June 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A dinner party hosted by GRAFT around the premise of uncomfortable foods for uncomfortable conversations. The dinner’s offerings included elaborate salad molds, jellies, jellos, pickles, potted meats, candies, etc., eliciting both delight and disgust in guests.  The dishes prepared were inspired by recipes of the Cold War era, a moment in history when scarcity, thriftiness, and technological innovations molded the aesthetics and tastes of the American dinner table: a general existential dread hiding under the glistening garnished meals. What of our contemporary societal anxieties, as we face rapid climate change and societal collapse? Guests received a deck of printed conversation prompts designed to encourage difficult discussions around food, history, culture, sustainability, capitalism, technology, and more.