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.<\/p>\n
But a new Little Italy pop-up dinner company, called Cow by Bear<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The menu is sent to guests about two weeks before their scheduled dinner, and the location is provided the day before.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Downtown News (DTN):<\/strong> How did you come up with the concept for Cow by Bear?<\/p>\n Chef Bear (CB):<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n DTN:<\/strong> How are the dinner venues throughout Downtown San Diego selected?<\/p>\n CB:<\/strong> 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\u2019ll be rolling out next year.<\/p>\n DTN:<\/strong> How long have you been doing the dinners and what has the response been like so far from guests?<\/p>\n CB:<\/strong> The first dinner was in late 2011, but for the last year and a half we\u2019ve ramped it up and it\u2019s really taken off. We do a dinner every Saturday, and now most Fridays, too. The response has been fantastic.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cnth\u201d degree.<\/p>\n 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\u2019d have to be a really \u2026 how should I say this … special kind of person to not enjoy your time at Cow by Bear.<\/p>\n DTN:<\/strong> Why do you feel the need to conceal your identity?<\/p>\n CB:<\/strong> There\u2019s been quite the interest in knowing more about me, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s important. I\u2019m just Bear, and I\u2019m here to make sure you have a great meal and dinner experience. I don\u2019t think anything other than that should matter. In this day of the celebrity chef, I\u2019d just prefer to take the opposite approach.<\/p>\n DTN:<\/strong> How do you decide on the menu each week?<\/p>\n CB:<\/strong> The dry-aged ribeye is the staple, so the whole meal revolves around that. Beyond that, I\u2019m always just looking for what\u2019s in season, so what\u2019s new at the farmers market dictates most of the ideas. And then it just comes down to what I\u2019m in the mood to cook or try out!<\/p>\n DTN:<\/strong> Is it difficult to get a reservation?<\/p>\n CB:<\/strong> We\u2019ve been booked out about two months. There are still a couple seats remaining in December but we\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n DTN:<\/strong> Why did you decide to limit each dinner to only 10 guests?<\/p>\n CB:<\/strong> Our table seats 10 comfortably, so our dinners are for 10! It\u2019s pretty much as simple as that. There\u2019s some talk we could eventually go to 16 guests, but I don\u2019t see it ever being larger than that. It\u2019s 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\u2019ll lose some of that.<\/p>\n Para m\u00e1s informaci\u00f3n o para hacer una reserva, visite cowbybear.com<\/a>. You can also follow them on Twitter and Instagram @CowByBear.<\/p>\n![\"Bear](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Bear-with-guestswebtop.jpg\")
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