Extreme pop-up! Wild dining opens restaurants in repurposed spaces

Once an exciting and avant-garde way of taking products to the streets, we’ve noticed that pop-up retail has become a bit ‘mainstream’ recently with many major retailers rushing to cash in on the trend, which offers many advantages – including opportunities to pilot new retail design ideas and test new products before launching them into a wider market. So, last week we were very interested to see the concept getting an ‘extreme’ reboot in the form of Dutch foodies, ‘Wilddinerern’ (Wild Dining) who have launched an extremely temporary pop-up, not-for-profit restaurant serving thrill-seeking diners in super-unconventional repurposed spaces.

According to the pop-up city blog, Wilddineren is ‘so temporary that it can hardly be called a restaurant’. The premise behind the idea – which launched late last year – is to present a series of novel luxury dining events in spaces which are not usually used for dining. The food at each dinner is prepared by a different chef every time and is served at a beautifully decorated but eccentric location, which is kept secret until the day of the event. There is no set price for each meal and diners are invited to pay whatever they feel is appropriate for the experience.

The inaugural event took place on a busy train during rush hour last October. This was followed by dinner in the boiler room of an abandoned building in Amsterdam and an evening in the toilets of Haarlem concert hall, where the tables and cutlery were actually laid out in the stalls, beside the toilet roll dispensers.

The idea is not motivated by profit and even the chefs are giving their time for free. Instead the idea is inspired by curiosity and enthusiasm. Wilddineren want to transport the diners to something different – and unexpected – away from their daily routine, by exploring the creative capabilities of each re-purposed space.

So, if you’re in the area and you fancy trying a bit of wild dining, you can sign up to participate on their website. And be sure to send us some photos if you do!