Fall off, of the Pop Up?
Boy, Covid did a number on us, huh. From the way people engage with each other in the grocery store, to how much some people value tissue paper and big jugs of water; I'm sure we all had some major perspective shifts. Masks became the norm, freeing most of us chefs from having to hide our distaste for the shit slow service we dragged through' while making sure the few people that did dine enjoyed their experience. Honestly, that was if you were lucky. A lot of places had no choice but to shut down. In the C-Port, the rules of quarantining were definitely a lot more lenient. Doesn't mean restaurant owners weren't hurting with the lack of business. And left a lot of chefs uncertain of their future.
Its fascinating how circumstances force us, (speaking to the chefs here specifically but relates to everyone) to evolve. Feels like the arch of an era of art influenced by the lifetime in which it was created. Or watching the rise and fall of any indices traded on the stock market. The foundation of evolution is creativity. And we found ways to create set ups, that allowed people to eat good food, in low impact spaces, with smaller head counts, and more intimate experiences. Don't get it twisted, pop ups have existed long before I thought about Eden. However, the changing conditions of the world during the pandemic forced us to lean on this extension of cooking even more. It really needed to drive business; and not just buzz. And we achieved that to some degree.
What was birthed out of that was an era of chefs having the freedom to be more creative, and our patrons getting a lot more value out of a dining experience. Something that maybe you weren't getting from going to a restaurant on a busy Friday night. Tasting menus, In-and Out inspired burgers, wine and cocktail pairings, outdoor family style dinners, low country boils, the list goes on. And how beautiful has it been. I wouldn't be who I am today without taking that route. A lot of line cooks, trying to climb the ladder behind the scenes, were given the light, allowing them to show what they could really do. That gave confidence to a lot of young cooks and inspired others to take part. Its felt like a community of young go getters watching each other and inspiring each other to do more. Trending and sending the food world into a new era. For the better it felt, and still does.
However, with any astronomical uptrend, we should look at history. Not just food, but in art, like watching the influence of the civil rights movement birthing the Harlem Renaissance. Or the internet turning the world on its head and creating the dot com bubble; the world around us continues to change even when we don't see it. Sometimes the hyper fixation on something being one way creates an imbalance, and we lose sight of what's actually happening around us. Then the "bubble" get so filled with "air" that either it tears and leaks slowly, or worse; it burst. In the case of pop ups maybe the slow leak has already started. Usually you can't see something happening until its already happened.
The essence of the "pop up" seems like a lemon that's already been squeezed to death, to me. Same formula, same talented cooks now chefs, but it feels dry and predictable. Everyone is putting on or hosting a pop up. Even regular service is being called pop ups now, when there's something new to sell. The food looks the same as every chef's page on IG. It feels like way more time is spent on filling the seats than the actual food and experience. Now the extension of cooking we've been leaning on, is being used as just a way to make sure patrons come back through the doors. Which makes sense, its a tool for our business, but to what extent? Watching the culture turn to white noise, while there's another pop up every night? A lot of my friends and colleagues are very talented, and there are a handful who are still doing some soulful work when they show up; but the heard has watered down the product. The value feels like its being lost, and now we are at another inflection point. How do we as chefs maintain that same amount of creative freedom, while not losing sight, simply in the vain of making money? Yes, both can exist. You can make some money in this industry, while maintaining its integrity. The good ones just want to cook some delicious food while drinking a cold beer, enjoying good company and conversation. Lets cook with intention, instead of just grabbing for attention. My point being, food is a love language, so lets not forget that.
