, and has seen national media coverage.
Ping was an Asian restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Chef Andy Ricker and restaurateur Kurt Huffman opened the original restaurant in Old Town Chinatown in 2009. In 2010, Ping was a semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category at the James Beard Foundation Awards. It was also named a best new restaurant by GQ and earned a Rising Star award from The Oregonian.
Cow by Bear is an American pop-up steakhouse founded in San Diego by an anonymous chef dressed as a Kodiak bear.
