Why Did I Do That?

In the week leading up to my first pop-up at Frog Wine Bar, I asked myself this question many times. Why am I doing this!? My brain could not wrap itself around all the little details I was responsible for figuring out. I had never prepared food for more than 12 people, and now I was attempting to serve 40 portions of 4 menu items, plus a bean cake!

To set the scene, if you are unfamiliar with pop-ups, they are basically setting up a temporary restaurant. Frog Wine Bar offers its space, and I bring the food, plates, napkins, etc. People can order from my menu and pay through me and my team. It’s a lot to think about.

So why did I do this?

While I love exploring food through writing, most people experience it through eating. I wanted to share my love of beans in the most literal way — by feeding people.

Here was my mission statement:

Beans are often overlooked, seen as humble, basic, or just a side. But they’re a powerful tool in building a more sustainable, resilient food system. The future of food depends on us eating more of them. This pop-up is about shifting the narrative. An invitation to experience beans as complex, beautiful, delicious, and worthy of the center of the plate.

The Bean Strategy

My theory of change is that inspiring people to eat more beans will lead to them consuming less meat. Here are two ways to do it.

• Get people to see my bean dishes and recipes online, and hope they will make the recipes - semi-effective

• Serve delicious bean dishes and inspire people to enjoy them in new ways, so they’ll want to eat them more often - more promising

After days of shopping, prepping in a friend’s commercial kitchen, driving it all to Bed-Stuy, preparing dishes in the summer heat, and cleaning, it ended up being much harder and expensive than I thought.

I’d do many things differently if I were to do it again, but I loved the feeling of seeing people try new things and express curiosity about beans and plant-based eating.

If you want to try some dishes from my menu, I’ve included two recipes below.

Gems of the Week ✨

• The Rockaway Film Festival screened the 1976 movie, Network, a satirical black comedy drama film directed by Sidney