About a month ago, we discovered a fully equipped professional kitchen at Indy Commons in Independence, Oregon. This kitchen, Indy Kitchen, also boasts an adjoining dining and bar area. I secured the kitchen and dining/bar space rental to host my popup event on July 19. Preparing for the popup event involved meticulously attending to various compliance requirements and fine details. We made a substantial payment to the Polk County Health Authority to obtain a Temporary Restaurant License, valid until the end of 2024. Come December, we will need to reapply and pay the fee for the 2025 calendar year. Following a successful inspection of the Indy Kitchen, we diligently completed all the necessary documentation to become members of the Indy Commons. Once officially part of the Indy Commons, we promptly set a date for our popup event, allowing ourselves a three-week window to market the event and handle other necessary preparations efficiently. Some preparations included identifying and hiring personnel who could assist us in executing our planned menu. We utilized resources such as Poached.com and LinkedIn to find the proper personnel.
Last week, we celebrated a thriving soft opening for our popup restaurant, Baobab Southern Kitchen. The food was a resounding success, and the menu was overwhelmingly praised. The major critique we received was regarding the generous portion size of the entree. We enjoyed serving approximately 30 guests, offering maque choux with pork belly burnt ends as an appetizer and our signature fried chicken, potato salad, and collard greens as the entree. For dessert, we delighted our guests with profiteroles filled with sweet potato crémeux and candied pecans, topped with a bourbon maple glaze.
One challenge we faced was the time it took to serve the entrees to our guests. We are grateful for their patience and understanding. During our debriefing, we thoroughly discussed how to enhance our service. We are considering adjusting the portion size of the chicken, potentially parfrying it at a low temperature and then frying it at a higher temperature for service to achieve the desired color and crispiness. We also plan to experiment with holding the fried chicken in a warm oven (175F) for service. Our team is dedicated to providing the best service possible, and we are confident that these adjustments will significantly improve our guests’ dining experience.
Through some experimentation, we focused on perfecting the sweet potato crémeux. Despite its exceptional flavor, we identified the need to refine the texture and composition of the crémeux further to achieve the desired consistency.