A few weeks ago I attended a private invite-only dinner in the heart of Chinatown (Manhattan, NYC). I normally would not blog about this but it was different. The dinner was inclusive, it was classy, it was fun, and it was one of the most unique dining experiences I've had in a while.
Before I get into what I ate, I'll explain how this came about. Back in April, I purchased tickets to an annual conference in Brooklyn called The Food Writers' Workshop (thanks to EatWithNia ) and it inspired me for many reasons. I got to hang around (and learn from) other incredible black foodies (AvaEats, DomNTheCity, Jillian) along with getting insight from different panelists. I really enjoyed the conference and all of the discussions on what it takes for a woman to become and maintain success in the food industry.
It was an absolute pleasure to see so many black women on panels talking about breaking barriers in the food world digitally and in real life.
While at the conference, I was introduced to a collective called the Black Food Folks. Shortly after learning about them, I proceeded to stalk their social media pages (as anyone else would do) and I came across another group. A creative group called ToBeHosted. This group throws monthly private dinners for black and brown creatives. I swiftly followed this group on social media and was delightfully intrigued when I saw an Instagram post announcing the "May Dinner". I immediately applied for an invite to attend and a few days later I was able to get a seat at the table.
A Seat At The Table.
The idea behind the monthly dinner is simple. You are seated next to strangers (intentionally), and all you have to do is pay a reasonable fee, come hungry, come open-minded and come ready to meet new people. I love this idea, and since food is known to bring people together it makes networking easier. I was luckily seated next to Chef B. Woods who I'm looking forward to collaborating with in the near future. Someone who I would have not met if it wasn't for this dinner.
Chef Day and I.
Now on to the chef of the evening. The dinner was curated by a phenomenal woman named Chef Day. If you are not following XoChefDay on Instagram you should start today. She's talented, beautiful and is someone who is taking the food industry by storm with her recipes.
Before we all dived in, Chef Day excitedly explained the inspiration for all of the dishes, the ingredients, she even adjusted her recipes for those who have dietary restrictions, and spoke to every single one of us who dined that evening. It was magical.
The dinner theme was Breakfast After Dark. Chef Day's menu included sweet and savory options. I honestly enjoyed every single item on the menu but the pancakes were simply divine. Here’s a look at the menu items:
SWEET
STRAWBERRY FIELDS: sweet, wild, white strawberries mixed with red currants blueberries peaches and spearmint. This was so delightful and I cannot recall a time I ate a white strawberry.
FLUFFY STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PANCAKES: buttermilk pancakes caramelized rhubarb Haitian rum cream topped with strawberries.
SAVORY
PEPPERED SHRIMP & GRITS (TO THE LEFT) , DUCK HASH (BELOW) , ARUGULA SALAD (BELOW DUCK HASH)
I had a blast and I'm still hyped from that night. Everything was so delightful. So delicious and I'm definitely looking forward to attending another dinner or two because I felt so comfortable, so at home, and just so welcomed.
Comment below if you've attended a dinner like this before. Let me know if there are others I should attend.
The pop up restaurant/parking lot was located downtown Manhattan at 
While waiting to get in everyone took photos with the staff members, the infamous man in a chicken costume, and we watched the official trailer a few times. In the trailer I noticed Gus says "come in and try our curly fries". I didn't think anything of it until one of the staff members announced there was no chicken being sold nor given out. My heart sunk. ?
I want to mention that I ALWAYS research every restaurant, event, pop up shop, grand opening, etc I attend. I search the internet for details and because of my "need to know" personality I always like to be prepared and know what to expect. But this time, because I saw so many tweets about it being so "cool" at SXSW I did not dive into finding out what to expect and wanted to be surprised. With that said, I was unaware that chicken would not actually get served at the pop up restaurant.The one time I do not research a pop up event this happens. I would not have gotten there so early if I knew this. On a positive note, they did however provide us with curly fries (and the fries were actually tasty). For free. 
I will say this was more of a pop up museum of the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant rather than a standard pop up restaurant. I can't front, I'm sad I did not get to try some chicken but it was kinda astounding seeing the replica of the set. It was like we were actually in the southwest and in this extremely nice and wholesome chicken joint that was really a front for drug money. It was pretty freaking awesome to have experienced it.
