I was determined to make it to one of London’s pop-up restaurants during my recent visit. Nelson has a great dining scene considering its 50,000 population, but the variety and spontaneity is harder to find in a smaller town.
Contrastingly there are a myriad of pop-up options available in London, and although the term “pop-up” implies a temporary nature, the popularity of dining in this casual, cool style means that the more successful pop ups have developed not only a sense of permanence, but also tend to be booked out for weeks, if not months in advance.
This was the case with Jimmy’s Underground Pop Up Restaurant, which returned for a second summer to the cosy basement of Divine Wines in my old stomping ground, Clapham. I couldn’t get a spot for the more upmarket offer on Fri/Sat, but with my old friends Sam and Nige, we snuck in for Burgers and Bordeaux after a late drop-out at Thursday’s opening night.
Jimmy Garcia got into cooking whilst working the chalet and private yachting seasons on the Continent, and now runs various catering events across London. Moonlighting at various pop-up events for the summer, Jimmy seems to do everything with a couple of helpers, taking the bookings, noting the orders, serving the wine, tidying up and collecting the cash – always with an easy smile and some chit-chat for the customers. He still somehow manages to deliver great food efficiently with a quirky touch, and the speed of service could certainly put some top restaurants to shame.
Tucked into a corner of the basement is Jimmy’s work area neatly laid out with burger buns ready to toast, and quirky serving boards and jam jars. Jimmy’s team works quickly to get orders underway, while the customers cram onto communal tables amongst shelves of wine bottles for sale. Each diner chooses white or red Bordeaux, served in a recycled port decanter – presumably this wine isn’t 20% alcohol despite the label! The wine quickly encourages conversation to develop amongst strangers, and when the chefs get out the smoking gun, savoury smells of wood chips, cheese and truffle fill the room. Tightly clamped preserving jars of smoked mac and cheese with wild mushroom and truffle are doled out across the room, releasing theatrical plumes of smoke from each jar.
Duck and lobster burgers made up the main course and luckily I didn’t have to choose, opting for a half-half combination to try each. As I bit into the juicy lobster burger and hot thermidor sauce oozed over my fingers, Jimmy popped by to ask which one I preferred. Since I’d opted for seafood to precede meat as per convention, I asked him to wait a while for my answer. All he said was “Quack Quack”.
And Jimmy was right… although the lobster burger was moist and tasty with the added flavours of crayfish tails, the duck was superb. The orange and Earl Grey chutney combined with wild mushrooms and truffle beetroot added a luxurious touch to the burger. And no, I wasn’t worried about two rounds of truffle, it was subtle but tasty.
Our table included a doctor, two architects, an accountant, a media lecturer, and an advertising man with Greek, Australian, Kiwi and English representation. Conversation flowed and strangers quickly became chatty acquaintances with a shared appreciation of the food. The ice cream course cemented the relaxed atmosphere, as everyone jostled for first dibs at the popping candy, rocky road, jelly, meringue and various other sweet treats to go on top of the vanilla, mango, nutella ice cream mix.
The evening wound up in a relaxed way as diners made their satisfied way up the stairs and out into the night. Jimmy’s relaxed style and good food really combine to deliver a great night out, and I’d certainly recommend that you join the queue to pop-in if you can. At £30 (NZ$60)/head including wine, this is also a reasonable night out with a quality of food that rivals more expensive options.
I’m hoping that we can manage to deliver a pop-up in Nelson (or elsewhere in New Zealand) with similar panache and our own unique touch, so if any of our Ora King network would like to collaborate on developing the concept locally, please drop us a line.
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