Urban Harvest’s Sunday Supper takes over Moonstruck Drive-In
Forget everything you think you know about drive-ins.
Last weekend, Urban Harvest elevated the outdoor movie experience for its annual Sunday Supper at Moonstruck Drive-In.
Celebrity chefs are consistently the event’s biggest draw, and this year’s lineup didn’t disappoint — despite the social distance.
Some 84 vehicles pulled into the al fresco cinema just before sunset. Masked volunteers checked them in and directed ticket holders through a series of food tents, drive-thru style where Little Kitchen HTX, Dumpling Haus, Underbelly Hospitality and Tony’s helpers prepped dishes from their respective eateries for 400-plus diners.
Kate McClean, former chef at Tony’s, helped load brown paper meal bags into each car. Donna Vallone oversaw the finedining restaurant’s current team, which included chef de cuisine Austin
Waiter and head catering chef Hayden Hulings.
Waiter’s new bride, Shannon Waiter of Heirloom Creative, worked with Aztec rentals to create living-room- esque vignettes for the organization’s most generous supporters and board members.
Behind VIP, another three rows of vehicles filled as the sun set over downtown Houston. Some diners feasted from the comfort of their consoles. Others took over picnic tables or truck beds à la tailgates — remember those?
Fittingly, the evening’s
menu featured a mix of finger food and comfort fare: dill popcorn; vegan and dumpling wontons; Chris Shepherd and Nick Fine’s taquitos with tortillas from Tatemó; smoked chicken from Feges; Austin Waiter’s Harvest Grain Mills “Popcorn” Carolina Gold rice grits; and Val
lone’s famous carrot “cup” cakes.
There was no program, and none was needed. Proceeds from the $32,000 raised benefit Urban Harvest’s mission to cultivate thriving communities through gardening and access to healthy, local food. Once the sky
darkened, “The Biggest Little Farm” played on the big screen.
Oh, and two attendees got engaged under the moonlight — how often does that happen? Score one for creativity in the time of coronavirus.