PopUp Dinners Provide Diners With Unique Outdoor Experience

— -- Imagine a picnic dinner held at an undisclosed location only made known hours before the meal begins, where guests are invited to decorate empty tables and chairs, bring their favorite dishes and wear white to reflect the simplicity of the event -- all while enjoying live music under a canopy of lights and the crisp summer air.

This was the scene at a PopUp dinner held Saturday in Brooklyn, New York’s Prospect Park.

PopUp dinners are popping up all over the country – not just in Brooklyn. Garrett Sathre and his wife and business partner, Nicole Benjamin-Sathre are the team behind Hand Made Events and the creators and hosts of the PopUp dinners.

Sathre, a former restaurateur and head chef to Bubba’s Diner and Kitchen 39, both located in the Bay Area, came up with the concept of the flash dinner after he was inspired by the annual Dîner en Blanc held in Paris. He had read an article in The New York Times and knew he wanted to create a similar event right here in the states.

In 2011, Hand Made Events used the power of social media to get the word out and soon, enough interest was generated. In October 2011, Hand Made Events held its first flash dinner, calling the evening Le Dîner à San Francisco at Golden Gate Park's outdoor Music Pavilion. He described it as a picnic dinner for 3,500 people.

“I thought we would have anywhere between 300-500 people to attend. Two articles ran a week later about my crazy idea and we got 15,000 emails in a matter of three days,” Sathre said.

After the success of the San Francisco dinner, Sathre decided to expand his “crazy idea” and hold dinners across the country in major markets such as Brooklyn, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Sathre says their Brooklyn PopUp on June 13 sold 5,000 tickets in just four days with 5,000 on the waiting list raising over $160,000 in ticket sales. Those are some big numbers. Hand Made Events partners with the Prospect Park Alliance and gives all of their proceeds to the nonprofit group. In total, the Brooklyn PopUp dinner raised over $60,000 for the Prospect Park Alliance. Hand Made Events sees the same interest in their smaller city locations.

“We have seen a 30 percent increase in our smaller markets -- Minneapolis, San Diego, Charleston, and Miami every year,” Sathre said.

Hand Made Events has eight more dinners planned across the country this year, and six already scheduled for next year. The popularity is not just here in the states. Sathre says through social media and the growing interest of the popup dinners, he sees photos of other groups holding similar events everywhere. Just last year, Hand Made Events helped a woman in Kenya plan her own flash dinner via Skype.

“This event crosses and appeals to all cultures. There are not many events, if any, that bring all people together like the PopUp,” he said.