Last updated: January 29, 2026
NEW YORK, NY – Pop-ups don’t need white tablecloths or legacy dining rooms. They need burners, borrowed kitchens, and people who actually show up. The 4th Annual 8it Awards are about exactly that: the cooks, operators, and dishes shaping New York’s food culture.
This year’s winners reflect where the city is really eating right now. Cambodian home cooking selling out in hours. Weekend Lebanese Pancakes drops. Supper clubs built off DMs and trust. These are not concepts. They’re proof of work. And the 8it Awards exist to celebrate that work.
Inside the Awards Night
Hosted at Drai’s Supper Club, the invite-only ceremony brought together chefs, operators, and industry lifers who are defining NYC food. The night kicked off with a nominee cocktail hour hosted by Campari, followed by a Thai feast by Chef Oak of Kam Rai Thai, before getting into the ceremony, hosted by Steve Raggiani, Co-Founder and CEO of 8it.
Then doors opened up to bar and restaurant industry guests to celebrate all of the nominees and winners. With cocktails by Lise & Vito, and a DJ lineup and late-night Pakistani Chopped Cheese drop by Poppin’ Off Nominee, Nishaan.
Every winner left with a custom HULKEN Rolling Tote packed with goods from brand partners who actually support the underground food scene, including Campari Group, San Pellegrino, Nike, Hotplate, Mike’s Hot Honey, and more. Photos by Dante Crichlow (BFA).
The 2026 8it Awards Winners
M’Maht: Best New Pop-Up
M’Maht comes from the women who raised her. Pauline Buth’s cooking traces straight back to her Yeay Sek, or grandmother. After school her Yeay Sek would feed her bai with twa-ko, a rice balled by hand with fermented beef sausage, with stories of survival folded into every bite. That lineage shows up on Pauline’s plates without being spelled out. Her soy-garlic wings hit sticky and savory, Bok lahong is sharp and funky, and her Num Banh Chok is the kind of dish that carries history.
What makes M’Maht special isn’t nostalgia, it’s intention and confidence. M’Maht’s food honors Khmer resilience, from bones carried home on the D train by her grandmother to full plates cooked by Paline today. With M’Maht, you’re not just eating Cambodian street food, you’re being invited to her table, exactly as it’s always been.
DM Dinners: Hustler of the Year
DM Dinners is the definition of built different. By day, Dan Mollitor is a full-time science teacher. He also coaches two sports teams. Somewhere in between, he’s quietly pulling off some of the most thoughtful pop-ups in the city – no staff, no safety net.
He pops up wherever makes sense that week, constantly switching locations and formats. His food leans fine dining in technique and restraint, but it’s never precious. You’ll get carefully plated dishes in rooms where no one’s whispering.
What earns him Hustler of the Year isn’t just volume, it’s consistency. He shows up, again and again, with menus that feel considered and personal, despite the grind of a full second (and third) life.
Piscator: Most Consistently Delicious
Piscator is proof that doing one thing extremely well still wins. Mason showed up quietly with a grill and a whole branzino, and never felt the need to add more.
The fish is grilled whole and lands exactly the same way every time: crisped skin, juicy flesh, tons of flavor. Mason’s point is simple and personal: food should pull people inward, not push them apart. That’s why he’s grills up a beautiful dish in some of the most unexpected places. No white tablecloths, no precious plating, no individual portions dissected beyond recognition.
That clarity is why Piscator spread fast. New York clocked it early, and now he’s deep into a three-month residency in LA without changing the formula. Same dish. Same intention. Same results.
Although Piscator couldn’t join the 8it Awards because he was poppin’ up in LA, a guest dialed him in to celebrate with us virtually!
Jerk Chicken Patacon by CMarty’s Jerk x Titi’s Empanadas: Collab of the Year
This collab worked because neither side overreached. CMarty’s Jerk brought the backbone: his signature deeply seasoned, smoked jerk chicken that’s been dialed in over years. Titi’s Empanadas brought structure: crispy, smashed patacones built to hold heat, smoke, and sauce without falling apart.
The proof is in the repeat. It hit so hard the first time they had to bring it back for Infatuation’s EEEEEATSCON 2025. That doesn’t happen unless both sides respect the dish more than the moment. Collab of the Year isn’t about novelty… it’s about chemistry, and this had it.
Knaeh Pancake by Hen House: Drop of the Year
Hen House doesn’t play it safe, and this is Tony at full confidence. The Knaeh Pancake takes a fluffy namoura-style base and loads it with kataifi and an akawi cheese blend, then finishes it with rose maple syrup that pulls the whole thing together instead of tipping it into dessert cosplay.
It’s rich, stretchy, crisp at the edges, and somehow still balanced. Sweet meets savory that tastes like someone who knows exactly how far to push before things fall apart. Tony’s whole thing is pressure-testing comfort food, and this is the cleanest example yet.
Originally a weekend-only drop, it moved to the permanent menu because people wouldn’t stop ordering it. Case in point.
Bong: Poppin’ Off (Pop-Up Gone Brick & Mortar)
Bong took home the hardware in a category stacked with nominations because the food and the story move in lockstep. The room is casual, warm, and dialed, the kind of place that feels lived-in on day one, and the cooking carries the same confidence. Cambodian food that knows where it comes from and where it’s going.
Behind it are husband-and-wife team Chakriya Un and Alexander Chaparro, who spent nearly eight years popping up as Kreung, building real community around Cambodian food long before permanence was on the table. When Bong finally opened, it wasn’t a leap, it was a landing.
The timing makes it undeniable. While Cha was pregnant with their first child, they built the restaurant themselves: construction, menu, fundraising, marketing – all of it – essentially opening a restaurant and welcoming a baby at the same time. Bong isn’t just a name; it’s a Khmer term of connection. Sibling, partner, chosen family. After years of making space for Cambodian culture across the city, Bong is home. And it feels like one.
Loser’s Eating House — Lizzy Koury: Best Pastry Pop-Up
Led by chef-baker Lizzy Koury, Loser’s operates out of a SoHo ghost kitchen, drops via pre-order, and pops up just enough to keep people paying attention and setting alarms.
The real cult item is the sourdough cinnamon roll: deeply fermented and aggressively buttery. Cinnamon rolls are released in weekly drops that sell out because among all of the cinnamon roll craze in NYC, they’re actually worth chasing. But cinnamon rolls isn’t all Loser’s is known for, Lizzy’s over the top cake design is a delicious spectacle that never cases to amaze us.
Lise & Vito: Pop-Up Lifter (Best Venue)
Lise & Vito didn’t just host pop-ups, they held the scene together. Roughly 83 pop-ups in 2025 alone, spanning true vets like Los Burritos Juarez to newer names like M’Maht, all under one roof.
This is a neighborhood wine bar in Greenpoint might have a small “kitchen”, but the platform is not. They give pop-ups room to be themselves, resources, marketing promotion and hungry customers so consistently it’s become part of their identity. They’re even rebuilding the backyard to keep pace with how central pop-ups have become to the space.
They won Best Pop-Up Venue because they don’t treat pop-ups like programming. They treat them like community.
BagelFest: Best of the Fests
New York BagelFest wins Best of the Fests because it grew the right way: slowly, credibly, and from inside the culture. What started as a 300-person gathering in Bushwick turned into the bagel world’s most important room without losing the plot.
Led by New York’s self-appointed but fully earned Bagel Ambassador Sam Silverman, BagelFest is programmed for everyone who actually touches the bagel ecosystem. Bakers, shop owners, millers, brands, and people who just want to eat a great bagel all coexist without it feeling dumbed down or overly “industry.”
The reason it matters is impact. Shops have launched here. Funding has happened here. Reputations have been made here. Tastings, competitions, and immersive moments keep it interesting for any and all.
BagelFest won because it’s proudly building infrastructure for one of New York’s most iconic foods, and doing it independently, with taste.
CMarty’s Jerk: Best Pop-Up Marketing
CMarty’s Jerk wins because the brand is as considered as the food. Chef Christopher Martin isn’t just cooking, he’s designing a world, and every detail reinforces it.
The visuals are cohesive and unmistakable, from bold graphics to consistent photography and merch that people actually wear. Collaborations, competitions, and even a custom wrestling belt function as storytelling tools, not gimmicks. Everything ladders back to a clear identity rooted in Jamaican culture, confidence, and play.
Chef Carmen Miranda: Family Meal of the Year
Family Meal™ is 8it’s way of serving back the people that serve the most. Each time, the featured chef pours their heart amd soul into serving a piece of their culture back their peers. Tamalera and Master Chef Mexico winner, Chef Carmen Miranda, and her wife worked for a week to prepare 300 tamales by hand from start to finish. The tamales were thoughtfully served with Asado de Boda, a traditional rich sauce from her hometown of San Luis Potosí that’s made from dried chiles and often served at important family gatherings like Día de los Muertos. Chef Carmen brought this one home, with the intention, hours and flavors she served up to her peers in celebration of Día de los Muertos.
Papi Tropical: People’s Choice Award
Out of more than 1,000 nominations, Chef Tamarindo didn’t just lead in volume, the submissions read like love letters.
Again and again, people said the same thing in different ways: the food feels personal. Soul-filling. Like someone is cooking for you and only ytou. That kind of response doesn’t come from clever menus or timing, it comes from care you can taste.
People’s Choice is about trust. It’s about who diners go out of their way to talk about, recommend, and defend. This year, that was PapiTropical.
Juan Lopez – Bar Americano & Arroces: Dishwasher of the Year
This award exists because of Carl Ruiz, an egoless maniac who never stopped reminding people who actually holds a kitchen together. In his honor, we’re naming what everyone knows but rarely celebrates: the dishwasher is the backbone.
The nomination made that impossible to ignore: story after story described Juan as the person who jumps in when the line is drowning, keeps morale up when service goes sideways, and somehow finds time to make everyone laugh in the middle of the chaos.
Juan Lopez of Bar Americano and Arroces took this one home, not for grand gestures, but for showing up every day as the steady force kitchens depend on and rarely slow down to thank.
Why the 8it Awards Matter
The pop-up world is where New York tests itself. Some concepts disappear. Some evolve. Some, like Bong, earn a permanent home. Others, like DM Dinners, prove that temporary doesn’t mean unserious.
The 8it Awards aren’t about predicting trends. They’re about recognizing what’s already working, right now, in real kitchens, with real crowds.
The Sponsors Who Back the Underground
These awards are made possible by brands that understand culture doesn’t start fully formed. Support from Campari Group, San Pellegrino, Hotplate, Mike’s Hot Honey, Partanna, Rovagnati, Prisinzano Products, Broc Cellars, and others makes nights like the 8it Awards possible.
Support matters. So does knowing where to put it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often do the 8it Awards take place?
8it Awards run once a year and 2026 marks the fourth edition. Each year reflects how NYC’s temporary food landscape evolves, from new operators entering the scene to pop-ups that grow into permanent spaces or expand their reach.
What role do pop-ups play in NYC’s overall food scene?
Pop-ups act as testing grounds for new ideas and as platforms for cultural expression in NYC. Many permanent restaurants, including 8it Awards winner Bong, started as pop-ups. These projects help emerging chefs build an audience, refine their concepts, and introduce underrepresented cuisines to a wider crowd.
Can I Find Every Winner on 8it app?
All of the 4th Annual 8it Award winners’ pop-ups live on the 8it app, mapped and categorized by dish, so you can actually find what’s worth eating: pop-ups, limited drops, and permanent menu dishes near you. Stay hungry, never hangry.
