‘It enables us to believe in ourselves in a way we didn’t before’

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By Julien Perry | for The Prep

Opening a bar is never easy, but opening one in a space that was never meant to be a bar? That takes creativity and, to some extent, a sense of humor.

Just ask Izzy Tulloch and Danielle “D” De Block, longtime friends and service industry vets who launched their cocktail pop-up, A Pop-Up Called Pancakes, in New York City with nothing but vision and a deep love of hospitality. These pop-ups take place in unconventional venues, like diners and delis. And while they’re not breakfast themed as the name suggests, they do serve up comfort and joy.

The pair hopes the pop-up is just the beginning. They’re already dreaming of permanent digs in New York and taking the concept to other cities. But for now, they’re making the most of the pop-up format, learning, connecting and building the foundation for a future brick-and-mortar.

We talked to Tulloch—fresh off a month-long pop-up at S&P, a lunch counter in NYC—about what it’s like to run a bar in a borrowed space and why this scrappy little pop-up could be the blueprint for something much bigger.

What inspired you to start your pop-up series?

I've wanted to open a bar for as long as I can remember. I've also been terrified to open a bar for as long as I can remember. Almost as soon as Danielle and I started working together we sort of organically started brainstorming. We're both from NJ—I come from a fine dining background, but we both have a deep appreciation for casual food culture. Diners, chains, rest stops, pubs; those are really the foundation of our inspiration, I think. 

What are some of the challenges of running a makeshift cocktail bar?

Many of them are physical. It's not a bar, so it's not designed for bartending. We set it up as best we could; we could reach almost everything with just a pivot, but there are no rails so we're reaching high for bottles on the counter. There's no ice well, so we're bending across ourselves into a giant ice cooler on the floor. There's no drains or sinks, so we're constantly changing out rinse buckets. All entirely doable, just not necessarily an easy shift. 

There's also the aspect of training and conveying to staff exactly what it is we're trying to do in three shifts a week for five weeks. We were really lucky and had such an incredible team that just rolled with any and all challenges and were completely on board. At the end of the day we wanted to highlight true hospitality and create a space that felt good. Sometimes everything was smooth and that was easy, and other days the team was pouring guests coffee cups of Carlo Rossi and letting them know that we were running behind and will be out as soon as humanly possible.  But we're so  grateful they're here and on this ride with us! 

What are some of the things a pop-up enables you to do that a brick-and-mortar can't?

There's certainly more flexibility; we can pop up virtually anywhere, anytime at the moment. You don't have to worry about who is staying home and taking care of the bar, since there isn't one. But more than anything, I think it enables us to believe in ourselves in a way that I'm not sure we did before this.

Are you doing this full-time?

D and I are both still working other jobs. We both stepped away from management roles to be able to put all of our creative focus into ABCP, but we still have to make a living. D serves at The Nines, and I work at Lucy's (the best little dive) and try to pick up as much gig work as I can. 

What do you think are some of the necessary skills for running a business like yours? 

That's a long list, and I don't think I even realized it before we started, but ultimately not much different than what it takes to run a bar. In both scenarios, shit goes wrong and you have to handle it and shit goes right and you have to soak that in.

Creativity and the ability to make a balanced menu. Every skill D has that I don't, like being organized, running payroll, paying invoices. Like a million things. And then being able to host the shit out of a room, and put out fires before anyone even knows they've started. But maybe more than anything, to run any business, is drive. We're not experts by any means, but we really wanted to do it, and one day we decided we were going to and we did. 

What advice do you have for someone who may want to follow in your footsteps?

Everything you do leading up to whatever it is you're going to do, matters. Every job, every interaction, every failure—it all matters. And work with someone that you completely trust and you can be completely honest with. If you can't have a tough conversation, they're not the right partner.

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The Prep is written by Julien Perry and edited by Lesley McKenzie.