An Evening at It's Just Another Pop-up

In Zurich, I found myself at “It’s Just Another Pop-up,” a concept that is exactly the opposite of what its self-reflexive name implies. Upon arriving at Belmondo, the café-bar that hosted “It’s Just Another Pop-up” in June, we were greeted by Francis and the staff, along with the menu on the table. Maciej Kubala, the mind behind the pop-up with the cynical name, soon joined us to welcome us. We said yes to the three wines that came with the menu as an optional pairing, and soon our table was filled with small sharing plates, a concept I particularly appreciate and always prefer when eating with friends.

This time, Maciej whetted our appetites with a selection of bites consisting of takoyaki (たこ焼き), octopus meatballs, a tartlet topped with green peas, and a choux stuffed with Gruyère. A crudité, a plate of raw vegetables, carefully prepared, either pickled or dressed with a vinaigrette, was served alongside the selection of bites. Starting from the bottom, I was very impressed by the fact that the vegetables were hand-selected one by one and paired well with each other, as each one offered a distinct flavor inspired by the chef’s creativity. The wine pairing for these first courses was an aromatic Gewürztraminer from Georg Lingenfelder.

The next round featured some of my favorite dishes of the evening. So I’ll start with those: a very fluffy bread made from fermented potatoes and cream butter, the dish that showcases the chef’s Polish heritage like no other, and a salad with juicy peaches, stracciatella, and hot honey. The cherry tomatoes were a very refreshing addition to the table and were truly delicious, while the beef tartare with thin slices of daikon (大根), the Japanese radish, and cucumber, paired beautifully with the rest of the dishes. Finally, we tried a version of tonnato sauce with bonito flakes, while the wine pairing for this course was a blend organic wine from Marto.

What followed was, admittedly, the surprise of the evening: the menu had one more addition that we hadn’t seen on Instagram. Gnocchi with guanciale and cacio e pepe, that is, pecorino cheese and pepper. Traditionally, the recipe isn’t made with gnocchi but with other types of pasta, but ever since I tried them for the first time, I’ve loved them. I love them even more when they’re handmade, and in this case, they also had truffle, which paired very well with the crispy guanciale. The second surprise alongside the gnocchi was the final wine of the evening, Hop(e), a play on words due to the addition of hops, which was a very refreshing choice reminiscent of an IPA-style beer.

And now for the final dish, which takes center stage as it graces the cover of this feature. Chicken drumstick with morel, mashed potatoes, pickled carrots and a poultry velouté (velouté de volaille). The chicken had been marinated for 24 hours in buttermilk and koji (麹) solution, then coated in tempura batter and fine panko. The chef gave us instructions on the steps to follow to enjoy the dish:

Let’s talk a little about the unfamiliar words I encountered when this particular dish was served. It was the first time I’d tried morels, and now I rank them very high on my list of favorite mushrooms, a list that wasn’t particularly long to begin with. Koji is a filamentous fungus traditionally used in Japanese cuisine to ferment foods such as miso, sake, and soy sauce; and here it gave Maciej’s dish an explosive flavor.

Unfortunately, the time eventually came for dessert, which Maciej had announced would be our final course. We’d caught a glimpse of it as it was being served to other tables that had started their dinner earlier than we had, and we couldn’t figure out what it was. On the menu, it was listed as gâteau normand, a cake typically made with apples in Normandy, France, but we didn’t see any apples and had to wait until we tasted it to figure out what it was. First, a shot of homemade kombucha made by Maciej was brought to our table, and we were encouraged to try a little at first and then pair it with the dessert. The cake arrived with some crème fraîche, and we didn’t hesitate to try it.

All good things must come to an end, but you can move on to other things that are just as good. Just before we got the check, Maciej invited us into the kitchen, which was located behind a door on the ground floor of the building that houses Belmondo. For the purposes of “It’s Just Another Pop-up”, Maciej and Aitor, whom we met in the kitchen, cleaned and prepared the kitchen that Belmondo doesn’t use on a daily basis. We saw a spotless prep station with all the ingredients neatly arranged in their proper places, as well as the dough for the bread made with mashed potatoes, which was clearly the dish on the menu that made Maciej beam with pride. The phrase they wrote on the wall with a marker explains why we liked this particular project so much: “Work until it’s obvious.”

The farewell dish, a spur-of-the-moment creation, was a shokupan (食パン) with handmade plum jam from Maciej’s grandmother, topped with brillat-savarin melted with a blowtorch and fermented honey. Throughout the evening, the plates looked like ones my grandmother would have hidden in a cupboard to use for special occasions, and this particular dish with Maciej’s grandmother’s jam, it rounded out the experience, and we tried very hard not to make it disappear in one bite. Brillat-Savarin is the chef’s favorite cheese, as he told us, a French cheese made from triple-cream, lightly soft-ripened cow’s milk, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where else I’ll get to eat this cheese because I’m still thinking about it.

Maciej may have stopped bringing us his dishes that night, but we wanted to learn more about how he built this particular project, while of course always looking forward to our next meeting. So we asked him right there in his kitchen. And with these answers, we’ll say goodbye to him, only for now.

Q: What drove you to create a pop-up that is made for reappearing in spots across the city?

Working in restaurants means constantly adapting to rules and routines. With this project the only constant is change. It’s dynamic, exciting, and I love the thrill of constantly creating something new.

Q: What motivates you to come up with dishes and what are your gastronomic influences?

Have you ever been working on your computer when, out of nowhere, a window pops up and starts playing music in the background? That’s a bit like how ideas for new dishes come to me. I’ll be thinking about something completely different, and suddenly a flavour combination, a memory, or a technique appears in my mind. Once that happens, I can’t stop thinking about it until I’ve explored it.

My biggest gastronomic influences come from my experiences, the places I’ve lived and travelled, and the people I’ve cooked with. I don’t try to recreate specific dishes. I prefer to let those experiences shape something that feels new.

Q: What do you feel is lacking in Zurich today?

There are too many food influencers and not enough food critics with real knowledge. I think there’s a difference between creating content and offering thoughtful, informed criticism. Honest, knowledgeable feedback helps chefs grow and pushes the dining scene forward.

Q: What can we expect from your next pop-up venture?

As usual: sexy food and me in the kitchen.