Pop-Ups Put A New Spin On Onsite Dining

A fried chicken shop one week. West African jollof rice bowls the next. A retro-inspired smash burger joint after that.

Metz Culinary Management is giving its dining operations new ways to change the experience without changing the dining room through a growing portfolio of pop-up concepts that combine specially developed menus with branding and operational support.

Available to Metz operations across higher education, healthcare, corporate, and government dining, the concepts are designed as temporary restaurant-style experiences that can take over an existing station for several days or a week. Individual clients select from a collection of recipes and tailor menus to the preferences of their own guests.

"The idea is to make it feel like something special has arrived," said Chef John Selick, Director of Culinary for Metz. "We can take over a station with a completely different menu and look, almost like bringing in a guest restaurant. At the same time, we give our clients enough choices to build something they know will work for their guests."

Among the concepts now available are The Roost, centered on fried chicken favorites; Red, White & 'Que, featuring a broad selection of barbecue meats and sides; Flashback Grill, a retro-inspired smash burger concept; and Global Kitchen, an umbrella for cuisines and flavors from around the world.

Variety is built into the concepts. Red, White & 'Que, for example, offers clients a selection of 16 meats along with side dishes and desserts. Guests might see brisket and pork one day, barbecue salmon the next and rotisserie chicken later in the week.

That flexibility helps address one of the perennial challenges of onsite dining: serving many of the same guests day after day without allowing familiarity to become fatigue.

"We want people to walk in and see something they didn't see yesterday," Chef Selick said. "There may be a favorite they want to come back for, but there should also be something different to discover. The client has the flexibility to make those decisions based on the people they serve."

A Passport to New Flavors

That sense of discovery is particularly evident in Global Kitchen, which brings together several years of Metz culinary development around international cuisines.

Offerings span flavors from Mexico, India, Asia, and other parts of the world, ranging from traditional dishes to contemporary interpretations and customizable bowls. One of Chef Selick's favorites is a West African-inspired jollof rice bowl concept, featuring boldly seasoned proteins, vegetables and sides.

The concepts also provide a way for Metz chefs to introduce guests to foods they may have encountered online but have not yet had an opportunity to try.

Chef Xavier Smith, Corporate Dining Division Chef for Metz, saw that firsthand while recently presenting a Global Kitchen pop-up at both a corporate dining account and Gannon University.

"Guests were telling us they had seen dishes like these on social media and had wanted to try them," Chef Smith said. "That's part of what makes the pop-ups exciting. We can bring those flavors to them, see how people respond and learn what might have a place on the regular menu."

At Gannon, Chef Smith served a spicy peanut dumpling salad featuring seared potstickers with edamame, cucumber, red bell pepper, and shredded red cabbage, finished with a sauce of chili crisp, peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and ginger.

The interaction also gives Metz chefs immediate feedback. Guests can customize their selections and tell the culinary team what they like, providing information that can help shape future menu development.