Edible Cinema; Romeo & Juliet at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly
A few Saturdays ago I went to Soho House's first Edible Cinema event to be held outside of its Electric House venue in Notting Hill.
While it usually caters for 98 food-loving cinema fans, the home of BAFTA in Piccadilly gave permission for a special showing to take place in its 227 strong screening room.
I've been wanting to try this for AGES, but hadn't really fancied watching Trading Places at Christmas. Since Baz Luhrmann's version of Romeo & Juliet is one of my favourite films (killer soundtrack) - I couldn't say no.
On arrival, you got to pick a side; either Capulet (gin, lemon, pineapple, orange, cherry liqueur and angostura bitters) or Montague (gin, lemon, almond syrup, orange flower water and soda). Both delicious, both provided by sponsor Bombay Sapphire and served in 195's rather lovely bar.
After we'd finished our drinks, we were shepherded into the cinema and given the trays below containing eight little boxes...
After a short intro detailing how things work (basically, numbers were projected onto the walls at key points in the film) - away we went.
The menu for the evening was...
Phoenix Gas; basically, pork scratchings with chilli (to be eaten at the first Capulet/Montague shoot-out at the petrol station)
Young Hearts, Run Free; chorizo with short paste (when Mercutio rocks up in drag)
A heart-printed vitamin tablet (at the point Romeo takes ecstasy before the Capulet party)
Kissing You; a vial of gin cocktail with vermouth (to be drunk when Des'ree starts singing)
Two Blushing Pilgrims; ox tongue on crouton with olive oil, duck olive oil and pea shoots (to be eaten when Romeo & Juliet first kiss)
The Grace of Plants; artichoke with bright blue mayonnaise (to be eaten when Romeo visits Friar Laurence)
A Scratch! A Scratch!; shards of sugar with black pudding (to be eaten when Mercutio gets stabbed by Tybalt)
Farewell; another gin cocktail with absinthe and cointreau (to be drunk at the same time Juliet takes the poison that will send her into a deep sleep)
My Love, My Wife; white chocolate cross and edible flowers (to be eaten at the point Romeo enters the Capulet chapel, and he thinks Juliet is dead)
An extra vial of gin, passion fruit and aperol (to be taken when Romeo takes the REAL poison that will kill him, sad face)
Tickets were £37, and while I didn't love ALL the food, I'd definitely do it again. It was super fun, and really did enhance the experience of watching the film. Definitely check it out.
