Pop Up!
Interview with Eugene Ashton Gonzalez
Eat My Heart Out Storytelling Dinner Theatre
By Kathryn Gordon
Kathryn: Hi
Eugene. Pop Up restaurants and bakeries are appearing
everywhere as promotional tools to attract attention and investors and also to
earn profit. I know you've been working on a pop up restaurant, and I know
you’ve been involved with one before.
Can you tell us about it?
Eugene:
In October we will have a one-night dinner theater and storytelling
performance. I am the writer/director in
charge of the theatrical part, and I am working with the chef and crew that we
worked with last year for a prior popup.
Diners will enjoy dinner while watching a show.
Kathryn:
How do you promote something that only lasts one night?
Eugene:
We are raising funds via Kickstarter.
We also have a website and a Facebook page. We still have a mailing list and followers
from our last event. Last time, we
sold out our available tickets in 72 hours because we attracted the attention
of food bloggers.
Kathryn:
With your ticket sales, is something like this pop up model economically
viable?
Eugene:
Honestly, we can’t really pay the servers. Mostly, they are volunteers (friends of
friends). We have to have enough funds
to rent the space and the equipment, pay for the food and pay some of the cooks
who join the team for the night.
Kathryn:
What’s the biggest challenge of arranging something like this?
Eugene:
Risking exposure of the event to health officials! It’s not treated completely like a private
party. It’s quasi open to the public and it’s not an invitation-only private event so it’s kind of in a grey area in
terms of inspections. We try to keep the
final location hush hush until the last possible minute so the health department
won’t be there to shut us down when we need to serve dinner!
Kathryn:
How did you find the space you will be using this year?
Eugene:
The first event was in a friend’s loft.
We served 80 covers and outgrew that space, so this time we are renting
a larger space. We also rent the kitchen
equipment, table ware, everything.
My partner, the culinary director, is in charge of renting
the ranges, refrigeration and everything they need in the kitchen. He designs the menu. I am making the front of the house
arrangements. My background is in food
and theater and I write and produce the show with a troupe of actor/friends.
Kathryn: Eugene, what’s next in terms of projects for you?
Eugene:
We are planning to open in California. There is a market everywhere now
for storytelling and a huge fan base and we plan to feature the local food
economy in California and independent food producers. For example, the chefs come out to describe
the recipe development for each dish in between serving the courses to the
audience.
Kathryn: Thank you Eugene!
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