Caernival+The Blind Pig Supper Club Collaboration:

The Mad King’s Supper

In early 2017, Chef Mike Moore of The Blind Pig Supper Club asked if I was interested in doing an event centered around the Caernival. Out of all the nefarious ways the Caernival could find expression, I never dreamed dinner theater would be one of them. What transpired on that late winter night in March was a mixture of glut, live performance, and the legendary cockentrice; a ritual experience known as The Mad King’s Supper.

Chef Mike, along with Chef Nate Allen of Knife & Fork and Chef Matt Dawes of The Bull & Beggar, created a 6 course dinner inspired by the  Caernival. The feastgoers were entertained with live performances from Taylor Botticelli and Jamie Patterson, who acted as Mad King servants throughout the night. Each course had a theme (outlined below), which came to life through food, one act plays, chanting and the cockentrice parade. To accentuate the dark and dubious atmosphere of the Supper, the event was held in the banquet hall of the Asheville Masonic Temple located in downtown Asheville, North Carolina.

A video outlining the menu and course themes:

The Mad King’s Supper

Course# / Theme / Cuisine:

Course 1 / Transubstantiation (Or, An Entryway Into Us) / Communion Pork Skin Crackling with Beet Wine Gelatine and Beef Tartare

Course 2 / Transfiguration (Or, How To Attain The Perfect Body) / “Colde Brewet” White Almond Milk Soup with Capon and Fennel

Course 3 / Our God Is Our Belly (Or, We Are Never Hungry, Never Full) / Confit Chicken and Offal Salad

Course 4 / A Short Interlude Entitled, “Murder” (Or, A Jibe At Hypermasculinity) / Pezenas and Confit Local Lamb

Course 5 / The Body Of The People As A Whole (Or, How We View Politics) / The Cockentrice and Fire Roasted Vegetables

Dessert / The Finale: We Eat With Our Eyes (Or, The Way We’re Going To End This Feast) / “Blachmange” Milk, Cream, Irish Moss Flavored With Rosewater and Almonds

Some Media Verbiage

The Concept: This is a visual and culinary art collaborative event which aims to build a constructed imaginary world called the Caernival that examines and subverts Western ideals and cultural values.

The Chefs: Nate Allen of Knife & Fork, Spoon Bar and Heart & Snake Biscuits, Matt Dawes of Bull & Beggar and Mike Moore of the Blind Pig Supper Club.

The Event: Art showing, theatrics and six courses of creative cuisine.

The Cause: Proceeds benefit Bounty & Soul, Manna Foodbank and the Rally Around the Family Campaign.

[Proceeds went to some awesome charities!]

Photos

Photos courtesy of Cindy Kunst of Clicks Photography

The debut performance of The Mad King’s Supper was extraordinary, the food as delicious as the course themes were grotesque. This Caernival+The Blind Pig Supper Club ritual experience was full of amazing talent that was halved, mixed up, and sewn back together just like a cockentrice…

Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen (Jamie, Daniel, Sarah, Nate, Matt, Taylor and everyone else who I didn’t even get to meet) – with a very special thanks to Mike and Darlene Moore for all their help, advice, and the opportunity to push the Caernival into new creative territory.