New Trend For 2011: The Pop-Up Restaurant Backlash

Pop-up restaurants have been trendy for a couple of years now, but Eater NY alerts us to the first real anti-pop-up sentiments we've seen. Get ready for a new trend: The pop-up backlash.

The community board in Soho — the neighborhood where Michelin-starred chef John Fraser's nine-month pop-up restaurant, What Happens When, is located — is gearing up for a fight to prevent the restaurant from renewing its liquor license.

Their argument? That the restaurant doesn't have "ties to the community" and that it sets a "dangerous precedent" as a "new backdoor means" to get a liquor license "without going through the proper and legal procedures." The community board meeting is Thursday.

· Soho Gears Up for Battle Against 'Dangerous' Pop-Ups [-ENY-]
· All Pop-Ups Coverage on Eater [-E-]