Les Foodingues Pop-Up at Cream

Paris Pop-ups are poppin’ up everywhere. For the past three weeks, they have become a staple in my weekly dining rotation. First Les Endimanches, followed by Les Foodingues last Sunday, and then The Paris Pop-Up this week. Relatively new in the pop-up game, Les Foodingues hosted their event “Sticky Fingers” at the new coffee shop, Cream, in Belleville.

“Dingue” is slang for “crazy” in French, so Les Foodingues are the Crazy Foodies, a people group with which I can fully identify. The beauty of this kind of pop-up event is that it brings people together. It brings together different people in the food and restaurant industry, along with people who are practically guaranteed to be food and restaurant lovers.

For one night, a daytime coffee shop becomes a bar/restaurant, and that combination of chefs/food/location/atmosphere/people is not repeatable. You can’t just go back whenever you feel like it because it doesn’t exist.

The room was bustling, wall to wall with people when we first got there. It was actually unbearably hot, and even after shedding jackets, scarves, and any other layers we could get rid of, it was still a mini sauna, steamed-up windows and all. The entire staff of Au Passage (a favorite), started their evening at the event, so once they cleared out, it left a little breathing room. Phew.

Une bouchée + un verre + une soirée: A bite, a glass, an evening.

On the docket: 3 cocktails and 6 finger foods, hence Sticky Fingers. To be fair, they provided wooden utensils, and my fingers remained clean all the eve.

When I first saw that 3 cocktails were included, it seemed excessive for a Sunday night with small bites, but the glasses were small.  That being said, they were potent.

Dimitry is one of the organizers of the event and was resident cocktail man extraordinaire that evening, working alongside his friends Fabien and Lara who buzzed about ensuring that plates got delivered and everything went smoothly.  Their combined backgrounds include Spring, Candelaria, and Le Coq.

Let’s get to it.

Round 1

Mini cocktail: Gin, pink peppercorns, sherry, truffle oil, and celery bitters

Crostini of pork shank with a sweet mustard sauce (Dijon mustard, Muscovado brown sugar, cider vinegar, sunflower oil & pork juice), and mustard seeds

Chipotle patatas bravas

Nachoooooos

Round 2

Mini cocktail: Mamont vodka, pomelo, rosemary with a salt rim of Guérande fleur de sel, dried grapefruit peels & fresh rosemary

Bonito with candied lemon rind, dill, and pickled red onion

Roasted cauliflower, pickled onions, tahini, and cilantro

Round 3

Mini cocktail: Fair Belize Rum, honey pear syrup, basil, and Perrier

Apple brownie with cream – The apple brownie had the same effects on me as I’d imagine ecstasy has on its users. I ran around petting everyone’s faces and fawning about how pretty they were in an attempt to distract them an steal their portion of apple brownie, but this turned out to be fruitless (eh? See what I did there?) so I returned for the second mini dessert.

Buttermilk panacotta with ginger crumble and thyme

Apple browniiiiiiiiie

All in all, a really successful evening. More casual and laid-back than your traditional sit-down dinner (although I do love a lengthy sit-down meal), and great because you got to try several different things while socializing and without feeling stuffed. It was very reasonably priced at 39 euros, which made it an easy decision to book. It was a fun and laid back crowd, and Dimitry and Fabien were super friendly and fun to chat with. They hope to host an event every month, so the next one should be early April. Looking forward to it.