An Old Fourth Ward Pop-Up Series Is Providing an Extraordinary Opportunity for Atlanta Chefs

The Darwin, a new boutique hotel in the Old Fourth Ward, will soon begin hosting bi-monthly pop-ups in its kitchen, starting with chef Dave Mouche and his Southeast Asian comfort food pop-up Jackalope ATL on February 9.

Taking place in the evening on the second and fourth Thursday of each month, a rotating lineup of pop-up chefs will offer special menus at the hotel. A full list of participating pop-ups and chefs should be released in the coming days.

As for what to expect from Mouche and Jackalope ATL on February 9, the menu should feature deviled eggs dặc biệt (beet-dyed eggs stuffed with chicken pate and pickled carrots and daikon radishes garnished with cilantro and pork floss,) lemon pepper wet dumplings, and bao buns filled with Cajun pork and dirty rice.

Mouche often pops up at Boggs Social and Supply in West End and is currently in residence every Tuesday night at the Bookhouse Pub serving dishes like beef bulgogi tacos, chicken katsu fingers, Cajun soft shell crab baos, and mapo tofu chili dogs.

Jackalope ATL

Jackalope ATL

Atlanta features one of the most prolific pop-up food scenes in the country right now, bolstered by the culinary diversity and cultural backgrounds of the chefs who run these traveling kitchens. Pop-ups became a much-needed source of revenue for out-of-work chefs and bartenders during the first year of the pandemic, some of whom went on to open permanent restaurants like La Semilla, BOK Korean, Tio Lucho’s, and TKO Korean.

The pop-up dinner series at the Darwin is in partnership with Punk Foodie, an Atlanta pop-up resource guide founded by Sam Flemming in 2020. This collaboration provides an extraordinary opportunity for up-and-coming chefs to showcase their food to an entirely new audience of diners, beyond locals who avidly follow Atlanta’s pop-up scene, and helps build capital in their businesses.

Jackalope ATL pop-up dinner, February 9, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Click here for tickets.

The Darwin Hotel, 585 Parkway Drive, Atlanta.