By Kai Oliver-Kurtin

A new beary secret dining experience

The pop-up dinner party concept has grown in popularity recently, with national companies like Dinner Lab launching in San Diego, occasionally bringing notable chefs to town for one night to prepare a special meal in a non-traditional dining space.

But a new Little Italy pop-up dinner company, called Cow by Bear is especially unique because the San Diego chef is dressed in a bear costume during dinners to conceal his/her identity, and their dinners are held every Saturday night at different locations through the Downtown San Diego area.

Serving dry-aged ribeye as the star of each four-course meal, Cow by Bear relies on word of mouth and social media to drive business.

All dinners are by reservation only and are limited to 10 people each, beginning at 8 p.m. Dinner is $150 per person, with a 50 percent deposit required upon reservation confirmation, and the remaining balance due two weeks before the dinner. A welcoming cocktail is included, as well as wine pairings with each course.

The menu is sent to guests about two weeks before their scheduled dinner, and the location is provided the day before.

Since the chef is determined to keep his/her identity a secret, we settled for an email Q&A interview to get the latest on Cow by Bear.

Downtown News (DTN): How did you come up with the concept for Cow by Bear?

Chef Bear (CB): I wanted to find a way to share my 45-day dry-aged ribeye I had been cooking for a while, along with the fine wine I had discovered throughout the world. Originally I started bringing friends into my apartment to serve the meals, and then their friends would want to come, so it got bigger.

After a few months I was receiving reservation requests from strangers all across the city and started welcoming them into my home. The concept was pretty easy to come up with. A few years ago in Buenos Aires, I had a great dinner with total strangers at a chef’s home. So when it came time for me to start serving my ribeye and wine, it was a natural decision to just use the space I already had.

DTN: How are the dinner venues throughout Downtown San Diego selected?

CB: We currently have five different locations we host dinners at and none are actual restaurants. Three are ground-level spaces and two are rooftops. We have a custom and portable kitchen we built that allows us to cook our dinners anywhere. That flexibility has resulted in some pretty crazy ideas for dinners that we’ll be rolling out next year.

DTN: How long have you been doing the dinners and what has the response been like so far from guests?

CB: The first dinner was in late 2011, but for the last year and a half we’ve ramped it up and it’s really taken off. We do a dinner every Saturday, and now most Fridays, too. The response has been fantastic.

We provide an experience unlike anything else people have ever been to. Everything from the menu and wine; to the table, tableware and centerpiece; to the music playlist; has been curated to the “nth” degree.

And the real joy for me comes in seeing how 10 strangers start out very timid and maybe a bit awkward with each other, but by the end of the night they are new friends, exchanging info and oftentimes even going out for another drink immediately after the dinner. Honestly, you’d have to be a really … how should I say this … special kind of person to not enjoy your time at Cow by Bear.

DTN: Why do you feel the need to conceal your identity?

CB: There’s been quite the interest in knowing more about me, but I don’t think it’s important. I’m just Bear, and I’m here to make sure you have a great meal and dinner experience. I don’t think anything other than that should matter. In this day of the celebrity chef, I’d just prefer to take the opposite approach.

DTN: How do you decide on the menu each week?

CB: The dry-aged ribeye is the staple, so the whole meal revolves around that. Beyond that, I’m always just looking for what’s in season, so what’s new at the farmers market dictates most of the ideas. And then it just comes down to what I’m in the mood to cook or try out!

DTN: Is it difficult to get a reservation?

CB: We’ve been booked out about two months. There are still a couple seats remaining in December but we’re starting to fill up dates for January now. With a limited number of seats available per dinner, and only hosting a couple days a week, the seats fill up fast.

DTN: Why did you decide to limit each dinner to only 10 guests?

CB: Our table seats 10 comfortably, so our dinners are for 10! It’s pretty much as simple as that. There’s some talk we could eventually go to 16 guests, but I don’t see it ever being larger than that. It’s such an important part of our experience for all the guests to be enjoying the dinner together, and if we get too large, I think we’ll lose some of that.

For more information or to make a reservation, visit cowbybear.com. You can also follow them on Twitter and Instagram @CowByBear.

—Kai Oliver-Kurtin is a local freelance writer. She enjoys covering events, restaurant news, culture and entertainment. Contact her at [email protected].