20/08/2018
This month, Gerla de Boer, discusses the return of pop up restaurants in Cambridge.
It’s all go at the moment. New restaurants are opening up all over the place in Cambridge and much to my surprise we have seen the return of the ‘Supper Club’, also known as a ‘pop up restaurant’.
In 2014 supper clubs were extremely popular in Cambridge. Selfconfessed foodies were keen to share their culinary skills with others and opened their homes so they could show off their creations. Was this a shout out wanting more diversity in the local food scene? I have to admit there was certainly a lack of variety at the time, but things have changed!
New places with a wider offering appeared on the scene and supper clubs started to wind down. Not just because of the increasing offering, but people realised it was hard work to run a supper club. Of course, running a supper club is challenging, but a restaurant is even harder work. Did you choose a good location, are you aiming at the right audience, can you get good staff and is your offering good? These are all the things you have to take into account when you open a restaurant.
So the supper club or pop up restaurants have returned. The big difference is that they are now run by professional chefs wanting to warm up the public for what is about to come. One of these chefs is Tristan Welch of Parkers Tavern based at the University Arms. By the time this article goes to print, the restaurant and hotel will have opened. Tristan has been sharing his culinary skills with Cambridge over the last year and Cambridge loved it! Did you see his Keith Floyd inspired cooking sessions? Check it out on YouTube; they are really funny.
Review by Gerla de Boer