Green mussels today,surprises tomorrow

Customers reach for mussels steamed in white wine and garlic－and for toasted French bread to dip into the sauce at Mighty Mo's.[Photo provided to China Daily]

A team of pop-up pros has launched an incubator for wannabe chefs and restaurant owners who have ideas to put on Beijing plates, Mike Peters reports.

Imagine a corporate retreat where inventor Benjamin Franklin, investor Warren Buffett and foodie queen Nigella Lawson meet and decide to work together on a project. If it happened in China, they might have cooked up a concept like The Hatchery.

Luckily, another group has.

The team of entrepreneurs that created intriguing popups in China's capital last year－Buena Onda Peruvian nibbles and cocktails in the summer, Soul Bowls at the Bookworm in winter－are at it again. But instead of merely launching their own eating installations, they've created a sort of Santa's workshop to build other people's pop-up dreams, too.

The result is a 250-square-meter dining area with seating for up to 100 diners, a fully stocked bar, private dining rooms, and a table-tennis table. The Hatchery kitchen occupies 180 square meters with bakery, large food preparation areas, professional kitchen equipment and food storage facilities. As an incubator for food-and-beverage concepts, it's ready to go.

The first venture is the Hatchery team's own: Mighty Mo's, a showcase for the New Zealand green-lipped mussel. The tasty bivalves come with your choice of three sauces: green curry, tomatoey puttanesca and the most successful version, a classic garlic with lemon that lets the flavor of the lightly steamed creatures shine through. Get 500 g for a mere 85 yuan ($13) or a whole kilo for 160.

We're guessing that the Thai green curry sauce is one of those works in progress that The Hatchery is all about: On one visit it was overpowering, on another unexpectedly lightweight. That's not because somebody's asleep in the kitchen, but market research and testing based on customer reactions. (At Mighty Mo's and future pop-ups that might be born and spin off from here, feedback is always on the menu.)