Yes, the King of Pops restaurant at Ponce City Market is tiny.
“This is about half the size of your dining room,” said Steven Carse, the eponymous potentate, looking around his pint-size restaurant in a hidden corner of the hip indoor mall.
The mall itself, still being fashioned from the gargantuan old Sears building on Ponce de Leon, was a hive of activity. Power saws screamed overhead as construction crews shouted back and forth on an upper level, while wandering customers seemed surprised to find the King of Pops in a brick-and-mortar store.
» Flashback fotos: Take a loook at the history of the Sears building that now houses Ponce City Market
Carse is also adjusting. This is the first time he’s set down roots in a permanent locale, although this particular locale, at 83 square feet, is only big enough for a short counter. No chairs. No tables.
That’s OK, says Carse, 31. “I’m used to working in small spaces” — i.e. a 2-by-3-foot metal box on wheels.
The King of Pops began in 2009 when Carse was laid off from his job with insurance giant AIG. He sold cotton candy at Turner Field while he brainstormed a new career making frozen treats with fresh fruit in them — like the paletas he'd enjoyed on vacation in Central America.
Soon he and his crew were selling close to a million gourmet frozen treats a year at arts festivals and outdoor concerts and wholesaling to places like Whole Foods. The pops included such exotic flavors as tangerine basil, pineapple habañero and chocolate sea salt.
Those tasty treats began to inspire Carse and his staff: Wouldn’t this make a great mixed drink? So they began fooling around with cocktail recipes — “after work is over and we’re done operating heavy machinery, we let loose a little.”
Thus a new line of cold treats was born. At the new store, Carse is not just offering desserts, but a full bar, beer, wine, sandwiches and salads.
Seeing all these treats emerge from this pocket-size store is like watching Mary Poppins unfold her floor lamp out of a carpet bag, but Carse is keeping things simple: a few sandwiches, a couple of canned beers, and canned wine. Canned wine?
“Keepin’ it classy folks,” says the menu. (Carse didn’t want to fool with glasses — or china plates. His customers can take their food to go, or eat at the tables in the common area that adjoins his shop.) “Our whole thing is to be on the go.”
The greens, radishes and carrots for his salads and some of his fruit come from his new 68-acre farm near Douglasville, which he puckishly calls King of Crops.
His mixed drinks, such as the blackberry ginger dark and stormy, come with the curious option of adding a frozen pop for $2 more — and the pop is inserted into the glass like a tasty, fat, frozen swizzle stick.
The King of Pops has inspired many sticky smiles. This spring, it also inspired Dad's Garage Theatre to come up with a musical retelling of the entrepreneur's story, with some embellishments, including battle scenes between the King and the Ice Queen of Cones.
With close to a dozen restaurants already open in the Ponce City Market and close to a dozen more slated to open in the next year, Carse figures his booth will take care of those looking for an affordable meal — lunch and a beer for less than $20.
“We’re the budget option,” he said.
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