How to start your own pop up restaurant

Pop-up restaurants, where people invite others to dine in their home, are the latest trend hitting a recession savvy bunch of culinary connoisseurs in the city. Feeling inspired by our couples? Here’s how to get started:

1. Don’t stretch yourself
Think realistically about how many people you can fit, comfortably, in your home to eat. Are your diners going to sit on separate tables, or could you fit everyone round a large dining table banquet style? Remember, you might be able to fit ten diners in your living room, but can your oven and kitchen turn out ten menus?

2. Serving alcohol?
Alcohol licences can be expensive and also difficult to obtain, especially when you are not yet established. Probably best to avoid serving alcohol and instead invite guests to ‘bring their own bottle’. This side steps licensing problems, and allows you to focus on buying good food, rather than stocking a booze cupboard that may not get used, especially if everyone decides they want to drink water.

If you are planning on serving alcohol or having any live entertainment (singers, musicians, dancers etc), you will need to apply for a Temporary Events Notice from your local council’s Licensing Team. You need to apply at least 10 working days before the event and send copies to the council and the police. You can apply for a maximum of 5 per year per property.

3. Menu
Think about your menu choices, and make sure your oven and kitchen can cope. While you may be able to get 20 people sat comfortably at dining tables in your front room, can you get 20 poussins roasting comfortably in your oven? Plus, says Chef Gav Billenness of the popular London based pop-up restaurant, the Savoy Truffle Supperclub, (www.savoytrufflesupperclub.com), ‘You don't want to be trying to bake meringues, which need a low oven temperature, at the same time as roasting potatoes, which need a really high oven temperature’.

4. Know your (culinary) limits
Make sure you don’t overstretch yourself by cooking things you don’t normally feel comfortable or confident cooking. A really tasty plate of bangers and mash will score more points than badly cooked cordon bleu, if that’s your thing. Pop up restaurants are not for the fainthearted, apart from anything ‘there's a hell of a lot of washing up to do at the end of the night’ says Billenness. He advises, ‘only do it if you really enjoy food and entertaining.’

5. Do a trial run
Before you invite paying customers, do a trial run with your friends and family. This is a great way to road test your menu, make sure your timings are all up to scratch and will also help iron out any potential problems and pitfalls. This will ensure you give a sleek performance when the paying punters start ringing on your doorbell.

6. How much to charge?
More mainstream restaurants run on the 3:3:3 ratio – a third for overheads and staff costs, a third on food and a third as profit. To begin with, however, your motivation for setting up a pop up restaurant should be foodie passion rather than making money. Many pop-ups simply ask for a discretionary donation to cover costs, usually somewhere between £15 and £30. Remember any profit you make is subject to Inland Revenue rules and regulations.

7. Getting the punters in
Once you have sorted out the logistics, the next step is to get people through the (front) door. Use your social networks online to create pages that advertise your new venture to peers in your network. Having invited a close group of friends to your first opening, give them exclusive offers (for example, 20 percent off) to offer to their friends. Word of mouth is a powerful tool in this market!

8. Share the load
While running any sort of restaurant is stressful, it can also be extremely rewarding and enjoyable. Be aware that on the night you will be busy. Ideally you want to work with a partner so while one focuses on the cooking as a chef; the other can help out ‘front of house’. Make sure you establish a good working relationship, and don’t forget to take turns with the washing up at the end of the night!

9. Clean up your act!
Before attempting to prepare food for paying diners you should complete a food hygiene course. All our couples did a Level 2 Award in Food Catering online course which takes about two hours. We used Train4food.co.uk but there are many others on offer.