Pop-Up Restaurants: Innovation Without Risk

You know when you have an amazing meal at a restaurant and then go back but it’s just not the same? What if every time you went out to eat, it was your first (and last) time at a new place? Pop-up restaurants—named Top Operational Trend for 2011 by the National Restaurant Association—are emerging across the country, offering jaded urban foodies the opportunity to spice up their dining experiences while allowing chefs to maximize innovation with minimal financial risk.

Tuck In, Clear OutPop-up restaurants are an updated, legal version of the underground supper club. In many ways, they’re just like a traditional restaurant—they’re licensed, promoted to the public, and usually feature a high-profile chef—but they move around the city and are only open in one location for a day, week, or month at a time.

For chefs, pop-ups offer the opportunity to test new dishes and expand their brand without many of the risks inherent in the traditional restaurant business. There’s no rent or employee benefits to pay, since venues are temporary and staff is limited or nonexistent. Social media offers free marketing. And there’s no pressure to develop a consistent menu, so chefs can experiment with what they serve each night.

“I get to be more playful,” Dan Moody, a California-based chef who has been spearheading pop-ups in Los Angeles since 2007, told the Jamaica Observer. “At a restaurant, you have to think about how it would work operationally for a long period of time.”

Diners love pop-ups, too. They can enjoy high-end, creative meals at affordable prices because they don’t have to pay owners’ overhead costs. There’s also the thrill of variety; most urbanites eat out two to three times a week, and pop-ups provide an escape from the steady rotation of a few old haunts. Chefs play to diners’ desire to shake themselves out of a dining rut, like at Sensorium,in Washington, D.C., where a popular menu item is the Nonsense course: a small cube of pork belly served on a miniature dollhouse chair and a potato and wild onion laid out on a tiny table.

At a time of economic downturn and slow restaurant traffic, pop-ups are becoming so big that even mainstream restaurant institutions are getting on board. For example, Martha Stewart opened a pie shop in Manhattan for two days in March 2011, and the James Beard Foundation established JBF LTD in New York City’s Chelsea Market for twenty-seven days in April and May 2011. Pop-ups are also being used to raise money for charity; MissionStreetFood, in San Francisco, has hosted more than sixty guest chefs and contributed $22,000 to charities in 2009.

A Slight AftertastePop-ups aren’t without hassles, however. They do require capital, and it can be difficult for operators to find a location. Once a chef/owner does secure a spot to start serving, they often need to wade through plenty of red tape, as each city has its own rules about granting licenses and permits. Hiring staff and obtaining kitchen equipment for the short term poses additional problems.

Moody, for example, spent three months trying to find a location for his pop-up, RelateRestaurant, in Scottsdale, Arizona, and another two preparing it to open. He had to furnish the kitchen entirely on his own and found it difficult to hire staff willing to work for a short-term experiment. For start-up capital, Moody took a loan from his parents that he has yet to repay.

Food for ThoughtThe growing trend in pop-up restaurants across the urban landscape brings the future of traditional restaurants into question. If chefs and owners can just hang out their shingles, so to speak, and offer innovative meals without the risk of bankruptcy, why invest in a permanent eatery at all? Sure, there are some drawbacks, and pop-ups still require capital, but temporary dining venues are nevertheless taking a big bite out of the restaurant.

Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/38/114615-pop-up-restaurants-innovation-risk#ixzz23UyfC0ZC

Source: http://goo.gl/paVPQ