Articles
Originally published on Tuesday, 23rd April 2013
Hawker to Haute
2The evolution of the pop up
Remember when pop ups were a last minute, hokey takeover of a (usually) derelict – read “cool” – space? Well, they’re gone. People are placing as much emphasis on the transitive as the permanent. The pop up is evolving.
Case in point: street food. Gone are the days when standing with a Styrofoam cup and paper plate was the norm: now you’re balancing your jamón board with your blown glass, orange peel cut-out, early bird breakfast martini à la Little Bird Gin at Maltby Street Market.
Carrying on the civilised trend, Street Feast is back for the summer season and you can now book tables, that’s right – book tables – served by waiters armed with menus from all traders. Forget moving (and queuing) from cart to cart when someone can fetch you your Rainbo gyozas and Homeslice pizza in one go. Meanwhile, Ben Spalding’s Stripped Back series has all the traits of a restaurant – a tight 45-minute slot, sit-down dinner with a few walk-ins on a terrace – but it’s only there for another nine weeks. The same goes for Jonathan Downey’s Gin Store that has bookable tables and jazz.
Festival-goers are also benefitting from the evolution. The food and drink migration has already happened – Redhook at Latitude, LA’s Hudson at Coachella – but this summer we’re psyched for Russell Norman’s Venetian feast at Wildnerness. Expect lashings of prosecco and an extended Polpo banquet. But what we’re most excited about is Wilderness’ sexiest attendant this year: The Box. Get ready for some after-dark, debauched disco in the Secret Valley.
Then, there's the fully evolved jet set, who are still going strong and getting all-the-more fabulous. Papa of the highbrow pops, Pret A Diner, has just announced that it's setting up at Art Basel. There's a party schedule from Silencio and food from previous Pret all-stars in an Elizabethan church. Bungalow may have lost its home in London but it popped up at the Petit Ermitage Hotel in LA to throw a pre-Oscar soirée and it's also hosting parties at the Venice Biennale in June. Now it's time for a pop up from our own fair town to follow suit – Disco Bistro is going on tour, taking its hawker-haute mash up to Ibiza, New York and beyond. Pop to it.
Info
Street Feast, every Friday until June 28, Merchant Yard, 317-319 Kingsland Road, E8 4DL - table reservations for 8-12 people, Ben Spalding Stripped Back, £27.50 walk-in accepted between 5pm and 6pm
Wilderness Festival, August 8 – 11, Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, OX7 3DG, £146.50
Pret A Diner Basel, June 8 – 16, book here
