New pop-ups and supper clubs like The Ivy Wall put local on the table, indoors and out. (Photo by Courtney Mannion for The Ivy Wall)
What is a pop-up? It's a restaurant, shop or other concept that temporarily uses a space where you might not otherwise find it. When it comes to food, pop-ups are an increasingly popular method for experimentation and community introduction, and here in Richmond, they're popping up all over the place. Over the next few days alone (with more offerings in the months to come), three pop-up concepts are in the offing, and they're all worthy of your precious weekend hours.
- Gold Cart
Sunday, Dec. 11, at Citizen
Take a trip to Latin America with the first installation of Gold Cart, an internationally inspired pop-up series offering $5 small plates and $1 Black Label beers this weekend. "[Sunday's] Gold Cart is locally sourced, Latin-inspired street food," says Ned Curry, the sous chef at Pasture and one of the chefs behind the new series, which will periodically rotate its international focus.
Curry and Erik Heffernan, a Pasture colleague, tested the waters with a few private dinner events on Heffernan's parents' Danville farm earlier this year. "We wanted to bring some of these products into Richmond itself and make them more accessible to people," Curry says. One such purveyor is Burkeville's Waverly Farm, which Gold Cart will be using to source all its eggs and meat, including the American Guinea Hog that can be found in the pop-up's house-made chorizo.
While Heffernan will be working front of house, Curry will be cooking alongside Citizen line cook William Rigsby in the kitchen, whipping up plates such as fried chicken dumplings with cilantro-lime crema, yuca fries with a mushroom-walnut gravy, and a black-bean stew with braised short ribs and chorizo. "We really feel it's a cuisine that lets the ingredients' integrity speak for itself," Curry says. "Simple, really great flavors, really warming for this time of year."
Gold Cart won't always follow a small-plate format, but the trio thought it would lend itself well to sampling during the group's first public event. "People can expect a really relaxed atmosphere, just good times and good food," Curry shares. Check out the full menu here. Find Gold Cart at Citizen — 1203 E. Main St. — on Sunday, Dec. 11, from 6 to 9 p.m.
- Iki Kai
Sunday, Dec. 11, at Metzger Bar & Butchery
Pretend you're not in the Mid-Atlantic in the dead of winter. You're instead listening to the dulcimer tones of a ukulele, a tiki cocktail in your hand and a lei around your neck. You're certainly not in Union Hill. [record scratch, freeze frame] Or are you?
The team behind Metzger Bar & Butchery and Scott's Addition's forthcoming Brenner Pass and Chairlift is bringing a taste of Hawaii to Richmond on Sunday with the group's first Iki Kai pop-up. "We're gonna have a few local Hawaiian dishes," says Metzger Event Coordinator and Head Server Krystle Montes, who grew up on the islands.
After discussing the diverse cuisine with Metzger Executive Chef and co-owner Brittanny Anderson, who visited Hawaii twice between 2012 and 2013, the two brainstormed a future concept to add to the group's growing list of restaurants: Iki Kai, meaning "little sea." Eventually, Anderson says, the group could open a small brick-and-mortar restaurant offering poke bowls of fresh tuna in addition to yakitori, skewered, grilled meats.
"[Hawaii is] like a big melting pot, so you get to eat a lot of different things every day," Montes says. "On a typical Hawaiian plate lunch, you're going to get like five different things on it. It very much reflects this cuisine Hawaii has from all of these different cultures from plantation workers and immigrants, so you're going to get malasadas — they're huge, but they're actually a Portuguese thing — or bento, which comes from Japanese people living in Hawaii."
Iki Kai's first pop-up event will offer a few such treats: malasadas, fried doughnut balls; lau lau, steamed fish in banana leaves; poke, marinated, raw tuna over rice; and musubi, a traditional Hawaiian snack atop a small brick of rice — the Metzger team will offer theirs with Spam, schnitzel or vegetables. Guests will also find one of Montes' favorites: loco moco, rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg and gravy.
Local beverage pros James Kohler and Brandon Peck will be serving up tiki-style cocktails at this walk-in-only event; sorry, no reservations. Expect pupus (appetizers) from $6 to $9, entrées between $12 and $16, and the kitchen to serve it all up from 5 to 10 p.m.; bar stays open until midnight. And, to top it all off, guests will not only taste a bit of the tropics, but see it. The team is bringing in palms, a large Bird of Paradise and other decorations. "We definitely want to transform the restaurant," Montes says, "and bring a bit of aloha there to bring the good-vibes kind of vibe of Hawaii."
Find the full menu here. Get the first taste of Iki Kai this Sunday, Dec. 11, at Metzger Bar & Butchery, located at 801 N. 23rd St.
- The Ivy Wall [SOLD OUT]
Friday, Dec. 9, at an undisclosed location
The Ivy Wall's appeal certainly lies in the food, but much of its fun is in the secrecy. "I've always kind of liked doing secret stuff, or anything that's wrapped around some sort of clandestine-ness — secret clubs, secret societies — so why not eat and be secret?" asks founder and cook Joshua James Franklin.
It's less a pop-up and more of a secret supper club, but one that should be on your dining radar nonetheless. In September, Franklin introduced Richmond to the dinner series, each meal set at around $75: an evening of locally focused courses that remain a mystery until the guests are seated, while the location itself remains a mystery until one purchases a ticket.
Held in a Fan-area estate's sprawling garden on a temperate fall night, roughly 20 guests sat at a long table under a bulb-lit trellis for fortified deviled eggs with boquerones, creamed habañero corn with a grilled ear of corn and a hearty slice of lamb porchetta, and panzanella with peaches and Consider Bardwell Farm cheese. The dinner was situated behind the garden's large ivy wall, the series's namesake. In its second incarnation, guests can expect heartier fare now that the weather's turned colder: ingredients slowly simmered throughout this week to achieve deep flavor.
This week's sold-out dinner will feature goods from Woodson's Mill, River Oak Farm, Caromont Farm, Wolf Creek Farm and Grayson Natural Farms. "It's quality-centric first, local-centric second, then it's chef-centric," Franklin says. "The idea is not that the same chefs are cooking every time, but I want chefs to feel they can focus on their strong points."
For the first two Ivy Wall dinners, Franklin enlisted cooks Kylie Gellatly, formerly of Metzger Bar & Butchery, and Adam Musselman, formerly of The Roosevelt and currently the general manager of JM Stock Provisions, where Franklin is the cheesemonger. It's a space for chefs to collaborate or experiment. "It's really fun to get chefs of the same caliber who may have never been in the same room together before," he adds.
Ideally, Franklin says, Ivy Wall dinners will be held monthly, but currently, they're scheduled to remain bimonthly. The next dinner is set for February; stay tuned to The Ivy Wall's Instagram account for ticket announcements and other updates.
