Tips to make a pop-up restaurant work

ldquoA true taste of what itrsquos like to run a restaurant in Indiardquo is how Chef Jehangir Mehta summed up the experience of showcasing his culinary skills for a popup held at The Tasting Room last year While Mumbai loved Mehta the chef who runs restaurants in NYCrsquos fashionable East Village and TriBeCa areas was stunned by the incredible response he received and the cityrsquos hospitality But he admits that the event did entail its fair share of challengesThe OhSoFamous Garage Sale by Small Fry Co was held in October last year and featured popup food counters that stocked various goodiesDuck and coverldquoI was told that duck was readily available in Mumbai but on the day of the event when we required 15 ducks the supplier could provide only twordquo Mehta offers by way of exampleThe assistants managed to procure another three and ldquoa couple of chefs who were coming to eat at the restaurant were kind enough to bring raw ducks with themrdquo Mehta says His tone is perceptibly strained even at the recollectionWith his ample experience in this domain restaurateur AD Singh however hasnrsquot come up against similar challenges with his Thalassa popup Goarsquos popular Greek restaurantrsquos cuisine continues to be showcased at Olive Mahalakshmi till midSeptember The only drawback Singh lists is ldquoWersquove had to turn away patrons who want Olive farerdquoWhat works what doesnrsquotFor Singh this popup presented an opportunity to dispel rumours that were resulting in a loss of business ldquoThere was a lot of speculation about expiring leases of restaurants in the entire Turf Club area which was keeping customers awayrdquo Singh reveals adding ldquoWe felt that a popup with Thalassa would reenergise the property as itrsquos a popular brandrdquoThalassa was fortunate in that the association with Olive afforded it the resources of an established finedining restaurant Mangal Dalal who runs culinary consulting firm Cellar Door Hospitality with Chef Nachiket Shetye tells us that renting a multipurpose space for a popup comes with a host of other problems Their recent success was a threeday popup of New Delhirsquos celebrity chef Ritu Dalmiarsquos restaurant Diva It was held at House of Tales a banquet room in Colaba which meant they had to buy equipment ldquoOnly the equipment required for runofthemill banqueting functions are available on leaserdquo explains DalalThe price must be rightOne would imagine the popularity of these events is at least partly because they provide a lowcost alternative to expensive longterm property leases Dalal whose company will assist Italian chef Alessio Mecozzi with a popup at The Ambassador Hotel next month tells us that these events present their own pricing challenge ldquoIt was a real challenge to work within the limitations of a modestlysized kitchen and prepare enough to cover the costsrdquo he says though the Diva dinner cost over 2000 per headDiners at House of Tales Kala Ghoda the venue for Cellar Door Hospitalityrsquos popup version of Chef Ritu Dalmiarsquos restaurant DivaShop and saveFoodculture events which showcase several FampB brands under one roof provide a walletfriendly alternative Bandrabased Insia Lacewalla director Small Fry Co a company which has managed several such events successfully tells us ldquoWith 20 vendors under one roof we have a massive footfall But the challenge for us is to reach out to new FampB brands and also to shoppers and foodies who havenrsquot got a taste of such an experience beforerdquoLacewalla hopes to bring both food lovers and home shoppers under one roof on Republic Day with a Tea Party at Sanctum a lifestylestore in Khar ldquoShoppers can check out the merchandise while they sip on fresh brews by Tea Trunk mdash including a special Saffron Kawa mdash and savour freshly baked goods from the kitchens of various homebased chefsrdquo adds LacewallaAnd on January 25 Lacewalla aspires to give SoBo a taste of Bombay Local the FampB event that was a hit in Bandra ldquoAside from goodies from Between Breads The Pantry Love and Cheesecake Life Ki Recipe Raw Pressery Terra Farms Good Juicery Bawi Bride Sugar Overdose and Asheyrsquos we have a live burger counter a waffle station the best hot chocolate in town and even wine from Fratellirdquo To see how it works all you have to do is drop by