No fear of missing out.
I had lunch today in Crackbird, the pop-up restaurant on South William Street, and it was delicious. I had the Soy Garlic Chicken if your interested. But tasty food isn’t why i’m writing this post. It’s the pop-up nature of the place that interests me. Those in the know will probably point out that this is the second incarnation of Crackbird. The first being the 12 week stint in Crane Lane back in February. I’m obviously not in the know so when it was suggested that I try this pop-up place I was excited. The thought of eating somewhere that is really popular now but might be gone tomorrow sounded quite cool. And it was. I’ve read quite a bit on the ‘Fear of missing out’ trend this year (like this from JWTIntelligence) and this kind of place seemed a perfect example of a smart business idea that was capitalising on it. A good case study even.
However, since I decided to find out a bit more about it the excitement has faded. Finding out that this was the second location for it was the first disappointment and then discovering that it will be open ’til near christmas’ was the other. Six months! Not really pop-up then. Now it just feels like a good restaurant that is trying to hang on to the hype around ‘pop-up’ so it can save on decor (and presumably long lease agreements).
I’m being a bit harsh and to be honest it’s great to see a business succeed in the recession but as good as the food was (did I mention it was good already) it was also a little pricey. When I thought I might not get a chance to eat there again it felt worth it somehow. It can be good to pay more for a little bit of the smugness you get from being part of an exclusive set. Like those who got to fly Concorde (I know, i’m stretching it a little). But now i just feel like I had an expensive lunch.
I might try their #tweetseats the next time to see if I can eat for free. But i’m guessing if they read this they might be full!
P
