When Metropolis and Interface Inc. held a screening of the new film The Corporation at a City University of New York auditorium, no one was expecting a dramatic event for an academic documentary from Canada. In such a scholarly setting, guests would have been satisfied with a banal array of ordinary hors d'oeuvres. Instead, Karen Giobbe of Gourmet Gal chose to create five different movie-themed appetizers that fit with the film and Interface's environment-minded ethos.
First out of the kitchen was an updated take on Cracker Jacks—organic popcorn coated with rum, spices and organic pecans, served in paper cones. The cones were presented in spiral-shaped metal stands and served on white or black lacquer trays decorated with original Cracker Jack boxes. Next, sitting atop tiers of "admit one" ticket rounds were mini turkey burgers with cheddar cheese in petite brioche buns.
Another tray made of mirrored glass displayed bite-sized, hormone- and nitrate-free Neiman Ranch pigs in a blanket surrounded by rolls of Kodak film. Servers also circulated quesadillas layered with fresh corn, zucchini, two cheeses and herbs inside vintage film-reel canisters. And tiny puff pastries made to resemble cushions on a tray of miniature pink armchairs.
Guests washed down the goodies with the assortment of organic sodas, and the waiters wore black T-shirts bearing a quote from Interface C.E.O. Ray Anderson (who was featured in the film): "In the future, people like me will go to jail."