The Pop Up Restaurant

The Pop Up revolution is growing by the day.  Among all the temporary shops and events, the pop up restaurant is increasingly becoming one of the most exiting alternatives to its more permanent counterpart.

We all love to eat out and many of us have favourite restaurants that we visit time and time again.  But it can easily get a little boring and that’s where the pop up restaurant comes in.  Temporary restaurants are not exactly a new phenomenon.  Food stalls and festivals have been around for years.  Some independent restaurateurs even travel around the country or their own town, going where the customers are.

A popular pop up restaurant in Brighton for example is the Trolls Pantry.  They sell gourmet burgers made with locally sourced ingredients and their ethos derives from the street food trend, where it is thought that people should be able to sample great food on the move, wherever they may be.  Their growing popularity means that they have recently taken root in a local pub.

As with the excitement that surrounds pop up and empty shops, you really could take your pop up restaurant anywhere, in doors or out, as long as you have the correct permissions, of course!  A good place to start, once you have your location sorted, would be to speak to your local council about obtaining a food and hygiene safety certificate and trading licence.

If you are in the catering industry or you are planning an event where a pop up restaurant would fit in, we at Popupspace often come across available property with catering facilities.  Alternatively, if it’s an outside space you’re after we can help you negotiate with landlords, owners and local authorities with our planning and pop up location sourcing services.  All in all, these restaurants are a great way to show off your culinary skills to a new audience every day, so why not get started today?

 

Sarah James, Popupspace

Forest Hill Fashion Week Pops Up

Forest Hill Fashion WeekForest Hill becomes an essential destination for fashionistas from 15th-19th February, as the team behind the SEE3 pop up shops stages ‘Forest Hill Fashion Week’.

 SEE3 is one of Boris Johnson’s London Portas Pilots, which was awarded £300,000 in order help revitalise high streets and promoting job creation in Lambeth and Tower Hamlets. Lewisham Council is providing an additional £137k to help rejuvenate the areas high streets with new street markets, start-up opportunities for new businesses and creative exhibitions. The aim of the team is to provide a springboard for businesses to trial their propositions in the high street and to stimulate long-term demand for empty shops. With The Butchery, who had a pop up shop at Christmas in Forest Hill, opening the doors of their permanent shop later this month the team have a pretty good record at bringing businesses to the high street that meet the needs of the community.

Louise Brooks, the Project Manager tasked with delivery of SEE3‘s pop up shop programme ‘The Shop Revolution’, said: “Forest Hill has become a hub for designer-makers and fashionable boutiques in recent years and so it is an ideal time to stage a celebration of local design talent and style. And of course the event will see the opening of our latest pop up shop SEE Boutique on Dartmouth Road with pop up tenants Love Ur Look selling their fabulous reproduction vintage outfits.”

With collections from local designers at Forest Hill’s boutiques, in-store events, textile and accessory workshops, fashion and jewellery upcycling, frock-swapping, markets, catwalk shows (including a dress-up catwalk for children) there will be something for all ages. For a full list of events taking place during this festival of local fashion interested you can visit www.see3.co.uk/fhfw.

 

Brazil Rising

Brazil RisingTo coincide with the opening of London Fashion Week, Brazil Rising is a collaboration of Brazillian Brands which is the brain child of Sao Paulo based fashion entrepreneur Alice Ferraz.   The shop features many of the brands shown at the Sao Paulo Fashion Week back in June including Patricia Viera and Vanessa Montoro.

“Brazilian fashion has grown to be a real world class player, producing home-grown brands and designer pieces that add value internationally,” said Ferraz. “The fashion industry in Brazil is a solid multi-billion dollar industry, strong enough to cater to over 200 million fashion-conscious Brazilians, and with the pop-up at The Shop at Bluebird, we are unveiling Brazil’s best kept secrets and finally making these designers available in London.”

Brazil Rising is at 350 Kings Road, Chelsea SW3 5UU

Peculiar pop up shop!

PeculiarShopAn empty shop in Seacombe was converted into a den of delights for young people in the area. Among those events happening across a week were drama workshops, healthy cooking and eating day and a visit from the herpetological society with a collection of snakes, lizards and creepy crawlies all of which were complemented by stories and games.

Hosted by the Reader Organisation the scheme was opened by the Mayor or Wirral, Counciller Gerry Ellis.

Councillor Pat Hackett, Wirral Council cabinet member for regeneration and planning strategy said: “This sounds like a really fun week. The Empty Shops Fund was created to do much more than just fill space on Wirral’s high streets, and with help from our partners in the NHS and the Reader Organisation, the Peculiar Pop-Up Story Shop has provided a week packed with activities for children from Seacombe, and one which we hope they will remember fondly for a long time.”

Lynn Elsdon, Reader Organisation’s young person’s project worker, who organised the event said: “We’ve had a brilliant week letting our imaginations run wild with the cookery, creatures, and crafts and bringing a disused space to life with the stories and poems. The children have really enjoyed taking part and will hopefully be encouraged to carry on reading and being active for the rest of the summer.”

The week of events was open to twenty children aged eight to eleven and included readings from “A Little, Aloud for Children”, an anthology of poems and stories for young people.

Wahaca pop up restaurant

WahacaThe Mexican food experts Wahaca have popped up on top of the Southbank Centre in London.

The new venue has been put together from eight recycled shipping containers and it sits on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall overlooking the Thames and it is part of the centre’s Festival of the World which will run until 9th September and has made the site a busy port with outdoor art installations drawing in people from across the city.
If you are familiar with Wahaca you will not be disappointed by their Chunky Guacamole and Tamarind cocktails and Mojitos and you will get the chance to try something from the new specials menu, which changes each month.

Wahaca Southbank is open Monday to Saturday 12pm – 11pm and Sunday 12 pm to 10.30pm. Remember to get their early as they don’t take bookings.

For more information see www.wahaca.co.uk

Pop up hotels – do the festivals VIP style!

It’s camping, but not as we know it.  Festival goers wishing to avoid sleeping in the mud now have the option to indulge in new levels of luxury. Midlands-based company All About Space has designed “podule” rooms with all the creature comforts and mod cons you will need to party in style this summer.

The 12 sq m podules – which offer all the facilities you’d find in the best hotels as well as some added extras - will be available for hire to well-heeled festival fans for c. £2,000. All About Space is already taking bookings for the major UK festivals, including Glastonbury, T in the Park and Download.

UK’s first ‘pop up festival’

Not a day goes by without us hearing of a new kind of event described as “pop up”!  This one is a bit different - with outside:inside 2011 billing itself as the UK’s first “pop up festival”. The fourth annual o:i festival – a celebration of music, film, art, food, theatre and dance – takes over Reading from 9th to 30th July.  The festival will invade unusual and vacant spaces all over town.  Restaurants, cinemas and event spaces will be popping up in empty shops, offices and churches, as well as on the open green spaces which have traditionally provided a home for festival fun.

The festival’s organisers believe their innovative aproach “brings whole communities together, outside on the streets and in inside spaces for one big celebration”. Among the big names headlining the o:i festival will be reggae legend Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.