Last weekend, Uchi chefs Philip Speer and Kaz Edwards continued their partnered series, Feast, with the Blaffer Art Museum and contemporary artist Miguel Amat. Amat has recently brought the social issue of food deserts to his creative process, and in this dinner the focus was on how many families use the dinner table alternatively.
Food deserts are low-income parts of a city where residents don’t have easy access to grocery stores, produce markets or, consequently, healthful meals. People living in these neighborhoods often have to travel miles to purchase nutritious (i.e. not fast food or convenience-store processed food) foodstuffs for their families. Hence the term food deserts, which contribute to the cycle of both empty pantries and, ironically, obesity in America. Awareness of food deserts — and there are some here in Houston — is key to educating communities.
So, if a family isn’t sitting down to eat a wholesome meal together at home, what might they be doing with their dinner table or kitchen counter? Homework, possibly, if there are kids. Or, perhaps, something more enjoyable, like games.
Just before the dinner I spoke with Uchi chef Edwards, who let me know of a few fun things that would be tied in with the game-themed meal. “We’ve been brainstorming, and each course is going to be tied tightly to games like Monopoly, poker, chess, Risk and dominoes. Games that kids play together, families play together. We’ll be using colors and shapes, there’s inspiration from game pieces, visually.”
I asked for an example of food that is relevant to dominoes, and Edwards suggested that a course might be plated in a way that when one item is tipped over, the other foods on the plate follow suit, like when you build a chain with dominoes.
Inspired by chess: The chess board is green apples compressed with lemonade and fresh bigeye tuna. Chess pieces are pickled cherry bomb radish, sous vide Cincinnati radish and lemon yogurt mousse.
Inspired by the game of Risk: edible paint illustrating North and South America along with three different kinds of nigiri; orange tobiko, scallop with yuzu kosho, grilled trumpet mushroom — all garnished with a lemon foam, candied quinoa and curry oil.
Hosted in the home of Leslie and Mark Hull, the intimate meal incorporated pairing each playful interpretation with several different locally made beers from Karbach, Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company and Saint Arnold, served in bright, cheeky Solo cups. (Have you checked out our local brewery feature, Houston Breweries: Mapped and Tapped in the current issue? We’ve got the first part of that article here.)
There are two more dinners to come in this series sponsored by Whole Foods, IKEA, Texas Monthly, Uchi and the Blaffer Art Museum. The Art Guys are the artists behind the upcoming July 20 dinner; the final dinner in the series, on August 17, will be inspired by the work of Gabriel Martinez. Individual tickets are $500 each and can be purchased online.