Last Thursday, Suite 100 in Perkins Rowe was an empty shell of a restaurant.
But Friday and Saturday the space transformed into the venue for three dining experiences, teeming with chefs, servers, entertainers and patrons.
The shift was orchestrated by 300seats, an organization practicing guerrilla tactics on the Baton Rouge community by hosting pop-up events that assemble, execute and evacuate in a short period of time.
Each event hosts a maximum of 300 people. The weekend’s pop-up restaurant was open for business for three seatings and during two days served nearly 250 guests. Tickets cost $50 for each seating.
Entertainment was provided by Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra players, former American Idol contestant Jacquelyn Dupree, spoken word poet Xero Skidmore and other local artists.
300seats began as a business concept developed at a local Startup Weekend event last April. Since then, the company has hosted three pop-up events in Baton Rouge and is looking to expand through the state in the future.
Manuel Valencia, founder of 300seats, described it as a tech-powered cultural arts and events series. Valencia said social media has allowed the community to keep up with the changing events and locations.
“That’s why we said we wanted to be a tech-powered cultural hub — that makes it easier,” he said. “So we have our followers on Facebook and that’s growing, and we have our followers on Twitter and that’s growing, and we have a great database of folks that have already attended all of our