Pop it up

Devika Manjrekar runs about the apartment, decorating it for a sit down dinner she has planned for Sunday. Except this isn’t one for her close pals or family to ring in the weekend, but for a group of relatively unknown strangers, who will be paying to experience authentic Italian cooking she’s going to rustle up.

The 23-year-old is hosting her first ever pop-up, showcasing the culinary skills she picked up as a student of an Amalfi food course in Italy. “The concept of pop-up restaurants is very common in London, where I studied and worked for a while. These supper clubs sometimes see the likes of chef Jamie Oliver turning up, if it is reputed,” she says, explaining the concept behind these limited-entry, sit down dinners. 

Patrons at Ananya’s house

Mainly conducted at home, pop-ups like Devika’s aim to act as a stepping stone for bigger plans with food. “I plan to open a restaurant soon, and this was one way I could get the word about my work,” she confidently says.

For home chef Gitika Saikia, the thought of opening a restaurant wasn’t as important as showcasing North East cuisine to the rest of the world. “When people talk about the cuisine from the North East, they only think of momos or Chinese fare.” she says. “And if I had to put out authentic cuisine from the region, that is rather bland and made of herbs instead of masalas for seasoning, in a restaurant, it would make no sense. Having this at a restaurant is far different from having this at my pop-up where I come and talk to you and tell you stories behind the food. When I hosted my first pop up in 2014, its tagline was ‘Come with an open mind.’ I still stick by it.”

Gitika has hosted pop-ups not just in Mumbai, but also Kolkata, Pune and New York. “I found that people in New York researched more about the fare I was about to serve up than people in India,” she smiles. Besides her own house, she also hosts pop ups with cook studios across the city, as well as restaurants. 

For Ananya Banerjee, pop-ups came easy after the release of her book Planet Gastronomy, when she was approached by a company to serve her fare. “Since then, I’ve hosted about 50 to 60 pop-ups of varying durations,” she laughs. “The USP of my food is that you won’t find food like this in restaurants. Be it home-cooked Bengali or Odiya cuisine, or even international food like German or Peruvian food that don’t have dedicated restaurants in India.”

Devika Manjrekar

Ananya too swears by the experience pop ups generate. “People come to dine with me, experience the food and listen to the stories I share. That’s what makes it special,” she asserts. “It’s much cosier this way, something that hotels cannot afford.”

Opting for apartments also makes monetary sense, explains Devika. “Most spaces in Mumbai demand about Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 for a few hours, and that’s quite crazy. For my pop up, I’m setting up a whole community table inside a living room, and making sure the vibe doesn’t make it look like a home. However, it’s cosier than a restaurant. My friends are doubling up as waitresses,” she laughs. “But the idea is to not let it feel like a restaurant where you’re just another customer as well, and I will drop by and speak with everyone who’s present and explain the story behind my food.”