Growing pop-up scene a solid step for local chefs
For those with a talent in food prep, pop-ups seem to be a booming way to start realizing the dream of restaurant success locally; one that some have already transitioned into their own full-time gigs.
WINTER PARK, fla. - On a Saturday night in Winter Park, a local flower shop winds down their sales for the day, but at the store’s coffee bar a crowd of nearly a dozen gathers for a gourmet meal like few others in the area.
On this night: 10 courses. The menu: a mystery for the group of diners until Chef Bruno Fonseca meets them the first time.
"They come in and they have no clue what they're having until they sit down and we walk them through each course as the courses come out,” said Fonseca.
The chef of nearly 20 years, and former chef-instructor, calls the event the Foreigner Experience. The event runs Friday nights at Melts on Main in Winter Park and Saturdays at that shop, the Heavy.
A diner at the Foreigner Experience opens a steaming tray of oysters.
For $95 to $105 per person, diners join one of the small group meals that Chef Fonseca designs a unique, usually 5-course meal for.
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Fonseca said the idea is to make it an experience that diners rarely find in Central Florida, where they interact with each other and with the Chef throughout the meal, and where they try flavors they’ve likely never encountered.
"We do try to push the limits on what's being served and how it's being served, and culturally how we can explain that to the guest,” he said.
Chef Bruno Fonseca prepares the next course as a group eats at the Foreigner Experience.
Fonseca makes it happen without any open flames or large kitchen to work with. The Foreigner is a pop-up event designed to utilize whatever space the Chef can get in order to share his dishes with the public.
“I've always wanted to have my own business,” said Fonseca.
For those with a talent in food prep, pop-ups seem to be a booming way to start realizing that dream locally; one that some have already transitioned into restaurant success.
Chef Joseph Creech tells his pop-up origin story at Hunger St. Tacos in Winter Park.
"The good thing for us at that point was we didn't have a whole lot to lose,” said Chef Joseph Creech sitting on the patio of his Hunger St. Tacos restaurant on Fairbanks Ave.
Hunger St. has become known for its authentic Mexican street foods and massive murals on their storefront along the busy Winter Park road. However, Creech said the business started as just 1 taco that he’d learned to make growing up in Guadalajara and that his friends insisted he had to find a way to bring to the public.
"With one taco right?” said Creech. “We went into buying a tent and getting some equipment which was like camp chef stovetops from Gander Mt., and we started cooking anywhere that would take us."
Some of Hunger St.'s original offerings.
He says they became a Central Florida pop-up then, nearly 6 years ago, and they were willing to try their hand cooking nearly anywhere.
Creech said for a season they cooked their tacos at the concession stands of local little league games; building a fan base there. He said soon they transitioned to being regulars at local farmers markets where they expanded to an even larger crowd.
Then, three years ago this month, Creech said his dream was finally realized as they opened their shop along Fairbanks. Having already established themselves in the pop-up scene, he said the brick and mortar investment came with a lot less stress.
"We had enough of a base to fill the tables the first day,” he said.
Today, they continue to fill those tables, and other pop-ups are joining them in slowly making the transition to their dream restaurants.
Chef Bruno Fonseca prepares yet another course for his diners.
Fonseca hopes to soon do the same.
"As much as I love the opportunity I was given here to do this, the goal is for me to ultimately get a restaurant,” said the Chef.
After 55+ Foreigner events, he sees that goal growing closer, but until that day plans to keep bringing his talents and his unique experience to Central Florida foodies, wherever he can pop up.
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February 21, 2020 at 11:22AM
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Growing pop-up scene a solid step for local chefs looking to launch restaurants - FOX 35 Orlando
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