Ponce City Market has announced that Punk Foodie, an Atlanta pop-up restaurant curator and storytelling platform that amplifies and cultivates the city’s thriving underground and independent food scene, will open a food stall in the Central Food Hall on Oct. 12, 2023.
Named Punk Foodie @ Ponce, the concept will be a restaurant and chef accelerator, with a rotating, curated roster of pop-up chefs that represent the diversity and talent driving Atlanta’s future restaurant landscape.
Punk Foodie @ Ponce will be home to one- to two-month chef residences, a monthly rotation of pop-up chefs serving weekend brunch, and themed chef collaboration dinners on Mondays. Guests will be able to explore a variety of cuisines and dishes not easily found across the city.
“Pop-up chefs are creating pictures of the new South through local and global ingredients served in styrofoam take-out boxes from borrowed kitchens and 10×10 tents with tabletop fryers all over the city,” Punk Foodie founder Sam Flemming said in a press release. “Now, with the new food stall at Ponce City Market, we’re helping pop-up chefs accelerate to the next level by allowing them to test concepts, build a brand and establish a track record as a means to open brick-and-mortar restaurants that will drive the evolution of Atlanta’s dining scene.”
Upon opening, Ganji will take up residence in the new food stall and serve Asian-inspired fast fusion – American fare infused with Asian essentials and flavors. Ganji founders Jess Kim and Jun Park are culinary school graduates of Le Cordon Bleu and Culinary Institute of America, respectively, and have extensive experience in kitchens and management positions at multiple Atlanta restaurant groups.
Other concepts slated for the first month include Mighty Hans (Taiwanese-American), Krupana (Bosnian-ish) and Jimmie’s Jerk Chicken (American Jerk & BBQ). On Monday nights, the stall will host chef collaborations, with the first one on Oct. 16, 2023, to include TKO, Jackalope and Salty Smiles cooking up gourmet versions of Fripper’s hot dogs.
Chefs who are interested in being part of the accelerator program are invited to claim a chef profile on the Punk Foodie pop-up finder app. Chefs are selected based on app analytics of their activity and Punk Foodie’s deep understanding of the pop-up scene.
Flemming launched Punk Foodie in 2021. Today, the Punk Foodie platform consists of the @punkfoodie.atl Instagram account, a weekly newsletter, a weekly column in Rough Draft Atlanta, the Road Crew foodie content agency, an events arm that curates chef-driven events like Punk Foodie Fest, and the Punk Foodie app.
Ponce City Market, and its food hall, has become a popular Atlanta destination since opening to the public in 2015.
