There were more than just trains rumbling on the L line of
the New York City subway last Sunday, as the stomachs of hungry commuters
growled in response to the gustatory spectacle unfolding before them-a gourmet
meal served as the train barreled from 8th Avenue in Manhattan to Brooklyn's
outer reaches.
The pop-up meal came courtesy ofA Razor, A Shiny Knife, a
Brooklyn-based interactive, theatrical culinary group that regularly hosts
underground dinners around the country. Past events have included the Quarantine
Banquets, mutli-course meals centered around themes of disease and infection,
and an exhausting marathon meal in which the group's co-founder Michael J.
Cirino and a team of chefs prepared 24 courses in 24 hours.
The subway spread was a comparatively contained 6-course
repast. The menu, according to the blog StudioFeast featured the following:
Hamchi Crudo, Bone Marrow, Trout Roe, Laproaig, Sweet Lime
Foie en Brioche, Port Wine, Raisin,
Ramp, Black Garlic, Cippolini, Morel, Thyme
Petit Filet Mignon, Pomme Puree, Asparagus
Pepper Jam, St Andre
Chocolate & Gold Leaf Panna Cotta, Raspberry
The food was prepared at A Razor, A Shiny Knife's Brooklyn
kitchen and then was plated on the train and platform, with a new dish served to
the 12 participating diners every 4 or 5 stops.
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"[Co-founder Daniel Castaño] and I had a concept of what we
wanted to serve," said Cirino in an email. "Certain goals: soup, hot food,
frozen food. Things that would be difficult to pull of for us and things that
would show the level of planning and execution we put into the event from the
guests' point of view."
Though Cirino says that the edible happening had been in the
works for a long time, the metro meal comes in the wake of recent discussionsabout whether riders should be barred from eating on the city's subways. These
conversations followed a YouTube videothat showed a woman throwing a plate of
spaghetti at another passenger who had questioned the etiquette of eating
aboard the train.
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Perhaps because Sunday's movable feast was politely outfitted
with dainty lap trays and proper silverware, the reaction from fellow
passengers was more welcoming. "Most people were interested and excited by it
as the production was quite large and the attention to details was high," says
Cirino. Still, in this city that's seen it all, some commuters he admits were
"just indifferent."
