Sang Hoon Degeimbre first chef to cook at Mary Pop-in

Mary Pop-in, a Brussels based pop-up restaurant will be inviting chefs from Michelin star restaurants to cook a six-course vegetarian dinner using food that has been saved from waste. Called Masterchef Monday, the first guest of Mary Pop-in, an initiative of Eatmosphere, will be the chef of two Michelin star restaurant L’Air du Temps, Sang Hoon Degeimbre.

“We love to work with top chefs like Sang Hoon. They have no limits and do not have preconceived ideas. Their approach to food waste is different and they actually value certain products in their way of cooking. They have the authority, the creativity and the possibility to raise awareness among the general public. Sang Hoon has been using a no waste philosophy for a long time and is using all sorts of modern and also old techniques such as fermentation to follow this approach,” said Steven Desair, the founder of Mary Pop-in and Eatmosphere. “He respects nature. If you would like to take part in this event, then book quickly on our website,” he said.

Sang-Hoon Degeimbre will be cooking at Mary Pop-In, in Brussels, on Monday 18 September in what promises to be the first of a series of unique events.

The restaurant uses food excess, a concept that the non-profit organisation Eatmosphere introduced last November after a successful crowdfunding campaign. This enabled Eatmosphere to organise a no waste magic brunch, a funky workshop on fermentation and gastronomic dinners. Thanks to the crowdfunding, they were able to organise events up to July and have now decided to come up with a new season.

For this season, there will be a magical vegetarian brunch every Sunday. Every Tuesday, there will be a course on Funky Fermenting. The sessions will follow a certain theme and vegetables will change each month. On Wednesday, people will be able to order takeaway through the Delicious Delivery service. This will be a meal using vegetables that are either unknown, unliked or not so commonly used. Every month there will also be Kitchen Kulinair where Romain and Adelaïde, the chefs of Mary Pop-In prepare a gastronomic dinner.

The cherry on the cake in the Masterchef Monday which is organised once every month. Chefs of Michelin star restaurants will be invited to cook at Mary Pop-In.

“We would not have been successful without the help of our community and the Commission for the Flemish Community,” said Mr Desair. He started Eatmosphere during  the “Brussels Creativity Call – Urban Food 2025” where he tested an idea that had been growing for a long time on a real-life audience. Being one of the three finalists really boosted the founding of Eatmosphere. They then defended our concept at the Brussels Urban Food Festival, EAT!Brussels and even the Milan world expo.

He said that their collaboration with Bel Mondo and their garden “Bel Akker” has gone further than just the use of their restaurant. Together with Bel Mondo, they have a series of partners like Schenkingsbeurs, Farm, Permafungi, Seizoensmaak, Fruitcollect and others who help them to collect produce by collaborating to decrease the waste and also to raise awareness about the issue.