For the Blue Plaque Plates launch with English Heritage, I designed an immersive dining experience for six VIP's that took place at the Freud Museum. Each of the six courses was a feast for the senses inspired by the lives and work of Jimi Hendrix, Agatha Christie, Sigmund Freud, Kenneth Williams, Alfred Hitchcock and Emmeline & Christabel Pankhurst - the six notables celebrated on the plates. Served on the plates themselves, the courses traced a culinary and historical trip around London in fun, unexpected and thoughtful ways.
An
evening served in six acts:
Act 1 - Welcome champagne sabrage in the garden - the Master of Ceremonies slices the top off a champagne bottle with a sword whilst declaring 'Infamy, infamy, they've all got it infamy! Amuse bouche served on a Kenneth Williams plate - 'Red Herrings' and a London Fog inspired 'Pea Souper'.
Act
2 - 'Choose your Poison'. Cocktails to die for served from poison bottles in Freud's study with a reading from Agatha Christie's book After The Funeral where a dinner guest is believed to have been served a poisoned cocktail.
Act
3 – Purple lighting, dry ice and Jimi Hendrix's song Purple Haze playing creates an atmosphere in the dining room where a mushroom based appetiser is served.
Act
4 – 'A Taste of Suspicion'. Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's love of practical
jokes and throwing dinner parties where all food was blue, a blue soup is served!
Act
5 – Main course of a curry dish inspired by Britain's favourite
food!
Act
6 – 'A Smashing Dessert!' Guests were invited to cast a vote for blueberries or raspberries. Raspberries won the day to top the creme brulee, also served with a
toffee hammer which guests used to smash the (patriarchy) caramelised brulee top. (Emmeline Pankhurst and other suffragettes used toffee hammers to break windows, part of their civil disobedience).
Digestif
– 'A Shot in the Dark'. Amaretti liqueur (almonds smell of cyanide) and coffee are served in the museum foyer. Suddenly, the lights cut out and a gunshot is fired. The lights come back up to reveal a body lying on the floor...