On a cool, slightly damp Saturday evening, the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago was positively hot. It could’ve been the heat coming from the meal being prepped by chefs Erick Williams and Becky Pendola of Virtue and Devon Quinn of Eden, but we like to think it was from the electrifying energy between Williams and Gates. “Artists and chefs have a love of exploration and experimentation,” said Gates. “We feel as though we’re only as good as the last thing we cooked or the last thing we made.” Bringing the two together were Capital One and The Cultivist who co-hosted a one-night-only dinner at Gates’s celebrated institution for arts, culture, collections and creative entrepreneurship. “It’s exciting that fifteen years ago, I had this dream to have a space where culture and community and hospitality could happen, and we’re now having dinner in that place,” added Gates.
From the first bite of the biscuits to Gates speaking with the enthralled audience amongst the books and periodicals in the Johnson Publishing Company Library housed at the Arts Bank, guests were treated to an evening dusted with culture and artistic innovation. “It is exciting that after three years of pandemic stress and the George Floyd season of protests, institutions are making deeper investments in diasporic-driven art experiences that engage food and culture,” said Williams. “I am humbled to be invited into [Gates’s] space to create a modest supper curated by the Capital One team.” That meal - inspired by the Johnson Publishing Company's Ebony Cookbook - was composed of butter lettuce salad, seared bass, and roasted cabbage all served with a side of Hopping John, a traditional southern medley of black eyed peas, rice and okra. Working in tandem with the menu was the equally compelling setting. “Food advocates for art, art demands space, attention, focus, pause, and reckoning,” said Williams. “Food envelopes those actions.”
And while the evening was a culinary triumph, it also was a celebration of artistry. “I view the confluence of art and gastronomy as an interaction where the two meet and travel together,” added Williams. “They support a spiritual and natural acceptance of the other.” As for what made the evening most special, Gates summed it up best. “It’s special that under Chef Erick, and because of the work of Rebuild [Gates’s artist-led, community-based platform for art, cultural development, and neighborhood transformation], we’re able to celebrate hundreds of people who have been impacted by what we do. And they’ve gone on to do bigger and better things. I’m proud of that.”
Hero image: Matthew Reeves/BFA.com
All images: Matthew Reeves/BFA.com
