Special Dishes at the 2024 Met Gala with a Fairyland Theme
Photo: Vogue
HOLIDAY NEWS - Inspired by fairy tales, the banquet menu at the 2024 Met Gala successfully attracted attention. There are several menus that are prohibited from being served.
The prestigious fashion evening event, Met Gala 2024, was held again on Monday (06/05/2024) evening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, United States. This year, the 2024 Met Gala has the theme Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion which is inspired by the short story by J.G Ballard entitled The Garden of Time.
Apart from displaying luxurious clothing, this event also presents a food menu that is no less luxurious. The dining menu is themed Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.
1. Fairy tale theme
Food menu at the 2024 Met Gala Photo: Vogue
Guests attending the 2024 Met Gala were treated to the favorite foods and drinks of the late Chanel creative director. The menu is inspired by flowers, natural beauty and fairy tales.
Olivier Cheng's catering service conceptualized several dishes inspired by children's story books, as quoted from Food NDTV (07/05/24). "We wanted to create a menu that felt a little soft and romantic. However, we focused on the best seasonal ingredients. We took inspiration from lush gardens and palaces like those in a fantasy world," Cheng told Vogue.
2. The special dishes served
Food menu at the 2024 Met Gala Photo: Vogue
As an appetizer, guests at the 2024 Met Gala were served a spring vegetable salad with elderflower foam, raspberry vinaigrette and olive crumbs that visually resembled earth.
Apart from that, it is also equipped with butterfly-shaped croutons. Meanwhile, the main dish is beef served with rose tortellini on top.
Cheng serves the beef over pine needles and mushrooms, so it looks like a fairytale palace. Then, the dish is closed with apple dessert, just like in the famous fairy tale Snow White. "We serve almond cremeus shaped into mini apples. Then, coated with bright red glaze, then placed on top of walnut-flavored 'leaves'," said Cheng.
3. Displays hundreds of elements
Food menu at the 2024 Met Gala Photo: Vogue
Furthermore, Cheng said that in decorating the banquet at the 2024 Met Gala he used 270 decoration elements inspired by nature. Cheng took this step to give the illusion of life in a fairy tale palace. One thing that attracts attention is the rose hat element by Philip Treacy. This iconic hat depicting a gloomy woman from the 2000s has become a fashion item that appears in invitations, decorations, and even napkins on guests' dinner tables.
4. Prohibited menus
Food menu at the 2024 Met Gala Photo: Vogue
Reporting from E! Online, Anna Wintour, as the editor-in-chief of Vogue and one of the initiators of the Met Gala, has determined three foods not to be served at the event. The reason is, these three foods have the potential to cause bad breath. These foods are chives, onions and garlic.
This means that the chefs at the Met Gala are free to experiment and be creative with the menu, eliminating these three ingredients from the recipe. This ban was implemented because last year, the food served was widely criticized by celebrities.