Chapter 1 – Ideation, Concept and Design

“She made it look like art.”

—Chef Shuchi Naidoo, PopUp Republic

Chapter Warm-Up

Prechapter Reading Materials

• “Choosing a Concept” (Baras 2015)
• “Framing the Local Food Experience: A Case Study of a Finnish Pop-Up Restaurant” (Aaltojärvi, Kontukoski, and Hopia 2017)
• “Shutdown of a Pop-Up Restaurant Shocked Chef” (Zavoral and Kawamoto 2018)
• “Pop-Up Restaurants: Everything You Need to Know” (Wimpsett 2021)

Prechapter Exercise

• Read the interview with Chef Shuchi Naidoo, founder of Twenty-Nine Calories Pop-Up Restaurant (Baras 2015, chap. 35). Imagine you had never heard the term pop-up before reading the interview. After reading the interview, a friend asks you what a pop-up is. How would you respond?

Chapter Outline

• What Is a Pop-Up?
• Use of Pop-Up Culture in Hospitality
• Pop-Ups versus Traditional Restaurants
• Issues and Challenges Associated with Pop-Up Restaurants
• Servicescapes
• Research and Pop-Up Entrepreneurship

WHAT IS A POP-UP?

The concept of pop-ups has been around since colonial times in the form of traveling salesmen and entertainment stages. More recently, lemonade stands, barber shops, food carts and stalls, attraction and entertainment circuses, festivals and shows have all at some time, reflected the temporary and local nature of pop-ups.

Pop-ups were confined not only to events but also to merchandise. One of the best ways to understand the concept of pop-ups—and perhaps among the earliest exemplars of pop-ups—is the pop-up storybook or greeting card. These items would contain multidimensional, foldable cutouts of images that accompanied text in a book or card. Upon opening the book or card, the pop-up section would emerge as a vertical standout in the item frame, helping to “bring to life” the story or text.

Pop-up concepts exist in and have influenced digitized platforms as part of online webpage communications and media messaging. Pop-up messages, for example, emerge as additional links to lower-level or external pages. Here, the use of pop-ups serves to provide additional information to the user of the page while aiding the navigation of an online platform. Whether in precolonial entertainment or contemporary media communication, the pop-up weaves a common thread: a temporary or extended phenomenon that exists as part of a larger, more developed, formal segment of a platform. The purpose serviced is largely supplemental and for as-needed purposes.

Historically, pop-up restaurant concepts developed from farmers markets, food trucks, and street food cuisine. Each of these concepts and prototypes of pop-up restaurants provides food production and food services to a specific locale, with the added benefit of mobility. A mobile pop-up, such as a food truck, provides added flexibility for taking advantage of the season, be it based on demand or weather. In addition to providing food production and services, pop-ups provide largely small-scale income for chefs and restaurateurs.

Australia and Britain have become hot spots for pop-ups, behind the US, where the concept first emerged. A host of cultural, social, and economic factors have led to the rapid development of the US pop-up industry. One factor concerns the level of slack in real estate. Retail real estate has been severely impacted by the global pandemic. Landlords found themselves willing to engage in high-risk, short-term rentals to offset significant fallout from fleeing tenants. Simultaneously, the pop-up business model presented a lucrative alternative to restaurateurs. While inherently risky, it allowed pop-up entrepreneurs (also referred to as “popupreneurs”) to pursue commercializable space without the burden of long-term leases and overheads.

Pop-ups may be combined with other elements (e.g., art, music, wine, gastronomy) to create unique experiences (see Pret a Diner 2013). This unique pairing adds to the novelty factor associated with pop-up restaurant experiences. Novelty, in this case, is achieved by combining more than one nonfood element with food service to create a unique dining experience. This combinative approach to conceptualizing and planning a pop-up has the potential to benefit the chef or restaurateur in several ways, including being able to charge premium rates for novel dining experiences, attract and entice new customers and a niche interest, and focus exclusively on a central thematic experience.

Novelty may also be created using location. Typically, any space not generally recognized as “traditional” for food production, dining, and service is ideal for a pop-up. Examples include unused factory floors, barns, garages, basements, classrooms, and even the London Eye (see McKenzie 2012)!

Use of pop-up culture in hospitality

Within the past decade, pop-up restaurants, food trucks, playgrounds, retail shops, and markets have grown exponentially and have emerged as evidence that the pop-up concept is expanding in global popularity and economic significance. Globally, the pop-up industry is estimated to be approximately $95 billion, with approximately $14 billion of that represented in the US.

According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA), pop-up restaurants are minirestaurants that temporarily operate in parks, plazas, galleries, warehouses, event centers, and larger restaurants (NRA 2018). The temporary nature of the definition provided is an important characteristic that distinguishes pop-up restaurants from other hospitality establishments that operate 24/7. The concept, like food trucks, allows chefs and restaurateurs opportunities to test new food ideas and make use of underutilized spaces. They may also be used to highlight aspects of a specific culture or region that may otherwise be underpromoted or underemphasized.

Temporary duration could mean hours, days, weeks, or even months of operation at a time. The duration of the pop-up depends on a number of factors, including the purpose of the pop-up, the space/location available, and the local laws and regulations for operating food production and service enterprises.

Purpose

Pop-up restaurants may be used by chefs for menu testing and discovery. This purpose allows customers to sample new flavors and try new dishes or cuisines while providing feedback. Chefs and restaurateurs operating 24/7, brick-and-mortar locations may also test existing menu items that exhibit low menu popularity. By sampling existing or modified versions of dishes, customers are able to provide operators with real-time feedback on specific items, which helps in decision-making for item discontinuation, item innovation, or marketing. Pop-ups may also be used to introduce a new chef or feature a seasonal ingredient to diners (see Aaltojärvi, Kontukoski, and Hopia 2017). In this case, the purpose of the pop-up determines the length of time needed to feature the chef’s talents, skills, or in-season ingredients. Finally, the purpose of a pop-up could be to take advantage of underutilized resources such as restaurant or dining space. A pop-up whose purpose is to utilize resources such as kitchen equipment, dining rooms, or utensils for a restaurant closed on Mondays and Tuesdays may decide to stage a pop-up for a twenty-four-hour duration on the first and final Tuesday of each month.

Available Space/Location

Space/location availability is a second important factor in determining the duration of the pop-up restaurant. If the purpose of the pop-up is to exploit underutilized space in a restaurant or dining hall, then availability will be limited to days and times when the operation is otherwise closed and the space is not being used or may coincide with low-traffic days for the establishment. Municipal locations that experience heavy traffic and high-use parking during weekdays may also be used to stage pop-ups. In these cases, the relaxation of zoning restrictions and the negotiation of requirements for the use of municipally controlled locales may become necessary.

Local laws and regulations

Local laws, regulations, and permits play an important role in both determining the extent of the temporary duration of the pop-up restaurant and guiding whether and how the pop-up should be staged in keeping with public health and safety regulations. Operating within local guidelines is perhaps the single most important requirement of successfully staging a pop-up restaurant. Properly planning and conducting research on the requirements and regulations governing operating a pop-up restaurant allows the restaurateur to determine if the cost of temporary licensing and regulatory fees needed to host a pop-up is financially feasible and ensures the operator is in full understanding of and compliance with regulatory requirements (e.g., see Zavoral and Kawamoto 2018).

Pop-ups vs. traditional restaurants

• “‘Chick’N Out’: A Pop-Up Restaurant like You’ve Never Seen” (News 8 WROC 2020)
• “Pret a Diner Berlin—Backstage, Pt. 2” (Pret a Diner 2017)

Pop-ups and traditional restaurants share several characteristics with traditional restaurants. Most of these characteristics relate to the purpose, design, and duration of the restaurant being staged. However, pop-ups differ from traditional dining in a number of ways too, with the primary difference being the temporary nature of the inputs that the restaurateur must plan for. Pop-ups may offer local, high-quality ingredients and raw materials, while traditional restaurants focus on sourcing the most cost-effective inputs. Pop-ups may infuse local culture and respond to food novelty, while traditional dining may respond to a specified, available market niche. Table 1.1 provides a summary of similarities and differences between pop-ups and traditional restaurants.

Table 1.1 – Pop-ups vs Traditional Restaurants

Issues and challenges associated with pop-up restaurants

• “Pop-Up Restaurants in New Orleans Move beyond One-Day Wonders” (Clark 2012).

Given the somewhat unique characteristics of pop-ups, there are issues and challenges associated with the concept and design of pop-up restaurants. These include the following:

1. The temporary nature of pop-ups allows for small, limited windows for inefficient planning. Activities such as marketing cannot afford too wide a margin of error. Instant, direct marketing such as social media and internet marketing, direct messaging, and digital marketing are ideal ways to target specific groups with the highest likelihood of visiting the pop-up.
2. “Locality” in pop-up culture uniquely challenges the pop-up restaurant to support local vendors. Larger, ongoing restaurants have the benefit of time to develop and cultivate relationships with vendors over a longer period of time. As most pop-ups thrive on their ability to attract sustainable-minded diners for whom supporting local farmers, for example, may be a priority in deciding where to dine, this challenges a hospitality manager to “buy local” to win support from local community members.
3. The temporary nature of the pop-up restaurant requires a novel conceptualization to be able to attract customers in a time-sensitive time frame. Unlike traditional restaurants, and while not impossible, it may be a challenge for a pop-up to host a celebration birthday party, for example, given the likelihood of the birthday coinciding with the pop-up restaurant date.
4. The “eating as experience” characteristic allows for a pop-up concept to be created around a specific food-based theme. One example is the San Francisco–based Lazy Bear. This monthly pop-up has two seatings and offers guests an interactive experience, which could include visiting the production kitchen and engaging with the chefs and back-of-house (BOH) production team.

Servicescapes

Successfully designed and implemented pop-up restaurants pay attention to the importance of servicescapes. Servicescapes describe the physical surroundings within which a guest or diner is immersed. The concept is linked to the stimulus-response model, which argues that the guest experience is impacted by the physical environment.

Elements of a servicescape include lighting, décor, furniture, fixtures, wall covering, signage, ceiling appointments, and ambience. Heizer (2021) classifies elements of servicescape into three broad areas, as shown in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2 – Elements of Servicescapes (Adapted from Heizer, 2021)

Pop-up restaurant concept and design

We have discussed the concept of pop-ups and pop-up culture in hospitality. There are special characteristics of pop-ups that make them a unique and feasible alternative for chefs and restauranteurs to test novel menu items, feature seasonal dishes, and make use of underutilized resources within a specified period of time. These characteristics play an important role in determining how a pop-up restaurant is conceptualized and designed and the importance of taking into special consideration design features when planning a pop-up restaurant.

When preparing to conceptualize and design a pop-up restaurant, a number of internal and external characteristics must be taken into consideration. Internal characteristics concern the pop-up concept’s mantra mission, guiding values and principles, production design, service (servicescape) design, and theme and team characteristics. External characteristics concern physical environment/location; business and community stakeholders; and ethics, responsibility, and sustainability.

Internal design characteristics.

• Business mantra and mission
• Guiding values and principles
• Production design
• Service design, servicescapes
• Theme and team characteristics

External design characteristics.

• External environment/location
• Business and community stakeholders
• Ethics, responsibility, and sustainability characteristics.

Research and pop-up entrepreneurship

According to entrepreneurship and strategy expert Vaughn Tan, the best cutting-edge restaurant teams in the world characterize their work as uncertain rather than risky. This uncertainty mind-set motivates high-performing teams to seek out information—in other words, research—and to innovate in order to shape the future of food and beverage service (Tan 2020).

Similarly, pop-up ventures provide an opportunity to exercise an entrepreneurial mind-set, which is characterized by “uncertainty, complexity, time pressure, emotionality, and identity-investment” (Shepherd and Patzelt 2018). Research, documenting information and ideas, evidence-based planning, a sense of humor, and self-efficacy—the belief that you are capable of succeeding in a new venture—will help you maintain a resilient entrepreneurial mind-set!

During the planning and research module, you will gather and document evidence and develop ideas for your restaurant concept and design and marketing and sales strategy, informed by your knowledge of the local market and industry and broader dining trends.

KEY TERMS

• Ethics
• Locality
• Pop-up culture
• Pop-up restaurant
• Responsibility
• Restaurant dining
• Servicescapes
• Sustainability 

REVIEW Questions

1. Open your favorite web browser on your mobile or another device. In your search bar, type “pop-up restaurant near me.” What does your search return? Take turns sharing with your class or a small team.
2. How has pop-up culture influenced hospitality?
3. Review the similarities and differences between pop-ups and traditional restaurants in table 1.1. What are some key considerations for hospitality managers conceptualizing a pop-up?
4. What is meant by the term servicescapes? What elements for a pop-up restaurant concept will impact the pop-up restaurant servicescapes? Provide specific examples.
5. What role does ethics play in planning and implementing a pop-up restaurant?
6. What role does responsibility play in planning and implementing a pop-up restaurant

Review Activity

1. 1. Watch the Chick’N Out and the Pret a Diner videos. Note what you observe about the characteristics of pop-up restaurants in the videos and how these pop-up concepts are similar to (or different from) the pop-up restaurant you will create for your semester project. Be prepared to share your notes with your classmates.

      2. Browse the culinary and pop-up trends from the National Restaurant Association and TrendHunter.com, and choose at least one example of a pop-up restaurant as a social enterprise: “London Restaurant Employing Immigrant Women in Need” (Vines 2015 [archived link]), “LA Chefs Turning Waste into Gold” (Choco 2021 [archived link]), or “Pop-Up Cafes Offer New Skills for Deaf” (via Cottell 2017). Combine culinary, pop-up, and social enterprise trends to brainstorm a concept for a social enterprise pop-up restaurant.

      3. Watch the video “Singer Kelis Opens Pop-Up Restaurant in London.” Prepare to discuss the following in class: What are the pros and cons of a celebrity opening a pop-up restaurant?