The Grand Tea Party: An Art For Food Dinner By Maxime Bilet

The brilliant and creative Maxime Bilet, head chef and co-author of Modernist Cuisine and Modernist Cuisine at Home (gastronomical bibles for food lovers of all levels) has done it again. Recently, Bilet put on a visual and culinary fête that was at once part Alice in Wonderland and part Middle Eastern, with some Japanese culture thrown in...and a whole lot of weird. But weird in a really, really good way. We walked into Bilet’s new culinary art space, Art for Food, located on the corner of Western and Spring in Seattle and found ourselves in a juxtaposition of worlds. Women in traditional Japanese kimono serving macha (the bright and bitter green tea served in tea ceremonies) walked amongst extravagant corset-gowned women dressed by Hollywood costume designer Nora Holley. Holley, whose beautiful corsets are frequently featured at Bilet’s events (and who can be spotted by her fantastic pink cotton candy-colored hair), has started a “pretty revolution” with her custom corset business Fortunate Nora. Many of the corsets that evening boasted a food-theme, like an elegant French French macaron corset.

This latest event, titled and themed The Grand Tea Party, was just one in a series of delicious and visually stunning culinary events produced by Bilet and team. The Grand Tea Party featured friends and local chefs Maria Hines of Tilth, The Golden Beetle and Agrodolce; Jason Franey of Canlis; and Garrett Melkonian of Mamnoon who offered their modern culinary interpretations of a tea party: an indulgent French salon, a lavish Middle Eastern Lounge, an elegant Japanese Tea Ceremony, and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. (Guests in hatted costume below).

When we arrived we didn’t know quite where to begin, it all looked so spectacularly avant garde! So we grabbed a cocktail and walked around the interactive space. (You know you're at a good party when people from outside stop to take pictures!).

An elegant and whimsical Japanese Tea Ceremony could be found in one area. Here we enjoyed traditional macha with red bean mochi (a sweet pounded rice cake) served by a kimono-bedecked Japanese woman. A closer look revealed a stunning obi (the "sash" worn around the waist of a kimono) with an intricate inlay of beans courtesy of the fab Miss Holley.

Enter an intimate tented area and one found Chef Maria Hines and team plating Porcini Mushroom Marshmallows atop a bed of a grilled asparagus salad with dressed with a green garlic vinaigrette. The marshmallow, sweet but with the earthy flavors of mushroom, was indeed an unexpected and unique combination of flavors! Like dinner and dessert all in one bite.

We sat with our cocktails in Mamnoon’s lavish Marrakesh tent, complete with smoking cassia bark to add to the ambiance, and indulged in two lamb kibbeh nayeh dishes (Ancient and Modern) with a simple and delightful rose water tea to cleanse the palate. The "Ancient" version consisted of Ground Lamb Shoulder, Marjoram, Cilantro, Parsley, Aleppo Chili, Spring Onion and Turnip Pickle.

The "Modern" was Aleppo-cured Lamb Loin, Spfrito Oil, Herb Lamb Fat, Compressed Turnip, and Lightly Fermented Beet Juice.

Before moving along to the next indulgence we nibbled on deconstructed English Tea Sandwiches in the form of salmon, cucumber and cream cheese rolls topped with salmon roe. Perfect finger food.

A glass of red wine was the perfect pairing to Canlis executive chef Jason Franey’s twist on a Traditional English Pork Pie. This stunning dish, a pastry-wrapped country-style pâté, was garnished with a beautiful pickled radish, savory gelée and flowers.

Other decadent dishes were found on bent spoons filled with a gently cooked (sous vide perhaps?) Quail Egg with Brown Butter Mayo, Tapioca Pearls and Watercress. Pure bliss!

You had to have a keen eye - and bravery - to try the Radishes in Dirt. An easily missed pot of radishes were planted in edible dirt, the secret ingredients of which I never learned.

The night was truly a culinary costumed event to remember, with each and every corner of the space offering a bit of "eye candy." One had to circle around numerous times so as not to miss a thing, and I'm sure I still did! What a feast...

About Art for Food:
The heart of the Art for Food project is to promote the interdisciplinary collaboration of chefs, producers, artists, educators and scientists through the universal language of food. Stay tuned to the Art for Food Facebook page for future events.

Chefs at work in the open kitchen.

Maxime (seated) with guests.

A botanist's creation: flowers floating in a mini pond surrounded by lush greens.

The Green Tea Ceremony.

Yes, that is meat aging on hooks from the ceiling! Food or art? Both!

Pork Belly. Succulent, unctuous, delicious pork belly.

Guests in costume.

Dinner guests in Maria Hines' tent.

Nora Holley and more of her costumed models.

Close-up of the bean and rice beaded obi.

Eclectic art.