Dinner Lab Inc., a dining concept set to come to an undisclosed L.A. location this month, is the exact opposite of a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The menu, the location and the chefs are never the same.

Dinner Lab runs a system of pop-up dining events. Diners pay $175 each for an annual membership in addition to the cost of each meal they choose to attend, which is typically about $70. It’s a demanding enterprise – for organizers and customers: Dinner Lab puts on one or two meals a week in each city where it’s established. Members find out the location of an event 24 hours in advance.

Pop-up dining is not new, of course. Hand Made Events in Sonoma has thrown large themed pop-up dining events in Los Angeles, for example. However, Brian Bordainick, Dinner Lab’s chief executive, said his operation is different because it’s focused on test-marketing concepts or giving up-and-coming chefs a platform to launch their careers.

“Typically, it’s not until you cut the ribbon that you get your feedback,” he said. “We get a lot of people who want to put together a concept and prototype a menu and see if it’s worth it to invest time and money.”

The concept, born in New Orleans last August, hosts events in Nashville, Tenn.; Austin, Texas; and New York; Dinner Lab has more than 3,000 members.

Expanding to Los Angeles had always been the plan, Bordainick said.

“Given the geographic spread and the diversity of people in Los Angeles, it’s going to present some interesting opportunities,” he said. “You have such an eclectic group that attracts food from all parts of the world.”

Membership fees go toward hiring the chef for a night as well as supporting line cooks and managers.

“It’s chaotic and extremely difficult to execute,” Bordainick said, “but I love it.”

– Justin Yang