If you've lived in New York, you're probably familiar with pop up stores which, as the name suggests, are stores that are created temporarily and are dismantled after a limited time. I went to a pop up store on Layfayette St called Boho last year which was like a health food store that opened and closed in less than a week. I've also known the concept to extend to nightclubs which, for example, appear during fashion week and are gone by the time the week is done.
Last weekend I reserved a couple of seats for Urban Cuisine Bourgeois, the first in a series of pop up dinner parties called "The Hunger". I believe this is the first time the term "pop up" has been used in connection with restaurants but when I heard about it I thought it was an amazing idea. So obvious but no one had done it yet. A quote from The Hunger sums the concept up perfectly...
"Each evening will be set up like a fabulous dinner party, where all guests sit at the same time and simultaneously share an evening. Like a dinner party, guests will be encouraged to interact, and will leave with only a memory of the experience that will never be exactly replicated again – a moment, similar to the many great moments that take place every day in New York, which fade out as quickly as they “pop up.”
I had met the chef, Camille Becerra, at a rooftop party last summer around the time her Brooklyn restaurant 'Paloma' had sadly burnt down. If you watched it, you may recognize the name from season 3 of Top Chef. She was with her boyfriend Vincent Rotolo who has been a restaurateur for many years in NYC. I thought they were both warm and charming and I was glad she seemed positive in light of her recent loss.
Now almost a year later, she is hosting Urban Cusine Bourgeois. It featured a 6 course french influenced menu using fresh seasonal ingredients sourced from artisans who were friends of chef and team, a fantastic spread of vegetables, cheeses, meat and seafood. Many of the condiments and desserts were handmade by Camille from scratch and everything was served up in an intimate, tasteful setting by charming waitstaff.
Sitting with Vincent (in between some sneaky tequila shots and some extra courses here and there) I heard a lot about what went on behind the scenes. Needless to say it was no easy feat but for some reason it just looked effortless. So here's to The Hunger, what they stand for and bloody good effort for the first go round. Can't wait for the next one! I heard suggestions for locations such as Paris, London and settings like 'outdoors during the summer' (which for some reason makes me think of scenes from Like Water for Chocolate....??) I guess anything is possible for something as fleeting as a memory.
