An evening at one of London’s pop-up restaurants is the perfect antidote to cold, dark, winter nights. Here are the coolest (and often healthy) pop-ups happening in London in January and February 2015
1 The Art of Dining presents Gone Camping
While we don’t promise that this pop-up will help you stick to your January diet, it will get you out into the great outdoors – sort of. Renowned pop-up collective The Art of Dining is hosting an interactive pop-up dining experience that combines theatre, food and set design surrounding the very un-wintery theme of ‘Gone Camping’. Diners are invited to lace up their walking boots, shake out their sleeping bags and head to The Pickle Factory near Bethnal Green, where they will find a slice of the English countryside (inside). Billowing canvas tents, flickering lamplight and the sounds of nature – everything you might expect from a camping trip, apart from the drizzle and mud – will greet you. Once inside, release you inner Famous Five by boiling up water in a billy can, cooking and sharing food and toasting marshmallows. Those familiar with The Art of Dining’s pop-ups will not be disappointed, you can look forward to mini-tutorials in camp craft, ghost stories, and a camp-fire sing-song. Five courses designed by chef Ellen Parr (from Moro) will follow the camping theme and integrate the traditional charcoal flavours of campsite cooking. Dishes include a posh pot-noodle (a version of Vietnamese pho); a Thai twist on the campfire barbecue, and a Moroccan breakfast dish with eggs and flat bread. Tickets cost £55, the The Art of Dining presents Gone Camping runs from 7.30pm -11.00pm on Tuesday 13 to Sunday 18 and Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 January. The Pickle Factory, 13 – 14 The Oval; London, E2 9DU; theartofdining.co.uk
2 Raw Dining Club, East Dulwich
Move over Deliciously Ella, there’s a new health guru in town. After selling out all its events last year, the Raw Dining Club returns to Lordship Lane on 30 January with its healthy spin on the restaurant pop-up. Highlighting that the raw food trend is just getting bigger, Raw Dining Club’s entire menu is uncooked, but we’re not talking about a plate of carrots and cucumber. Chefs Simon Beswetherick and Paula Collins both studied raw cuisine with the Matthew Kenney Academy in Santa Monica, California, and their creations are bound to impress you. While the menu changes month on month, you can expect the likes of non-alcoholic watermelon and rose refreshers, crème fraiche and caviar belinis made from dehydrated sliced sweet and regular potato, served with cream made from cashew nuts and caviar made from algae to start with. Mains include wheat and meat-free spaghetti and meatballs made from thinly-sliced courgettes, sundried tomatoes, sunflower and hemp seeds. Plus dessert doesn’t get forgotten, you can look forward to a cacao-chilli cheesecake, with neither cheese nor cake in it. The next Raw Dining Club takes place on 30 January. Boulangerie Jade 145 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, SE22 8HX; facebook.com/RawDiningClub
3 BoBo’s Juicery at Tredwell’s, West End
Marcus Wareing’s new restaurant Tredwell’s has teamed up with cold-pressed, organic juice and smoothie company BoBo’s Juicery, to offer a range of healthy cocktails and dishes throughout January. Made from a base of BoBo’s juices, which are packed full of fresh, organic ingredients, the cocktails will include the Strength giving Gimlet (gin, ginger, pineapple, wheatgrass) and the Hail Mary (vodka, beetroot, carrot, coriander, fennel, lime, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and celery stick to garnish). In addition to the cocktails, a range of salads will be available to order at the restaurant. 4A Upper St Martin’s Lane London, WC2H 9NY; tredwells.com; bobosjuicery.com
4 Redemption, Holborn
Just in time for everyone’s January detox, Redemption, the alcohol-free bar, returns to Holborn for a month long residency at Fairly Square. The pop-up bar will be serving mocktails and vegan food throughout January, as well as hosting Sunday comedy nights. Redemption has partnered with Cancer Research UK to support the charity’s January Dryathlon® campaign by offering everyone taking part a free mocktail with every meal to keep motivation levels up. Founder of Redemption, Catherine Salway, started the alcohol-free bar movement in 2013 to show people that you can have a night off without having a night in. 51 Red Lion Street, London WC1R 4PF; redemptionbar.co.uk
5 Go Green Month at Bluebird, Chelsea
Bluebird in Chelsea is having a Go Green Month throughout January, serving guilt-free cocktails and green smoothies including Green Destiny (pineapple juice, lemon juice, shaken together with fresh basil, rosemary, mint and mint syrup) and Green Dragon (guava juice, pistachio syrup, muddled fresh papaya, Chinese dragon fruit, lime juice and Greek yogurt). Plus there will be side-shows going on throughout January, including a Bluebird BLAST class with Lomax gym on 21 January. 350 King’s Road, London SW3 5UU; bluebird-restaurant.co.uk
6 Underground Film Club, Waterloo
The Rooftop Film Club has taken its screenings underground for the winter, into the Vaults beneath Waterloo Station. Comfy velvet chairs, wireless headphones and classic movie snacks will warm up the atmospheric Vaults to create a cosy venue. Grab your hot dogs, nachos and cocktails and settle down to an evening of classic films like Casablanca, The Notebook and The Shawshank Redemption. Tickets cost £13 plus a £1.30 booking fee. The Vaults, Launcelot Street, SE1 7AD; undergroundfilmclub.com
7 Scotch Pop-Up Bar at Brown’s Hotel, Mayfair
From 22 January to 8 February, Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair is raising a glass to Rabbie Burns with a Scotch Bar popping up in its newly-refurbished Library. Pick your dram from 40 whiskies from Scotland’s traditional whisky regions including Speyside, Islay, Campbeltown, the Islands, Highlands and Lowlands, and some dating back to 1940. Brown’s Scotch Bar is being sponsored by Glenmorangie and there will be several bottles from the brand including its Glenmorangie Pride 1978, which costs a mere £400 a glass! 33 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BP; roccofortehotels.com
8 Jenius Social, Islington
Jenius Social is an entire venue dedicated to pop-ups, masterclasses, cookery lessons and supper clubs. Throughout January it is hosting fun and unusual supper clubs, first up, on 23 January, is Chef Guan’s Malaysian Nyonya Pop-up hosted by the food writer behind The Boy Who Ate the World and contestant from Channel 4’s The Taste. Guan will prepare an eight-course Nyonya menu, a unique style of Malaysian cooking that combines Malay and Chinese food. Dishes include Assam prawns, Kari Kapitan – that’s Captain’s Chicken Curry and Tau Yew Bak (Braised Caramelised Pork Belly in Soy Sauce). Jenius is also celebrating Chinese New Year with Mamma Wang’s pop up supper club on the 19 February. Watch a noodle pulling demonstration and try dishes such as Mama Wang’s New Year’s lamb and chive dumplings and Sichuan Mapo tofu with slow-braised beef shin. 6 Hornsey Street, Islington, London, N7 8GR; jeniussocial.co.uk
9 Detox Dinner at the Design Club, Chelsea
Chef Nina Parker is hosting a supper club at the Design Centre in Chelsea on Wednesday 28 January. Detox juices will be served along with a three-course gluten and dairy-free menu set to revive you following the Christmas period. Nina has worked with top chefs at some of the world’s best restaurants including L’Anima, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Locanda Locatelli and The Ledbury. She has now set up her own company Nina Food, which focuses on colourful, vibrant dishes – an example of which you’ll taste at the Design Centre on 28 January. Tickets cost £30pp and include canapes, followed by a three-course meal. To book your ticket, email enquiries@designclublondon.com. Design Club, Third Floor, South Dome, Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, London, SW10, 0XE
10 Synaesthesia by Kitchen Theory, Maida Hill Place
Kitchen Theory is launching a series of educational and multi-sensory dining events two weekends a month from February to June 2015 in Maida Hill Place. Synaesthesia by Kitchen Theory incorporates sensory audio-visual aids with an experimental seven-course modernist meal cooked by chefs whose previous experience involves working in Michelin-star kitchens. Catering for only 14 guests, these dining events aim to deliver an insight into the world of synaesthesia – the neurological phenomenon that cross connects the senses and is thought to affect three per cent of the population. In their world sound has colour, colour has flavour and numbers are unique personalities. Kitchen Theory has worked with Professor Charles Spence and his team at the Cross Modal department of Oxford University, Sean Day, President of American Synesthesia Association, and Richard E. Cytowic, MD MFA, Neurologist and author of Wednesday is Indigo Blue to understand the phenomenon of synaesthesia and create an informative and interactive dining experience. Synaesthesia is on Thursday to Saturday every fortnight from 12 February to 29 June. The seven-course dinner costs £56 per person, while lunch is £32 per person. Maida Hill Place, 4 Fernhead Road, W9 3ET; kitchen-theory.com
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