Any entity can become a “pop-up” these days; many Hollywood starlets have temporarily sold their wares in pop-up stores, for example, and Northwest Indiana has seen its share of pop-up art shows in Gary’s Miller section.
In what may be the region’s first pop-up restaurant, Food-Food will make its debut at 5 p.m. Tuesday at New Oberfalz Brewing while proprietors Gabriella and Dario Garcia, of Highland, are on spring break from Warren Elementary School.
As the two are 10 and 8, respectively, they’ll likely need the rest of the week to rest.
Dario, the more loquacious sibling, said he was talking to his godmother one day about being a chef when he grows up. Knowing their dad, Victor Garcia, knows a lot of people through his not-for-profit work, she suggested the idea of a pop-up restaurant.
“That’s a restaurant opened for like one or two days, so it’s not always there,” Gabriella said.
Dario, who’s been honing his culinary skills since he and Gabriella “were really little,” didn’t have to be sold on the idea for a second. But Garcia wondered who might be game to allow two elementary school kids into their business for a night.
“They really wanted to have it at a local business, but I told them they would have to do the talking on their own,” Garcia said. “Gus (New Oberfalz Brewing owner Dan Lehnerer) was happy to take a meeting with them and didn’t bat an eye.”
From there, the two came up with the menu for their big debut and divvied up the duties. Dario’s into the meats and sauces, while Gabriella gravitates more toward sides and desserts, so they decided on a Gabriella-created salad, of which early taste tests passed with a rating of “crunchy silky smooth”; tomato soup; shrimp by Dario using his grandmother’s recipe but he “can’t share it with anyone”; something the two coined “The P-Double-C Sliders of Tastiness”; and Gabriella’s pudding pie.
While the two were nervous approaching Lehnerer for the space to cook, the cooking part for Dario is easy-peasy.
“I’ve been a sous-chef for my dad, but then I got to help my dad on the grill, and I was so excited,” Dario said.
As comfortable as he might be behind the oven, every good chef needs extra hands. Enter Gabe and Kate Mauch, owners of Grindhouse Cafe in Griffith, who’ll be there to help and to provide a lovely fruit tea option that both kids loved when they conducted a taste test.
“So knowing I’m a restaurant owner, Victor approached me with this crazy idea of having his kids do a pop-up restaurant. So I will be half sous-chef and half safety net for Dario,” Mauch said. “Our main purpose is still, there’s an 8-year-old playing with knives and fire, but I imagine we’ll be saying a lot of ‘Yes, chef!’ and washing dishes and plating food.”
Early reports Mauch has been getting indicate Dario’s been taking his advice of “good time management” to heart, too.
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“Victor told me Dario’s been cooking nonstop, to the point that when it’s all done, he’ll never want to eat the food he’s making again. I’ve never met a kid so focused and put together like him,” Mauch said. “I was 30 when I started Grindhouse; before that I was a barista and playing in a punk band.”
Michelle Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Food-Food Pop-Up Restaurant
Where: New Oberfalz Brewing Co., 121 E. Main St., Griffith; 219-513-9341
When: 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday
Cost: $35 for a five course, fixed-price meal; $20 for kids 12 and younger
Etc.: Proceeds to benefit Mental Health America
Info: Facebook.com/foodfoodnwi/?fref=ts