6 Atlanta pop-ups you can’t miss this week
Each week, Punk Foodie highlights Atlanta pop-ups worth catching before they disappear, helping readers find the city’s most interesting chef-driven dining concepts, food trucks, supper clubs and limited-time food events.
The independent chef scene often reveals how immigrant traditions, first-generation entrepreneurship and local ingredients are merging into a new Southern food identity. Atlanta offers a unique laboratory where chefs test ideas to determine if temporary kitchens can transform into revolutionary restaurants.
Canadian and American street eats and pizza from Pat’s Poutine
Who: Pat’s Poutine (@pats.poutine) from Tony Jackson.
When/Where: Saturday and Sunday, June 20-21, 2-7 p.m. Terri’s Breakfast Cafe (@terriscafe). 2478 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Harland Terrace.
Why Go: Operating out of a food truck as well as the former Terri’s Breakfast Cafe space in collaboration with MLK Pizza & More (@mlkpizza), Jackson’s Pat’s Poutine serves up Canadian street food classics like poutine. Jackson, an Atlanta native, discovered his love for poutine during frequent family trips to Canada, where he also met his wife. Today, he runs one of the few minority-owned poutine concepts in the country, using his mother-in-law’s poutine recipe to bring this Canadian comfort food to the South.
What to Get: Get the poutine made with crispy French fries and fresh cheese curds covered in a rich, hot brown gravy with options including beef, fried chicken and vegetables. The lineup also includes Canadian-style all-beef hot dogs, which are split and fried. Variants include a slaw, chili cheese and even a poutine hot dog.
Greek-inspired supper club from Gathered Grounds
Who: Gathered Grounds (@gatheredgroundsatl) from Kai Halpaus.
When/Where: Saturday, June 20, 7-10 p.m. West End (Exact location revealed at time of ticket purchase).
Why Go: Drawing on his experiences living in South America, Germany, Thailand and Hong Kong, as well as training under chef Christopher Grossman at the Chastain, Halpaus is the founder of Gathered Grounds, a monthly supper club featuring an evolving, globally inspired menu. This month’s dinner is inspired by his travels to Greece and the people, ingredients and meals that left the biggest impression on him.
“Rather than re-creating a specific restaurant meal, the goal is to capture the feeling of sharing food around a Greek table: bright flavors, simple ingredients and dishes meant to be enjoyed communally,” Halpaus said.
What to Get: The set menu features four courses along with a bread and dessert course. Highlights include charcoal-grilled octopus (smoked eggplant puree, spicy Greek tapenade and black garlic ash), as well as lamb dolma (lamb and rice stuffed grape leaves, pickled grapes, garlic yogurt sauce and avgolemono foam).
Another dish is the grilled branzino made with charred lemon gelee, eggplant fondant, fresh oregano and dill.
For dessert, he will serve Lucky-Eye baklava (blueberry and pistachio baklava and frozen yogurt).
Modern Thai Omakase from Charm
Who: Charm Atlanta (@charmthaiatlanta) from Jenna Phravorachit.
When/Where: Sundays, 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Mondays, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Omakase Table (@omakasetable.atl). 3330 Piedmont Road NE #22A, Buckhead.
Why Go: Phravorachit grew up helping in her parents’ Asian grocery stores and Thai restaurants from an early age. She brings an extensive hospitality background to her pop-up, having served as the general manager for Omakase Table, omakase manager for O by Brush and opening general manager for Pink Lotus. As for her cooking philosophy, she said she is always learning new techniques and exploring new ideas. Phravorachit’s goal is not to replace tradition, but to “present it in a way that feels contemporary while still respecting its roots,” she said.
What to Get: Try Phravorachit’s version of khanom krok, a crispy rice flour shell filled with a warm, sweet coconut custard that swaps traditional toppings of scallions or corn for premium Kaluga caviar.
Some of the other courses include blue crab curry, spicy catfish salad, grilled lobster with lemongrass and roasted Thai chile paste dressing and A5 Wagyu tenderloin with sticky rice.
Globally inspired Southern residency from He Cooks
Who: He Cooks (@hecooksco) from Kyle Taylor.
When/Where: Sundays and Mondays, 6-10 p.m., the Rooftop at Clermont (@hotelclermont). 789 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE, Poncey-Highland.
Why Go: Self-taught chef Taylor, the founder of He Cooks and creator of the Service @ Seven (@serviceatseven) dining series, begins a new Sunday and Monday residency at the Clermont Hotel rooftop on June 21. He aims to build dishes around high-contrast flavor profiles that anchor Southern culinary traditions with global ingredients. Visitors can expect a rotating menu each week.
What to get: Get the roast pork and kraut, which pairs Southern pork shoulder and collards with the fermentation technique of cabbage sauerkraut. The lineup also includes chulpe popcorn, elevating a familiar Southern snack by using South American toasted Andean corn, chile pepper, lime and sea salt.
The rest of the menu includes chilled glass noodles, which bring together a cooling cucumber and mint base with Asian glass noodles and a charred habanero broth, crispy potatoes topped with Mexican-inspired pickled jalapeno, scallion and smoked cheddar crema and Portuguese white port-poached peaches with burnt honey whipped cream and oat crumble.
You may also want to reserve a spot for Taylor’s next Service @ Seven supper club on June 27 in Chosewood Park.
Fool’s Errand debuts at Barrel Proof
Who: Fool’s Errand (@foolserrandatl) from Hannah Chandler.
When/Where: Monday, June 22, 4 p.m. until sold out. Barrel Proof (@barrelproofatl). 1170 Howell Mill Road NW, West Midtown.
Why Go: With a resume spanning the breadth of the service industry, from owning a catering company to cooking at Kimball House and currently bartending at Barrel Proof, chef Chandler brings a wealth of experience to her new pop-up. Fool’s Errand will debut at Barrel Proof, a new bar in the former Little Trouble space in west Midtown. She said her approach is rooted in traditional European culinary techniques and utilizing seasonal and local ingredients; her rotating menu will offer a fun and nostalgic take on classic comfort dishes.
What to Get: The porchetta sandwich made with a fennel-stuffed whole roasted pork belly with crispy skin on fresh-baked focaccia, as well as the fried green tomato caprese sandwich with roasted red pepper aioli, also on focaccia
The rest of the menu includes pizza arancini with Calabrian vodka sauce and a handmade tiramisu ice cream sandwich.
Pizza Omakase from Phew’s Pies
Who: Phew’s Pies (@phewpies) from Matt Foster.
When/Where: Monday, June 22, 8-10 p.m. Larakin (@larakinatl). 208 12th St. NE, Midtown.
Why Go: Foster, who was one of the first to make a lemon pepper wet pizza, now offers a pizza omakase. Hosted every first and third Monday of the month at Larakin, each dinner is limited to 30 seats. The experience consists of nine pizza courses with a dessert course and includes unlimited wine, with specific pairings for some courses.
What to Get: The omakase menu has Phew’s classic pizzas, including the lemon pepper wet, the oyster Rockefeller and the oxtail and ricotta. It also features a white pie, a tomato confit pie and a garlic knot pie and three new pies: the Caesar salad, the smoked salmon and the peach and prosciutto.
Reserve a spot by texting 678-358-1068.
In addition to Foster’s omakase night at Larakin, you can find him at La Bodega every Thursday and at Smorgasburg Atlanta every Saturday.
On our radar
- Open now: Misfitsss is offering July 4 barbecue preorders for pick up at Round Trip Brewing in Underwood Hills.
- Open now: Donations are being accepted to a fund to help cover cancer treatment and medical expenses for JenChan’s Emily Chan. Contributors will be invited to a thank-you gala planned for a future date.
- June 17: Sidequest will be bringing Viet and Lao cuisine to O’Boyce’s Irish Pub pop-up.
- June 19-20: On the heels of their massively popular event at the end of May, Pho with E is popping up again at Pastries A Go Go in Decatur. Get there early to avoid the line.
- June 20: Cookbook author and former owner of Third Space, Asha Gomez, is hosting a Kerala Coastal Lunch for Father’s Day at her Tulip & Tea space in Conyers
Note: By their very nature, pop-ups are fluid and subject to the whims of weather. For the latest schedule and information, consult the pop-ups’ Instagram feeds.