Meet Open Air Bistro: the fun, growing concept known as the “Pop-Up Restaurant.”
On a cool evening in the Point Loma Heights neighborhood of San Diego, an outdoor, makeshift restaurant is bustling with laughs, appetizers, and plenty of beer. What was merely a quiet urban garden just a few hours ago is now an open air, temporary restaurant, just as busy as any other establishment on a Friday night.
The Pop-Up Restaurant phenomenon started back in early 2000’s when talented British and Australian chefs would put together special menus for special, one-time events in local neighborhoods, to show off their cooking skills. Since then, the Pop-Up Restaurant bug has caught the likes of local San Diego caterers Nick Brune and Adam Hiner, Co-owners of Eco Caters, an all-organic San Diego catering company, with a passion for all things local.
“All the food for the Open Air Bistro was sourced 100% from Herb En Routes urban farm, as well as our own backyard gardens,” says Adam Hiner, Co-owner and chef of the all-organic San Diego catering company, Eco Caters. “The only outside ingredients for the Open Air Bistro was a local olive oil (Bellavado), and yellowtail that was caught locally the day prior to the event. We love the Open Air Bistro concept and we can’t wait to do more of them!”
The menu for this San Diego pop up dinner was a simple yet flavorful tomato salad with micro greens tossed with a garlic avocado oil, an eggplant pared with smoked jalapeño, stuffed squash blossom with a creamy Summer Squash Nage, and lastly, local yellowtail tuna with a carrot emulsion and a basil lemon verbena vinaigrette. For the vegetarians who opted out of the fish our San Diego caterers prepared a grilled cucumber with beets, carrots & brown butter. For desert guests were treated a refreshing Cucumber Mint Granita, and our popular Lemon Verbena Panna Cotta.
Over the last few years Eco Caters, San Diego’s all-organic catering company, has grown a passion for urban farming. Some of the fruits and vegetables they grow in Nick and Adam’s own back yards have been enjoyed on the plates of many of the corporate events and weddings the San Diego caterers cater for. Over the next few years they hope to expand this into their own locally grown honey, and goats cheese from a few their goats.
Our San Diego caterers would like to give a special “Thanks!” to My Local Habit for bringing a spectacular selection of local beers, Herb En Routes for sharing their urban garden. We purchase lots of produce from Herb En Routes for our San Diego catering events and we love their service and dedication to freshness. Lastly, we want to give a special thanks to San Diego Photographer Leylla Badeanlou for sharing her photographs. She did a spectacular job capturing the warmth we all experienced at the Open Air Bistro. Until Next time!
