RESTAURANTS • FOUND Table
I used to get hung up on the idea of pop-ups as restaurants in purgatory, places punished by high operating costs and rents, hoping to someday graduate to a permanent space. But after trying QP Tapas for the first time — at its third location, no less — I’ve finally learned to embrace the pop-up as the product.
QP Tapas launched in 2022 at the now-closed MKT Kitchen in Coral Gables. Ten months later, it moved to The Allocation Room in Coconut Grove. That run ended in January. Now, it’s landed down the street in the Mayfair House Hotel & Garden’s Fountain Lounge, a lush ground-floor bar and restaurant. (Fountain’s bar is inside a former elevator shaft, and worth a peek.)
Working with nothing more than a wood-fired oven, a panini press, and lots of imagination, the kitchen puts out a surprisingly large selection of small plates — Spanish staples like pan con tomate, boquerones, chorizo, and stuffed dates, plus ingredient-driven dishes such as roasted sunchokes with truffle aioli, pickled beets with goat cheese, and Homestead heirloom tomatoes with white anchovy. There’s also a large smoked heritage chicken sourced from Europe that goes through five days of prep.
Nothing about QP points to this being a temporary situation. On the contrary, the team seems nimble, energized. Maybe they’re hiding the wear of constantly popping up. Josh Elliott, half of the married owner/operator team, seemed exhausted when he stopped by our table after service to introduce himself — but also, elated. He and wife Ellie Groden were leaving for an R&D trip/vacation through Spain the following week. He’s looking forward to showing her his favorite restaurants, while she’s eager to research the next thing they plan to test: QPizzas.
The two were tight-lipped about the length of the pop-up's run. Their noncommittal answer sparked a sense of urgency in me. Should I book again? Why’d I wait so long to visit? Then again, maybe that — the looming possibility of being a fleeting thing — is what pop-ups have on permanent restaurants, and QP is certainly using it to its advantage. –Virginia Gil
→ QP Tapas (Coconut Grove) • Mayfair House Hotel & Gardens • 3000 Florida Ave • Wed-Sun 6–10p • Reserve.