For three nights, PipsDish in Islington is hosting three of London’s hottest rising pop-up restaurateurs.
LONDON — MAY 13, 2013 — We Are Pop Up announces The PipsDish Pop-Up Challenge. Over three evenings in May, three of London’s hottest new chefs showcase their talents at a Citroëngarage in Islington.
Pips Dish is run by culinary dream team Philip ‘Pip’ Dundas and Mary Doherty. They originally opened PipsDish in 2011 as a temporary restaurant that was hidden in plain sight. In March 2013, Dundas announced that Pips Dish would finally be leaving the Citroën garage. But first, he wanted to give a few of London’s leading underground chefs the chance to shine.
In partnership with We Are Pop Up, Pip Dish took open applications from a wide variety of chefs. Today, we are pleased to announce the three winners of the Pips Dish Pop-Up Challenge:
The Best of Italy by AMooseBush – Tuesday, 21 May 2013
In the spirit of their grandparents, Nonna Bianca and Nonno Giuseppe, AMooseBush is a foursome of family members who are on a singular mission to champion regional Italian dishes that have been handed down through the family.
Pisco Fuego by Cult Events – Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Inspired by the cuisine and culture of Buenos Aries, Lima, Mexico City, and Santiago, Pisco Fuego is a dining experience that brings authentic Latin American zing, zest, and charcoal-grilled goodness to the streets of London.
Cult Event’s chef Ian Ballantyne said: “We’ve created an immersive experience that mixes classic asado barbecue cookery with modern street art and live music, all served in a beautifully set-designed venue.”
Azonto Banquet by Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen – Friday, 24 May 2013
Chef Zoe Adjonyoh creates “Haute Ghanaian” culinary events that merge the Ghanaian roots with a contemporary dining experience. Born from a pop-up Ghanaian restaurant during the Hackney Wicked Arts Festival in 2011, Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen has become a favourite of London foodies.
Zoe recently collaborated with Diesel in London, hosting a temporary kitchen at Soho’s Diesel Village pop-up. Her underground success is also taking her to continental Europe, where she recently popped-up in Berlin. Ghanalicious.
Tickets for all evenings are available now through Edible Experiences: http://www.edibleexperiences.com/popupchallenge
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Media Contact:
Mike Salter
Co-Founder, We Are Pop Up
+44 (0) 7590 119625; mike@wearepopup.com
Hot Pop Ups - May 13th Edition
Portside Parlour Pop Up Rum Cocktail Bar
With an interior to rival many a pirate ship, the Portside Parlour Pop Up Rum Cocktail Bar is set in a plush basement, lit by candle light & set to a backtrack of rock n’ roll blues. With a selection of over 50 different types of speciality rums to suit any a land-dweller, and the opportunity to take a bottle home for later, this pop up bar takes the roots of rum to its customer in a fun and exciting way.
If you’ve got space to share with this pop up bar, sign up at We Are Pop Up and send them an offer!
Combining the thrill of a ping pong battle in a social setting is a match made in heaven. Pop Up Ping Pong find unique locations and brings together people over ping ponging and the finer things in life: street food, liquor and music.
On the 1st June, Pop Up Ping Pong has teamed up with #BRGR (www.wearepopup.com/p/brgr) to offer a night of some fierce ping pong games and fine food. Tickets are only £5 for unlimited ping ponging, so prepare to do battle in your best attire because it’s going to be one hell of a Ping Pong party! More details of this event here (http://designmynight.com/london/pubs/54-russell-gardens/pop-up-ping-pong-party). If you are interested in offering space for another Ping Pong Event, sign up at We Are Pop Up.
What do wings symbolise to you? Freedom? Flight? Evolution? The Wing Assignment invited 70 artists from a range of disciplines to create an artwork influenced by or using a bird’s wing sent in a package via Royal Mail. Participants included architects, writers, photographers, illustrators, painters and graphic designers, from the UK, Europe, Singapore and the United States. They have a collection of 70 artworks from installation, film to framed work ready to exhibit. Do you have a great space to show this incredible work, all with one central theme?
If you’d like to offer them space to show these great pieces of work, sign up at We Are Pop Up.
What would your dream high street be? Here at We Are Pop Up Headquarters, we are all about the future of the high street, and what it could be, which is why we love this project. Fantasy High Street is a weekend of spectacular artistic events that celebrate the local high street, by giving artists control over the empty shops to do whatever they want with. It could become a recreation of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory or bookshop where prize-winning authors read you stories whilst you snuggle under a duvet, your imagination is the limit.
Currently a soft launch for the festival is opening on Lower Marsh from 4-6 July 2013 in partnership with local Business Improvement District Waterloo Quarter, but the Fantasy High Street team are looking to other partners and locations to hold a a 3 day spectacular festival of magical fantasy shops in winter/spring 2014.
If you’d like to offer space to let dreams become the inspiration, sign up at We Are Pop Up.
Taking the wisdom of the old, and mixing it with modern make up trends and latest technology skincare, MAUA aims to create a range of cosmetics that will appeal to the younger generations with an interest in using natural ingredients. Using their passion for biology, dermatology and immunology, and combining it with a strong belief in natural beauty, MAUA cosmetics is going to be a unique face on the beauty high street
If you are interested in offering them space to sell their great products, sign up at We Are Pop Up.
Hot Pop Ups - May 6th Edition
IF (artist, Iulia Filipovscaia) brings you The Music Room where everything you can see is made by artisians: from the chairs you sit on, to the handmade turntable, from which music is pouring -The Music Room is a unique retail experience. Other products include knitwear by Lana Siberie, contemporary art and high quality coffee.
Lana Siberie has been featured previously in The Huffington Post and the digital Pomp Magazine, with many others in the pipeline including television experiences. If you’d like to offer them space to display their great products, sign up at We Are Pop Up.
With modern world technology and transport, the sense of community on the high street can seem nonexistent at times. The Postcode Gallery brings it back with artists displaying work directly inspired by the area that the pop up is in. Each artists designs, makes or writes something to do with the area, be it something they saw or a feeling they got, and aims to reaffirm the pride we have for where we live. They also love to make their gallery exhibits into mini festivals, offering food, performances and activities such as vegetable stamping, all helping to get the local community involved.
If you’d like to offer The Postcode Gallery space for this community event, sign up at We Are Pop Up.
Bringing the fun of the dressing up box back into adults wardrobes, Rosa Bloom takes inspiration from costumes and creates eye-catching attire for everyday. Items include Sequin Playsuits, Silk Frilly Knickers, and jewel-coloured Feather Capes – “clothes for the dressing-up devotee, the festival aficionado, the vintage dabbler, and every sweet sexy circus freak in-between!”. If you’d like to offer Rosa Bloom space to transport customers into a boudoir of gilt-framed mirrors, handmade bird cage light installations, and divinely-dressed shop assistants, sign up at We Are Pop Up.
Imaging the Pop Up Universe
The pace of change in our online worlds is increasingly fast and we’re starting to expect the same of the real world - more engaging, more entertaining, more social, more responsive - more personal. Pop-up can help deliver this for retail - and we’re seeing it emerge all over the globe. Look at these recent images we’ve found on Instagram of exciting Pop Ups from ‘lean’ retail to high end brands - you can check out more examples on our Pinterest board.
From London to New York, and San Francisco to Tokyo, there are centres of pop-up retail across the planet. We have seen the strongest adoption in walking cities due to high concentrations of footfall.
Also, these are cities filled with taste makers who constantly demand innovation and new experiences. In 2012, we’ve seen the trend growing strongly in Amsterdam, Berlin, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Miami, Paris, Shanghai, Sydney, Toronto, and Washington D.C - just look at the photos!
This year, we’re seeing a steady flow of new executions in India. On 20 January, The Times of India wrote, “Pop up. It’s a word you’re going to hearing a lot this year.” And outside major cities, pop-ups are gaining traction everywhere there is under used retail property.
What is the future for retail real estate in 2013 and beyond? You can read more of our thoughts here: Four-trends-for-2013
The National Theatre Propstore is Back!
Open this weekend on London’s South Bank, the National Theatre Propstore is back for its second and final installment The concept may sound simple: props and scenery from recent National Theatre productions are displayed as part of a temporary cafe/bar. But as last year’s @NTPropstore fans already know ( and this year’s are soon to discover ) the effect achieved by the sensitive curation of the props, and the fact that literally everything is structurally or superficially built of them, makes the space feel familiar and curious at once. True to its theatrical nature, it lights up the Southbank impressively after dark - a serious beacon for anyone looking east from a bus over Waterloo Bridge.
We’re taking you with us behind the scenes to visit the Propstore while the space is still in production. If you’re as investigative as we are, you probably also find it hard to shake a fascination with ‘what’s behind the curtain’ in live performances and films. Maybe we want a part of the story that somehow feels more authentic, or a way to engage more directly with the mysteries; in either case, watching the Propstore develop before our eyes is trippy.
The Propstore launched for the first time in London’s Olympic Summer 2012 and was a huge hit. At the moment, we are surrounded by false walls, toilets-that-aren’t-toilets, tiny trains, ‘trees’ rolled in ‘grass’ like giant fake sushi rolls and a space-age floor.
Mark Simpson, head of catering at the National Theatre, explains that this year’s installment serves the dual-purpose of acting as a facade of sorts. Construction and development is taking place just behind the Propstore throughout the rest of the year for a new mainstay National Theatre project.
We’re walking through a space made of fake stuff, which is also a functional false wall for the Theatre itself… and it all disappears by the end of the year. It feels weird to think it, but we’re overcome by the sense that The Propstore is actually making magic happen. While the opening night is yet upon us, we eagerly look forward to the next transformation about to take place.
The Propstore is open until the 28th of September 2013, and you can visit the National Theatre to find out more about what’s ‘in store’.
You can also see the rest of our journey depicted in photos.
And we just caught this great review by Lauren Laverne interviewing the Propstore’s producer and designer.
Hot Pop-Ups: Global Edition - The Garage in Fairfax, California
Nestled at the foot of Mt. Tamalpais not far north of San Francisco, Fairfax, California, has long been a small but thriving enclave of artists, musicians, and creative makers of all kinds. Pop-ups may be becoming common in large cities, but it is in the smaller communities where they can often have the biggest impact. The Garage opened this past weekend in Fairfax, and looks to be a shining example of how pop-ups can enable sustainable, localized shopping in communities of any size.
Elsewhere