‘You have to commit. Do something you can't reverse’

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A Seattle entrepreneur is putting a creative spin on the pop-up model. Brian O’Connor doesn’t have a restaurant of his own—yet—but he’s testing his pizza concept by taking over an existing pizzeria’s kitchen, giving him a low-risk way to refine his menu and build a following before opening a spot of his own.

Until now, O’Connor, who is less of a chef and more of a restaurant developer and consultant, has been introducing people to Pop Pop Pizza & Wine through intimate dinner parties at his home. Gaining access to professional ovens and a larger space to host guests marks a major step up.

What began as a passion project to share the thin-crust pizzas he grew up eating in Chicago is now on the cusp of becoming a full-fledged restaurant.

What’s the goal of this “pizza lab" and why are you doing it?Pizza Lab is a chance to practice our skills and experiment with a number of approaches to find the right mix for launching something great. I almost think of it as a mixtape or a comedian working out their act on the road. We can take some chances, be a little looser than a formal restaurant and then harness the best of what emerges from that for our formal album—the brick and mortar.

What made you want to start a pizza pop-up in the first place?
Since moving to Seattle, I've tried to find a way I could contribute to my new home, and I miss the thin and crispy pizza I grew up eating. It seemed like a natural fit to combine the two and launch Pop Pop. Coming out of Covid, I wanted to keep things small and flexible, initially to simply bring people together over our little dinner parties. We started with friends, but soon the dinners were filled with new folks we'd never met and we just kept building from there.

How will you know when you're ready for a brick and mortar?
One side of that equation is securing funding—it's expensive to open a restaurant anywhere, but especially in Seattle. I want to make sure we're properly capitalized to succeed. But, more importantly, once we refine a serious takeout operation that ensures our guests get consistently delicious pies and we iron out the wrinkles of serving a low-key luxurious mix of pizzas, fancy small plates and world-class wine in our dining room, we'll be ready to rock.

What has been your biggest takeaway with Pop Pop so far? What's been the biggest lesson?
The power of steady and thoughtful growth. The only time I've taken two years to develop a restaurant was when we had to construct the building itself. Otherwise, it's usually a rush to get the doors open and figure it out later. By growing slowly we've been able to build a team, develop real relationships with our guests and refine our craft so that when we finally open, we can focus on making things great instead of fixing a thousand mistakes.

What advice do you have for chefs who may want to follow in your footsteps?
You have to commit. Do something you can't reverse, that moves you from dreaming about the perfect place to building whatever you can at the moment. Then return to it every day. The progress you'll see in a few months time will astound you.  

Above: The DG Tarte Flambee. (Courtest of @poppop_pizza/ Instagram)

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