KALAMAZOO, MI - Pop-up dining is making a splash in Kalamazoo with more and more chefs hosting unique eating experiences.

Pop-up dining involves "mini-restaurants that temporarily operate in parks, plazas, galleries, warehouses, event centers and larger restaurants," according to the National Restaurant Association.

Noel Corwin, owner of the Kalamazoo-based Gorilla Gourmet food truck, started a supper club four years ago to capitalize on the growing pop-up dining trend. "It was an opportunity to host and serve guests in a different format," he said.

Corwin's club, formally known as the Kalamazoo Supper Club, teams up with local restaurants to shake-up the average dining experience. Corwin and the restaurants work together to come up with a menu that is seasonally focused. Attendees must buy tickets in advance, which usually cost around $20.

"Our concept is focusing on community table," said Corwin.

For most people, that's why pop-up dining is so appealing; it allows them to have an out-of-the-ordinary dining experience.

Organic Gypsy food truck owner and chef Bridgett Blough held her first pop-up dining event in Kalamazoo on Aug. 26.

The dinner featured food and products grown or made in the area as its theme. One long table was set up in-between two houses on Prospect Avenue and food was served family style to about 50 guests.

Blough invited the farmers whose food she used to create the menu, including Holly Cinzori and Rosie Florian of Cinzori Farms, Laurie Aboreal of Bird Song and Norm and Karen Carlson of Carlson Farms.

"The evening is about the food but a lot of it is about the experience," she said.

Corwin's Kalamazoo Supper Club just started its third full season hosting pop-up events, teaming up with local restaurants to give attendees a unique experience. The next event will be held Sept. 25 at Boatyard Brewing Company, which is brewing a new specialty beer for the dinner.

Corwin said that while pop-up dining isn't a new, it is gaining popularity, especially this year. "We would be excited if 35 people showed up in the beginning and our last one at Zazio's sold out with 100 people," he said.

Six out of 10 professional chefs say pop-up restaurants are a hot trend for 2016, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Carl Brown of Kalamazoo said the unique environment is what attracted him to the Organic Gypsy dinner in August. "It's something different," he said.

"As humans, we tend to gravitate toward comfortable and predictable experiences, especially with food," said Blough. "Pop up dining is about mixing up that experience."