6 Atlanta food pop-ups this week, including a feature on Mighty Hans

When/Where: Saturday, Aug. 29, 1 p.m. until sold out. The Stout Brothers Smyrna (@smyrnastoutbrothers). 1265 W. Spring St., Smyrna.

Why you should check them out: Gomez, the chef-owner behind the former Smyrna neighborhood Porch Light Latin Kitchen, is back with his second pop-up after a hiatus. He’ll be serving Puerto Rican citrus-brined pork loin or chicken thigh pinchos skewers which have been charcoal-seared and paired with either a smoky chipotle guava barbecue sauce or herb chimichurri. The menu also includes a vegetarian-friendly fried rice tossed with summer squashes, corn and sofrito. Additionally, Gomez will sell his Jose Sucio frozen burritos to-go; at last offering, he sold out 100 burritos in less than 30 minutes. Gomez is also hosting a limited presale for his iconic can-can pork chop — a traditional Puerto Rican cut featuring the loin, rib, belly and crispy skin. For the can-can preorders, look for announcements on the Jose Sucio Instagram account.

Credit: Service @ Seven

Credit: Service @ Seven

Sea-inspired menus and communal dining from Service @ Seven

Who: Service @ Seven (@serviceatseven) from Kyle Taylor.

When/Where: Saturday, Aug. 29, 7 p.m. Private location. Old Fourth Ward (exact location revealed at time of ticket purchase).

Why you should check them out: Taylor designed his Service @ Seven dining series to mimic the unpretentious intimacy of a neighborhood dinner party. The secret-location dinners feature a single communal table with blind, seasonal menus. For this sixth volume, Taylor focuses on the sea, not merely as a source of seafood, but as an elemental seasoning used to reshape earthbound ingredients. For example, he seasons cured honeydew melon with a dashi made from tomato, kelp and sea foam for a dish that mimics the clean, briny finish of a fresh oyster without using any actual seafood. The melon is served with pickled shallot in hand-foraged oyster shells from British Columbia’s Denman Island. The menu also features blackened tuna with fermented agrodolce, berry compote and crispy shallot, alongside kombu-glazed pork belly with pickled sea beans and orzo seasoned like sushi rice.

Reserve a spot.

Credit: Gathered Grounds

Credit: Gathered Grounds

Chinese-Mexican culinary intersections from Gathered Grounds

Who: Gathered Grounds (@gatheredgroundsatl) from Kai Halpaus.

When/Where: Saturday, Aug. 29, 7-10 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 19, 7-10 p.m. Private location. West End (exact location revealed at time of ticket purchase).

Why you should check them out: For Gathered Grounds, Halpaus draws on his upbringing, travels and childhood friendships to explore the historical and cultural intersections of Chinese and Mexican cuisines. The menu for the upcoming series is inspired by a year Halpaus spent studying in Hong Kong as well as his youth spent immersed in Mexican food and culture. Featured dishes include lobster toast, which serves as an elevated play on Hong Kong street food, and a Peking duck tostada that bridges Asian flavors with Mexican preparations. The pairings highlight the historic culinary exchange between the two communities, referencing the cross-cultural parallels found between traditional Asian bakeries and Mexican panaderías.

Reserve a spot.

Credit: Elina Wong

Credit: Elina Wong

Indonesian food bazaar and cultural performances in Norcross

Who: Indonesia Independence Day Celebration hosted by Indonesian Night Market (@indonesian.nightmarket)

When/Where: Sunday, Aug. 30, 4-8 p.m. Korean Cultural Center (@atl_akcc). 5900 Brook Hollow Parkway, Norcross.

Why you should check them out: This free festival celebrates Indonesia’s 81st Independence Day with a full afternoon of cultural events and regional cooking. The program features a traditional flag ceremony, singing performances, fashion shows and both traditional and modern dance showcases. There will also be an Indonesian food bazaar which will feature pop-ups and caterers serving food from all over the archipelago. Highlights include Kedai Nicks’ pastels which are a crispy, deep-fried pastry influenced by Portuguese empanadas with a thin, flaky crust sealed with a twisted rope edge and filled with a savory mix of glass noodles, vegetables, minced meat and hard-boiled egg slices. Dragon Delite will serve halal chicken satay and Puri Ayu will serve es doger (a sweet shaved-ice dessert from West Java with coconut milk and colorful toppings), nasi Bali (a Balinese rice plate served with an assortment of spiced meats, vegetables and sambal) and gado-gado (a Jakarta/Betawi vegetable salad with tofu, egg and a rich peanut sauce). Other vendors include NezKitchen, Warung Cobek, AndJoy, Endang, Martabak Raja-USA, Saera and Ibu’s Kitchen.

Credit: Eat.More.Dinna

Credit: Eat.More.Dinna

New American Caribbean fusion from Eat.More.Dinna

Who: Eat.More.Dinna (@eatmoredinna) from Conrad Sanders and LeAna Lawrence.

When/Where: Sunday, Aug. 30, 6:30 p.m. Big Boss Chinese (@bigbosschinese). 100 10th St. NW, Midtown.

Why you should check them out: Sanders and Lawrence blend their respective family heritages — Lawrence’s Caribbean roots and Sanders’ Italian upbringing — to execute what they call “New American Caribbean fusion.” For this takeover at Big Boss Chinese, the duo is highlighting how these seemingly distinct culinary traditions intersect. Two example dishes from the menu include scallops with burnt curry butter, swiss chard and coconut milk foam, as well as a cross-cultural hybrid of shrimp and mascarpone tortellini in brodo, which features a shrimp stock seasoned with aji dulce and sofrito.

Credit: chef handout - Fu-Mao Sun

Credit: chef handout - Fu-Mao Sun

Two worlds in one bun

How Mighty Hans blends Italian and Chinese doughs for his new Mighty McJi sandwich

Who: Mighty Hans (@itsmightyhans) from Fu-Mao Sun.

When/Where: Sunday, Aug. 30, noon-2:45 p.m. Ruby Chow’s (@rubychowsatl). 620 Glen Iris Drive NE, Old Fourth Ward.

After taking a summer break to spend time with his kids and conduct research and development in the kitchen for his food pop-up Mighty Hans, Fu-Mao Sun is storming back onto the scene with “Mighty Slam,” a one-day, diner-style brunch takeover at Ruby Chow’s on Sunday, Aug. 30.

Prior to Mighty Hans, which focuses on Taiwanese American cooking, Sun worked in corporate finance in Manhattan. Seeking a change from the office grind, he decided to pursue cooking and, at age 31, he enrolled in the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in New York. He later worked at Gramercy Tavern before landing a position at Daniel Humm’s Michelin-starred NoMad.

Since 2021, Sun has been carving out his own space in Atlanta’s underground culinary scene with Mighty Hans with a culinary style he describes as a “hodgepodge” of his family’s multilayered history and his own American upbringing. Growing up in Massachusetts with no Chinese restaurants nearby, Sun ate his mother’s home-cooked dishes like rou zao (braised minced meat). On trips to Taipei’s night markets, he ate danbing (egg crepes) and fan tuan (savory sticky rice rolls) out of plastic bags — a food memory that forever shaped his palate.

A prime example of his “hodgepodge” philosophy is his new creation, the Mighty McJi ciabatta shaobing chicken sandwich which he will debut for Mighty Slam. For this sandwich, Sun updated the Chinese shaobing, a tandoor-baked flatbread with thousands of years of history, commonly found at soymilk shops all over Taiwan. His version bridges East and West in a single dough.

Sun starts with a yeast-leavened base inspired by traditional Italian ciabatta, which gives the flatbread its signature crispy outer crust. To keep the interior from becoming tough, he turns to an old-school Chinese method called tangzhong which involves precooking a small portion of flour and liquid into a warm, puddinglike paste before mixing it into the main batch of dough. The additional step locks in moisture — a key step in many milk breads, which keeps the interior of Sun’s shaobing light, pillowy and soft. The result is a crisp, crackly shell with a chewy, cloudlike center that Sun compares to a fresh bagel. He then stuffs the shaobing with a crispy, sweet-potato-battered fried chicken thigh.

The sandwich is the centerpiece of the “Mighty Slam” menu, a not-so-subtle nod to Denny’s Grand Slam menu. The pop-up will also feature freshly brewed coffee from Rev Coffee alongside a slate of creative, diner-inspired plates like the scallion pancake BEC (bacon, egg, cheese and served with hashbrowns), traditional fan tuan (triple-fried youtiao — a type of fried dough stick — pork floss and egg wrapped in sticky rice) and mochi pancakes with a McDonald’s-style cinnamon maple syrup.

Reservations are recommended, but walk-ins will be accepted.

Reserve a spot.

Note: By their very nature, pop-ups are fluid and subject to the whims of weather. For the latest schedule and information, consult the pop-ups’ Instagram feeds.