What the heck is a pop-up restaurant? We found ourselves asking the same question recently when rumors of pop-ups were coming out of LA and New York, and now we’re getting our first taste of one this month in San Diego, with Relate!  A pop-up restaurant is basically the overtaking of a vacant space or restaurant by an amazing chef for a short amount of time. There isn’t a lot of notice that they’re coming, and there isn’t a lot of time before they leave, but in that open window of space, a pop-up breaks up the monotony of dining in a town where you thin you’ve been everywhere and done everything! The menus, the locations, the people involved, none of it is permanent. It might last a month, it might last a week, and it might just last for dinner, but if you can jump in there while it’s open, it’s exciting!

Chef Dan Moody, Photographed by Eduardo Contreras

So what’s Relate? Relate is the pop-up that appeared last week at Bistro St. Germain’s, in Encinatas, and is going to be there for about twenty-three days total, making it’s exit around the 26th of the month, starring chef Dan Moody, out of Del Mar,  former sous chef of Lefebvre, opened up Relate and is offering up high-end dining options for this month only. The menu is generally French inspired with lots of American twists, and features some exceptional tastes, including his amazing spiced beef, which somehow are even tastier when they’re in a pop0up restaurant you only have twenty-odd days to catch. Using all the freshest, nearest ingredients, and operating in an excited fashion of having a new space you’re not going to keep, this restaurant, however short-lived it may be, is creating some affirmative buzz about it’s merit and cuisine.

Grabbing onto the Bistro St. Germain’s was a great move, since it’s mostly a breakfast and lunch location, leaving it’s evenings open for Moody’s fix-prixe, five-course menus to take charge all night! Previously, he’d opened Ludo Bites as a pop-up and alerted people to it’s existence via Twitter, and now it’s working out again with Relate. As this is a spot that’s only going to be open until the end of this month, call over and get your table if you want in on this hipster vanishing act taking over this little spot in North County! The people of Relate say they might re-open again in a new San Diego spot for a little longer, or they might head to a new city altogether. Moral of that story: go now!

Bistro St. Germain’s and Relate: http://www.stgermainscafe.com/ 1010 South Coast Highway 101 – Encinitas, CA 92024 – (760) 753-5411

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