There's a new edgy, sometimes cloak and dagger, way to eat out. Virgil Evetts explains the concept and the buzz.
I'm done with you Slow Food. And as for you, Molecular Gastronomy, with your impossible spheres and freeze-dried emulsions, I just don't like you anymore. I have a new love now - the Pop-Up dinner.
The pop-up concept is thought to have originated in New York. People from all walks of life host themed dinners in all sorts of unlikely places - which could mean anywhere from a loft apartment to a burnt-out church. They are generally non-profit affairs charging diners only enough to break even. Menus are designed and delivered by enthusiastic cooks, as opposed to professional chefs, and all advertising is either by word of mouth or through social networking sites.
The movement often violates a wide range of civic regulations and by-laws, so by necessity tends to operate under the radar. Although in most cases all comers are welcome, you might have do some serious Facebook trawling to find out about them.
"Claire", a pop-up host and regular attendee, got into running pop-up dinners by accident, when her idea for a book club about food didn't quite pan out. "It sort of morphed into something different - more about me cooking - and it became viral on Facebook through friends of friends". Today she describes the evenings held by her ever-expanding circle of pop-up friends as "an antidote to the normal restaurant experience... it's more like a dinner party, but with people you don't know - yet".
