Ikea launches DIY dining experience

IKEA is to open a pop-up restaurant where diners eat for free but must assemble their own food, much like the Swedish firm’s ubiquitous flat pack furniture.

The IKEA Dining Club will open on 10 September in Shoreditch, London, and is described as a “DIY restaurant where the diners run the diner, becoming the star chefs of their very own restaurant for up to 20 friends”.

Running until 25 September, guests will be able to reserve tables at the restaurant and cook under the supervision of a head chef. In addition to a DIY restaurant, the space will also feature an IKEA café serving  Swedish delicacies, a space for workshops and a virtual reality kitchen and shop.

What’s more, for those lucky enough to get a spot, the experience will be completely free.

“With people spending less time cooking and eating together in the UK, IKEA are giving the foodies, wannabe-cooks, kitchen novices and fine diners the chance to express themselves and impress their friends in a restaurant where they will have their very own sous chef and maître de”, IKEA said in a press release.

“They will also have 20 of their friends as extra hands, making a meal to remember and proving that too many cooks is not always a bad thing.”

Its launch sees IKEA join a long line of increasingly inventive pop-up concepts to hit the capital. This year has seen a pop-up restaurant launched an emoji only menu, an pop-up based entirely on the avocado, a Star Wars-themed pop-up café and singer Kelis open a pop-up burger shack, while both Tesco and Aldi opened pop-up wine bars.

The IKEA Dining Club will pop-up at N&C Showrooms in Shoreditch High Street, London, from 10 September to 25 to September with 38 sessions set to run. For more information and to book tickets click here.