Carve a new tradition into your dining experience with Spice Kitchen & Bar’s Whole Beast Feast. The mega meal, created to share with a group of eight to 10 people ($75 per person), is meant to be a communal dining experience. Pass seasonal sides across the table and delight as the main course — a suckling pig — is carved tableside. “It really takes dining back to the roots of it,” says chef and owner Ben Bebenroth. Here are three things you need to know about this rustic approach to dining.
Go whole hog, or not.
Spice is focused on using ingredients that are in-season, so look for options beyond suckling pigs such as heritage turkeys in the fall or whole salt-baked fish. “We’re even doing some vegetarian ones,” he says, “really large squashes, whole large clusters of maitake mushrooms and things like that. We’ve got some really cool ideas around it.”
Be ready for inventive sides. Sides also rotate based on what Spice’s farmers bring in that week. Recent dishes have included Japanese sweet potatoes and yams with white miso and maple butter, salted garlic and kale or ginger roasted carrots with a molasses glaze. Coming out of winter, Bebenroth will also utilize grains and polenta to build flavorful options.
Break bread with strangers. Right now the Whole Beast Feast is only offered with reservations of at least 8 to 10, but Spice might consider something a bit more medieval. “We were also talking about how cool it is to get a whole bunch of people together at a communal table and just do this and sell tickets to it,” says Bebenroth. “It’s lending more to the communal experience of eating together, and I think that’s a big part of this endeavor.”
More info: spicekitchenandbar.com
