Want to have a say in how up-and-coming chefs can improve their menus?
Then Dinner Lab, the subscription pop-up dining experiment based out of New Orleans, is for you.
“We like the fact that Baltimore is typecast as having one type of cuisine, but there is a lot more than what appears on the surface,” says Brian Bordainick, Dinner Lab founder and CEO. “Being from New Orleans, we know what that is like. The city has a lot going on from a culinary perspective and we are excited to play a part in that.”
Dinner Lab brings together a group of strangers to share cuisine created by undiscovered chefs from around the country. The diners provide feedback on their multi-course menu, which is shared with the chefs so that they can improve and evolve their dishes.
“We want to be a platform for emerging culinary talent to get ideas out to the public that are not part of the mainstream yet,” says Bordainick. “This is a creative opportunity for chefs and an opportunity for guests to experience something new and awesome.”
Dinner Lab is now enrolling people to be a part of the series, which is in a number of cities in the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. A Baltimore membership costs $125 annually.
The events are held in nontraditional locations—never in a space that’s a restaurant, and never in the same space twice. Subscribers are notified of dinners weeks in advance, but the exact location is unknown until the day before.
The first planned event kicks off on Aug. 15 and features chef Nini Nguyen, a New York City chef and New Orleans native, who is showcasing a Vietnamese menu. Menu options include blackened lemongrass catfish, chili-glazed ribs, caramelized pork belly, springs rolls with Vietnamese sausage, and coconut sorbet.
Visit dinnerlab.com for more information and check out the video to see what it’s all about.