Tuesday 5 May 2015

All-In-Kitchen - PokerStars Pop-up Restaurant.

Pop-up restaurants are all the rage. They are becoming increasingly popular and are a fun and interesting alternative to traditional dining out.

Pop-up restaurants literally pop up from nowhere for a short period of time, often at an unusual venue, offering customers a unique and exciting experience.

Whilst all pop-up restaurants are an exciting experience, perhaps the thanks to the chef being an up and coming chef or the restaurant having an unusual theme, a recent innovative pop-up restaurant with a unique twist was the ‘All-In-Kitchen’.

To celebrate the new season of the UK and Ireland Poker Tour, back in January PokerStars teamed up with Jones & Sons to unite poker with gourmet food in the world’s first pay-by-poker restaurant, the ‘All-In-Kitchen’.



The creative and very unique ‘All-In-Kitchen’ pop-up restaurant gave customers the chance to play poker to find out how much they would pay for their meal.

Putting their money where their mouth is, customers to the restaurant started off with 10,000 chips (£10.00) to play three hands of poker. The amount of chips left after playing three hands of poker determined how much customers had to pay for their meals.

If lady luck was not shining down on them or they could not keep a poker face and ended up losing all of their chips or had less than 5000, they would still have only paid £10.00 for a gourmet three course meal, normally priced at £50.00 per person!

For those with a better hand and a great poker face, having 5000-10,000 left after the three hands meant they only paid £5 and the very lucky customers who had over 10,000 chips left had their meals absolutely free!!

So regardless of whether they were poker pros or novices, the most customers to this poker themed pop-up restaurant had to pay was £10 for a £50 three course gourmet meal………a great bargain for a fun, pokertastic night out!


Whilst the poker twist to the restaurant was to provide customers with fun, a hand or three of poker plus the chance of winning their meal for less or completely free, poker at the restaurant was completely optional and customers could chose to play or not play, paying full price for their meal instead. Either way customers enjoyed an evening of divine food and the exciting poker-themed atmosphere.

The poker theme did not end with the poker playing, the meal itself had a Poker theme with delicious dishes including ‘Royal Flush of King Crab Thermidor’, ‘Queen Scallops accompanied by Salted Baked Swede and Bacon Marmalade’, ‘4 Of A Kind of Lamb Chops, Rump, Kidney and Shoulder with a Rosemary Jus’, and a ‘2 Pair of Pear Tarte Tatin, Pear Caramel and Ice Cream’.


As Andy Jones, Founder of Jones & Sons, put it: "I love food and never shy away from the tables when I get the chance, so having the opportunity to create a menu that combines two of my favourite things was something I jumped at. Embracing Poker within the dishes was a lot of fun and some of the dishes that hit the cutting room floor were a bit out there, but I can't wait to see the results and serve up some Aces."

If like me you missed the chance to visit the Poker themed pop-up restaurant ‘All-In-Kitchen’, why not take a look at this video to see all the Poker and gourmet food action –


Whilst sadly the ‘All-In-Kitchen’ has folded its cards in London, there are plans that it will pop up in more cities across the UK soon as the UKIPT continues. So keep an eye out for the PokerStars All-In-Kitchen popping up near you somewhere soon!

* Post in collaboration with PokerStars *

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