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I think by all accounts now we can agree that this year’s Met Gala theme was not clearly communicated to the attendees (despite whatever homework Vogue prepared for them ahead of time). We had stars turning up in archival or vintage-inspired looks, others decked out in delicate embellishments, and some ready for a garden party. Such were the varied interpretations of the costume exhibit title, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, and the official dress code inspired by J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story The Garden of Time.
It was a strange episode of confusion, especially coming from Anna Wintour, who helms the annual event with an iron fist. I won’t say she’s a control freak… But I will report the facts that she ordains the theme, co-chairs, guest list, seating chart, performers, food, and decor, and she strictly bans the use of cell phones inside. And speaking of bans, ahead of Monday’s soiree she confirmed to Jenna Bush Hager on Today that garlic, chives, and onions are strictly prohibited from the dinner menu. Anna, who hurt you? Via alliums?
With a mostly top secret guest list, that is hand selected by Wintour herself, the cost of admission is $75,000 per ticket or $350,000 for a table. Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth and Bad Bunny are co-chairs for 2024.
Gala guests, who are banned from using cell phones (except for sneaky bathroom selfies), will be treated to the debut of the Sleeping Beauties exhibit, a cocktail party, seated dinner and a surprise musical guest.
For that seated dinner, there are a few things that will absolutely never be on the menu: Garlic, chives and onion.
Wintour confirmed her disdain for the aforementioned alliums in a promo interview with Jenna Bush Hager for Today.
She definitely has her guests and fashion in mind when ruling out dishes to be served at the event. There’ll be no garlic breath!
And she’s wise to do so. Bruschetta, for example, can get really messy. And these are one-of-a-kind gowns that are hard to clean. Charles Tuzzi, managing director of Winzer Cleaners, the famous cleaning company that won a special Tony Award for cleaning many of the costumes worn on Broadway say it’s hard to remove food from silks and delicate clothing. “It’s definitely not coming off with seltzer and a napkin,” he says.
Anna Wintour has banned chives, onions and garlic from the Met Gala menu. “Those are three things I’m not particularly fond of. And so yes. That’s true,” she told Hager Bush of the banned foods. Also, according to Buzz Feed the Vogue editorial director also does not permit parsley or bruschetta.
Josh Jackson, executive chef/owner proprietor of Great Taste Catering in Los Angeles believes that Wintour’s decision to ban certain foods is a very personalized choice.
“She doesn’t want the food to affect the breath of the celebrity guests. Also, there are several people that are actually allergic to the allium family of bulbous plants which is rare but possible,” says Jackson whose clients include Cher, Ted Danson and Laura Dern. “But that’s maybe a stretch. The real reason must be she doesn’t want to see chives in the guests teeth. It’s understandable.”
But Jackson says that without those banned ingredients the depth of the flavor of dishes can be limited. And guests don’t get the experience of a fantastic meal. Especially when foods like onions are so fabulous when they are caramelized. “There’s nothing yummier than something that is caramelized,” says Jackson.
Oh, where to begin!! I love how the article tries in vain to put an altruistic spin on Anna’s exclusionary taste — She’s saving the guests from bad breath! From parsley in their teeth! From tomato juice stains on designer gowns! Celebrities can’t be trusted to eat bruschetta!!! — even going so far as to bring in expert commentary from an A-List caterer and dry cleaner. And then Anna goes on morning television and says, “I don’t like them, that’s all the reasoning that’s required.” Somebody please pitch next year’s theme as Fashioning Italian Food: Cooking As Couture. I really hope the chefs got the last laugh by slipping in leeks and shallots as a workaround. Because at $75,000 – $350,000 for entry (you could go to school with that money, just saying), I’d want some pretty frickin’ fabulous food. And banning garlic and onions is not a good start. Of course I could just be overlooking the obvious explanation: Anna is a vampire.
Lastly, I’d like to give a shout out to the one-of-a-kind Diana Vreeland. Vreeland was as eccentric and brash as Anna is reserved and calculating. It was Vreeland who first thought to center the gala around a theme. When the Costume Institute was renovated in 2014, it would have been nice for it to have been renamed for Vreeland, instead of Anna. To use my new favorite saying: Diana Vreeland ran so that Anna Wintour could walk.
photos credit: PA Images/INSTARimages and Getty
