In the past year, pop-ups and other temporary food events have soared in Baton Rouge.
As Business Report details in a feature from the current issue, the events take place at bars or retailers that don’t serve food, but whose audiences are a perfect target market. Catering company Bouillababes, the brainchild of Sydney Harkins and Jamie Brown, holds regular pop-ups at whiskey bar Hayride Scandal.
Secret Lair Taqueria has held pop-ups at Baton Rouge-based Southern Craft Brewing Co., and Red Stick Spice Company has hosted semi-regular pop-ups, including one in June featuring several women chefs and food artisans. Chow Yum Phat duo Vu Le and Jordan Ramirez are now hosting pop-ups at blues bar Phil Brady’s.
“From the perspective of a consumer, I’d say that a couple of things have happened to help change things,” says local attorney Franz Borghardt, who co-founded the culinary event planning business Geaux Rouge Productions with restaurateur Nick Hufft of Curbside Burgers and Overpass Merchant. “One is that the growth of Waitr and home delivery has caused people to say ‘when I go out, I want an experience that I can’t get delivered to my doorstep.’ They want something fresh and exciting.”
Borghardt also believes that the expectations of local consumers have broadened.
“The community is now supporting large-scale festivals and food events, like the Baton Rouge Oyster Festival and Baton Rouge Beer Fest, in ways that we haven’t done before,” Borghardt says. “All these factors have created the perfect storm of people wanting a different food experience.”
Tin Roof Brewing Co. has been a kind of ground zero for culinary pop-ups, food trucks and events. Classified as a manufacturer, the brewery can’t sell food for retail, which makes partnerships with nomadic food entrepreneurs a win-win, says Tin Roof CEO Jacob Talley. The brewery has hosted Ducote and Barbosa several times. In March, the food truck, Rock Paper Taco, set up permanently at Tin Roof, serving food every Tuesday through Sunday.
“It’s great for us,” says Talley, who reports a 30% increase in beer sales as a result of the permanent food truck. Big culinary events, he says, can bring in a 40% to 50% increase in beer sales. “Having pop-ups, food trucks and events brings us new markets and bigger crowds. It’s definitely is a symbiotic relationship.”
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