Make it pop: the innovative menus and venues of Utah's pop-up scene.

• Author: Beers, Heather
• Position: Living Well

Watercolors, oils, pastels--the latest installment from various artists hangs about you. There's a hushed buzz as the crowd chats softly about everything and nothing, anticipation hanging thick in the air. Finally it's time--you take your seat among a cross-section of dedicated foodies, the gastro-curious and affluent diners in search of something novel. The chef enters and announces the first course, an amuse bouche inspired by the season's harvest. Your mind is piqued, your taste buds tingle, and your culinary adventure begins.

Welcome to the pop-up, also known as limited-edition, underground dining catering to the "experiential diner"--someone who values a transformative experience as much as an unforgettable menu. Pop-ups can be a one-time only event, or they can take place regularly over a few weeks or even years. They're often in an atypical setting--an art gallery, a boutique, a greenhouse--that provides an intimate, unexpected venue for a limited number of guests who pay as much as $100 to $150 for their repas.

A Surging Trend

It's a gastronomic trend that began in the 2000s in cities like Sydney and New York and has made its way into the Utah dining scene over the past few years. One of the first notable Utah pop-ups took place in 2012, produced by The Mist Project, a worldwide "guerrilla restaurant" venture helmed by Chef Gavin Baker. Baker courted local chef and culinary instructor Katie Weinner to serve as head development chef, who "collaborated on the menu and got chefs together" to pull off the two-month Salt Lake experience.

Weinner was herself transformed by the experience. She went on to found SLC POP, hosting pop-ups at a Salt Lake art gallery (which she aptly named Nata Gallery) through 2014, and now foodies can find her after-hours pop-ups at Red Moose a few Saturdays each month. Hers is a coveted menu, with people drawn not only by her word-of-mouth reputation, but also her national acclaim gained on Bravo's Top Chef.

Weinner says the intrigue is often in the inventiveness. Pop-up chefs tend to change up the menu every time, which brings regulars back (SLC POP tends to see about 65 percent of its diners returning week to week) and invites new guests in.

She likes to focus on what's in season or on-trend, presented in a way diners haven't seen before. "We'll start with an amuse bouche, go to some type of soup or salad--we did an aerated apple juniper soup this last week," says Weinner. Her courses tend to include a riff...