Foodie Pop - The Pop up restaurant & Jozi

I received an email from Eat this morning to let us all know that they’re back in action after much time dedicated to MasterchefSA, as the show’s culinary producer. This got me thinking about the pop up restaurant trend and where Jozi is in the trend evolution.

What are Pop up restaurants you ask? Well quickly, Pop up restaurants often occupy unconventional spots, appear and disappear about as quickly as you can say POP. The pop up phenomenon tends to either be a platform for up & coming chefs to make their name or an opportunity for celebrated chefs to show off something new outside of their established culinary style. They literally pop up anywhere in a borrowed restaurant for the night or even in a field.

Courtesy: http://blog.sfgate.com/inmarin/2010/04/05/the-pop-up-restaurant-experience-in-marin

The trend has been prevalent in Europe and the US for a number of years. It’s been trending for so long that the Economist blog is even reporting that London has fallen out of love with pop up restaurants. It predicts, per google search stats, that the rest of the world will follow suit.  

This (the economics) however hasn’t deterred Rene Redzepi, head chef at Copenhagen's Noma restaurant, number one on the San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list for 2010 & 2011. He is planning to launch a Noma pop-up restaurant in London this summer. A taste of Noma at Claridges, serving a five course menu for ten days. I totally need a foodie sponsor to send me to London, I mean this is the foodie Olympic event of the year. 

Courtesy: adchampagnes.wordpress.com

The trend does however seem to still be in its infancy in emerging markets and has recently reached Seoul, South Korea. Dubbed by the Wall Street Journal blog as the Pop up surprise: the Korean food re-imagined pop up in Seoul. 

Courtesy: blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime

In Jozi the most publicised culinary pop up concept is Eat, spearheaded by Arnold Tanzer. The newsletter has the cutest tagline; Another bright spark idea by Tanzer foods. With the Eat twitter profile as; culinary pop ups all over jozi limited edition restaurant by chef arnold tanzer. This series of pop-up events of seasonally-inspired dinners first started about a year ago and they are about to host a dinner at their 7^th location in the second week of May. I haven’t as yet made it to one of the dinners but plan to get into one in either May or June.

Unless I've totally missed the pop up boat (feel free to let me know) it remains to be seen where Jozi will end up, will it follow the international trend albeit at a slower rate? 

Will get back to you on my Jozi foodie pop up experience. Happy pop up eating!

Looking forward to Woolworths Nicolway food market opening

This week I'm excited to see what has been punted as the biggest Woolworths food market to open to date. Woolworths Nicolway food market is opening at Nicolway centre in Bryanston. Although I only got the invitation this afternoon for an opening Thursday morning, I am excited nonetheless. Another draw card is that the opening will feature the current Masterchef SA contestants in action.

As a Woolworths frequenter I am interested to see what Nicolway comes up with especially given the stiff competition down the road at the Pick 'n Pay concept store on Nicol. In line with the Pick 'n Pay on Nicol the Woolworths Nicolway food market is set to be open 08:00 - 20:00 daily.

William Nicol is fast becoming a foodie/ Eat In/ late evening grocery store hub or should I say corridor. Here's to expecting more from Woolworths Nicolway!

Woolworths press release: http://www.liquidlingo.co.za/article.php?theID=400

Tashas' coujons

Had an impromptu dinner with a couple of my girlfriends last night, due to its central location, quality of service and menu variety we ended up at Tashas Melrose Arch. Have I told you that Tashas is my favourite all day eatery? I can order with my eyes closed, and sometimes they surprise me with new additions to the menu.

Picture courtesy google  & www.livedotdotdot.com

Last night I opted for something fried, the panko coujons with chips and lemon mayo. The coujons were crispy on the outside with soft perfectly cooked hake on the inside. The lemon mayo was balanced being creamy yet not overly rich. The chips are lovely just golden French fries, almost McDonald’s standard but alas they are not pre-salted.

Overall Tashas food is good, and it remains my favourite all day eatery because the high quality is standard across 90% of the ones I've frequented. The coujons were a larger portion than I expected, it also happened that two of us had ordered it. Next time we'll share and order an extra side of fries and lemon mayo. Oh did I forget to mention I took a slice of Carrot Cake as a take away.


Happy impromptu eating!

On the bookshelf: A week in The Kitchen

I'm loving the store display at Exclusive Books in The Zone Rosebank this week, it's gone all foodie.

It was there that I picked up Karen Dudley's A week in The Kitchen.The book gives the reader a look into, as titled, a week at the Kitchen. The Kitchen being a Eatery in Woodstock Cape Town.

Picture courtesy of fogartysbookshop.co.za

From a quick flip through the pages it looks like it's filled with wonderful recipes, but will let you know for sure once I've read, tried and tested.

Happy Reading!