Samuel Monsour's Antibellum Pop-Ups Promise Pre-Civil War Southern Food

The city last heard word from Samuel Monsour in October, when the Boston mainstay pulled up stakes and headed to Los Angeles for a change of scenery. He quickly made friends with the likes of Jeremy Fox (Rustic Canyon) and Nyugen Tran from Starry Kitchen, organizing an upscale snack food pop-up dubbed The Future of Junk Food. Now he’s back with another round of off-the-record dinners.

This time the series is called Antibellum, and it’s going to be very period-specific. The name, of course, is a nod to the pre-Civil War antebellum South, which Monsour himself describes eloquently as "troubled with suffering and rich with soul." Dishes will stay in the Southern cuisine realm, relying on the many Caribbean, Spanish, French and Native American flavors that were more prevalent in the region at that time. It’s a cooking style that Monsour has always felt comfortable in.

Early menus are already up for the inbound Antibellum dinners, which will hit Los Angeles in late March. If the dishes there don’t sound like they’re up your alley, you could always hold out for one of Monsour’s popular Chuck Taylor's Fried Chicken All Stars pop-ups, which are much more DIY and, as one can imagine, a hell of a lot of fun.

Tickets for Samuel Monsour’s Antibellum dinners go on sale beginning March 1.