New virtual dinner experience gets date night down to fine art
Art can take many forms, from the painting on the wall to the masterpiece on your plate. Adventurous diners can explore the delicious depths of creativity with Date Night In, a dinner and virtual experience available on Friday.
The take-home date night is a collaboration between Venue Unknown and The Kitchen, which are partnering with the Bakersfield Museum of Art for this one-time event.
Over the last year, both businesses have shifted from offering in-person events to packages that people can enjoy safely at home or outdoors. The Kitchen has offered weekly take-home meals, often teaming with local purveyors to highlight Kern’s bounty while Venue Unknown has offered take-home date nights with dinner, activities and more, also working with other area businesses.
“At Venue Unknown we’ve struggled this past (almost) year with ways to bring home our culinary adventures that we’re known for,” founder Jennifer Sanderson wrote in an email. “It’s been an honor to partner with so many great local
businesses to make the transition.”
For this week’s event, Sanderson said she wanted to work with the museum, which has also had to engage the community primarily online with a few small public events in the fall.
“Museums, much like restaurants, have been affected by the COVID-19 restrictions, and as I was pondering date night activities, I remembered how much I love the BMOA’s Art After Dark
program,” Sanderson wrote. “I started to wonder if there was any way to bring the museum home to people, something fun like Art After Dark, and as a way to promote the museum during their shut down.”
After speaking with museum curator Rachel Magnus, she was intrigued by the idea of Magnus leading a virtual guided tour of some of the museum’s permanent collection.
Sanderson said, “It’s not
often you get someone so knowledgeable and dynamic as a personal tour guide, so it seemed like the perfect offering for a Date Night In.”
A VIRTUAL JOURNEY
Magnus, who admits she “lives and breathes museums” and, pre-pandemic, frequently planned trips around them, said the venues provide a wonderful date environment.
“You’re in a space where you are just there to look and be really present,” she said. “There is an opportunity for conversation; with all the artifacts, the works around, you can start conversations, learn something with somebody. It’s incredibly dynamic, that location and sexy and romantic to boot.”
Magnus, as well as other museum staff, have stayed busy the past few months creating videos, podcasts and other online content for the public. She has also trained docents in preparation for when the museum can reopen to the public. For the virtual experience planned on Friday, she said the focus will be a little less formal.
“This is slightly unique because it is for a date night,” she said. “It’s going to be a little more casual, a sweeping history of California art in 30 minutes.”
To illustrate some of the art movements — that may include California Impressionism, the Bay Area Figurative Movement, California Minimalism, Magical Realism and Contemporary California — the curator will present works from the museum’s permanent collection, which is focused on artists from throughout the state.
“I’ll use the five paintings from our collection for a jumping-off point and will be bringing in additional imagery for context.”
After her presentation, Magnus will leave some time for viewers to ask questions about the work or the museum itself. She is hoping that this interests existing patrons as well as those who may have yet to experience the local artistic resource.
“That Bakersfield has an institution like the BMoA is incredible. We are grateful to partner with The Kitchen and Venue Unknown to cultivate the creative community here.”
BLENDING THE ARTS
This date night is a harmonious pairing of the worlds of visual and culinary arts, according to Jeramy Brown, sommelier and partner in The Kitchen.
Referencing poet Oscar Wilde, who opined “life imitates art far more than art imitates life,” he wrote in an email, “I think that intersection is pinpointed to how so many chefs, actually anyone who cooks, draw inspiration for their recipes, plate up, flavor combinations, texture and so many other aspects of cooking from the world of art.”
The menu, created by chef and business partner Richard Yoshimura, was designed with a theme of art, Brown said.
“The soup course is a display of the mastery of different flavors that are sometimes perceived as uncommon,” he said. “The art of combining ingredients like carrot and ginger with your own personal touch is a beautiful way to create flavor that will work together with contrast plus harmony.”
Pulling off a roulade, a rolled meat or pastry dish, which in this case is a choice of chicken and mushroom or just mushroom for vegetarians, is itself an artistic feat.
Brown said, “Chef Richard has challenged himself to pull it off with the chicken roulade so that it will truly be a works of art for each guest.”
And the dessert pays tribute to the art of dance: a pavlova, the meringue dessert named in honor of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, is topped with fresh winter citrus.
Diners don’t need to leave all the creativity to the chef. Sanderson said Yoshimura is including sauces for the entree and dessert for people to use on the dishes.
“He’s hoping people will have fun with their plating techniques, and will take photos and tag him at @TheKitchen1317 on Instagram or at facebook.com/thekitchenbakersfield,” Sanderson
said, noting that there is a video with tips and tricks for making your food at home look a little more “restaurant” posted on The Kitchen’s IGTV.
THE FUN CONTINUES
The date doesn’t end with Friday’s activities. Each package comes with a one-year membership to the museum for each diner.
Sanderson said, “The memberships will be valid for an entire
year, and extended further to account for the time the museum is closed due to COVID-19. If someone is already a member, their membership will be extended.”
Venue Unknown and The Kitchen will also make an additional donation to the museum.
With at least a few more months of social distancing encouraged, Venue Unknown will continue to offer take-home packages, with upcoming plans including working with Bakers
field City Ballet, which returns Feb. 15 with its outdoor Curbside Ballet.
And new small business Mommy’s Cookie Jar will join House of Flowers, Smith & McCain, El Saco, Wire and Pearl, Oleander + Palm, Aunt Mae’s Toffee, Franco Baked, Ally Swen Photography, Archer Interiors and others on the list of partnering businesses for these intimate events.
For more on Venue Unknown, go to facebook.com/VenueUnknown. Visit thekitchenbakersfield.com for more on The Kitchen. And for the latest on the museum, check out bmoa.org.