The Gathering Table: a pop-up restaurant in Southern MN

Last month, Adventure. Gather. Eat. partnered with Tandem Bagels and Chef + Farmer Collective to host a pop up restaurant in Southern Minnesota. It turned out to be an idyllic summer night in downtown Mankato. The sun set right over the end of the communal table as our fifty guests gathered to enjoy good company and good food and our four chefs hustled away in the kitchen.  Here is a little glimpse of the Gathering Table!

The menu included 10 courses ranging from a handmade pasta with arugula pesto to pistachio crusted pork loin with an herb bouquet. Our lovely menu, poster, and logo was designed by a local graphic designer, Rachel Schmalz from Raybo Design.  We highly, highly recommend her work!

The floral arrangements were created by Lillie Schultz (my sister!) from Hilltop Florist & Greenhouse – another longstanding local establishment.   We went for a simple, organic look featuring lots of beautiful greenery.

Our menu featured several locally sourced ingredients including all of our herbs and any in season produce items that we could find!  With each course rolling out every 12 minutes, we didn’t find much time to capture quality shots of each plate, sadly enough.  Next time!

Let’s talk about this table, here!  This 50 foot reclaimed wood table was made by none other than my husband, Trevor.  The table was brought in five piece sections and then assembled on sight.  It was designed with the purpose to create a communal feel for our little restaurant and turned out to be the perfect focal point.

[Pistachio Crusted Pork Loin with Honey Dijon Cream Sauce + Herb Bouquet]

Tandem Bagels proved to be an unconventional, yet stunning location for our pop up.  The outdoor restaurant space was created using almost all repurposed materials from used palettes to old deck boards.  Anchoring the restaurant space with the palette boxes helped us to curate our own intimate space even in the middle of a downtown street.

And, how gorgeous is that backdrop?

Thank you:

Thank you so very much to everyone who supported our pop up restaurant!  From local businesses to our supportive friends and family members, we quite literally could not have created this experience without you guys.  I’d say we have a pretty amazing, extremely talented little group here, and I can’t wait to see what we create next!