Laurent Quenioux’s plans for a Vertical Wine Bistro market and more pop-ups

Vertical Wine Bistro chef Laurent Quenioux wants to add some European flair to his American bistro in Old Town Pasadena with a new market project downstairs. He has big plans to transform the area below the existing restaurant into a market, bakery and a place to expand his pop-up dinners.

The market will be a place for the Frenchman to sell house-made charcuterie, baked goods, smoked salmon, stuffed lobsters, beef cheeks in red wine sauce in a jar, wine bottles and more. He anticipates it being open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“We have fabulous food here in the San Gabriel Valley that they don’t have on the Westside,” Quenioux said. “We’re just lacking a good niche, nice place where you can come and pick up some food with a couple of mason jars of things: jam, our own apple butters, salsa, vinaigrettes. We’re going to have all of that available.”

Quenioux’s LQ pop-up dinners take place at Vertical Wine Bistro on Mondays, when the restaurant is closed, and Sundays, when Quenioux says the restaurant is not as busy. He’s done pop-up dinners all over the city, but may be best known for his LQ + SK 420 marijuana dinners when he collaborated with downtown’s Starry Kitchen.

“At Vertical, it’s more of an American bistro -- California, simple, good food that people can relate to,” Quenioux said. “The pop-ups are really off the wall. We do crazy stuff here.”

Quenioux will convert a portion of the space downstairs into a special area for private events and his pop-up dinners, which he’ll expand to Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights. He’s also planning on traveling to London to do a couple of pop-ups there.

The new project is slated to open in spring 2014.

Vertical Wine Bistro, 70 N. Raymond Ave. (upstairs), Pasadena, (626) 795-3999, www.verticalwinebistro.com.

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