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Last night all the spotlights turned to the MET Gala as the cultural epicentre where the biggest stars of the starsystem lit up the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY. This year, the event revolved around the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, which explored the sartorial power that the African-American community has had throughout history. A vindictive concept that, of course, beyond inspiring the looks, also acquired relevance in the subsequent evening in the form of a culinary tribute.
Before delving into the menu that was served at the gala, we have to take into account all the foods that Anna Wintour banned. The fashion icon, as a key figure in the charity event who runs the Met Gala and oversees all its details, admitted in an interview on the Today show with Jenna Bush Hager that she had vetoed three foods from the dinner: garlic, onions and chives. The reason? According to chef Josh Jackson of Great Taste Catering, because he didn’t want the food to affect the guests’ breath.
The menu signed by Kwame Onwuachi
Anna Wintour gave the menu for this gala to Kwame Onwuachi, the New York chef who runs the Tatiana restaurant, considered one of the best in the city, focusing on an elevated reinterpretation of Afro-Caribbean cuisine. The chef was thus in charge of designing the gastronomic proposal for the MET Gala 2025, inspired by black dandyism and the black experience in fashion; capturing through the dishes the different avenues and routes of the diaspora in a journey that he traced from the appetizers to the dinner.
The cocktail party, served on silver platters, featured some deluxe starters and snacks based on US southern gastronomy such as hoecakes with crispy chicken, mini chopped cheeses, cornbread covered in caviar or chicken curry burgers.
Culinary dandism
The gala dinner, which took place in a large hall next to the museum’s Temple of Dendur, welcomed the celebrities with dishes such as papaya and piri-piri salad, representative of some African countries, as well as a roast Creole chicken with lemon emulsion, rice with peas and a spicy sauce. As a side dish, guests were also treated to barbecued kale with bacon and cornbread with curry butter and honey. Finally, the dessert entitled “Bodega Special Cosmic Brownie” came in the form of a golden cake with sweet honey and redcurrant cream with doughnut mousse and icing sugar.
As for the space, it was dressed in the woodwork of a London suit shop, with the sophistication of English tailoring, full of wood and floral prints that represented the concept of “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”.