FOOD was an artist-run restaurant in SoHo, Manhattan, New York. FOOD was founded by artists Carol Goodden, Tina Girouard and Gordon Matta-Clark. FOOD was considered one of the first important restaurants in SoHo.[1] Other individuals who were involved with FOOD included Suzanne Harris and Rachel Lew.[2] FOOD was a place where artists in SoHo, especially those who were later involved in Avalanche magazine and the Anarchitecture group, could meet and enjoy food together.[2] FOOD was considered to be both a business and an artistic "intervention in an urban setting."[2] It has also been called a "landmark that still resonates in the history and mythology of SoHo in the 1970s."[3]
History
Before they founded FOOD, Goodden and Matta-Clark were already cooking for artists in New York and were already known for throwing dinner parties for friends, mainly hosted at their loft.[4] In 1971, they roasted an entire pig under the Brooklyn Bridge.[5] The roast was known as the Brooklyn Bridge Event.[4] The Event was accompanied by outdoor sculpture and celebrated the opening of the Alternative Gallery Space on Greene Street.[6] The sculptures at the pig roast had been curated by Alanna Heiss of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA.)[6] Music for the roast was done by Dickie Landry and the Philip Glass Ensemble.[6]
Matta-Clark suggested to Goodden the idea for a restaurant, which she found appealing.[6] They chose a location in SoHo on the corner of Prince and Wooster streets.[7] There was a struggling restaurant there called Comidas Criollas and Goodden negotiated the lease from them.[6] At that time, SoHo was considered a cultural desert,[8] with struggling businesses.[9] Goodden had access to an inheritance which she was able to use as the initial investment for the restaurant.[10] Gooden and Matta-Clark wanted to create a space where they could help their friends find jobs while giving people a place to eat in what would later be known as SoHo.[11] Matta-Clark and Girouard began to renovate the place.[12] FOOD opened in October 1971 at 127 Prince Street.[13] During the renovations, Matta-Clark was inspired to do some of his original "cutting" art works.[2]
FOOD was intended to be a simple project designed to bring the artistic community together.[13] Artists were invited to be guest chefs, as well as working at the restaurant on a regular basis.[12] There was no ordering of many different dishes at FOOD, diners ate what was offered on that day.[14] The menu was simple and affordable.[15] Meals included items like raw mackerel in wasabi sauce, Creole-style stuffed tongue and anchovy onion pie.[4] FOOD was considered to be an "active and dynamic site" which served nearly one hundred people daily in 1972.[2]
In 1972 Matta-Clark created a 43-minute documentary of the restaurant.[16] He was often seen as the center of the energy surrounding FOOD restaurant.[17]
FOOD only lasted about three years with the original founders.[18] After Matta-Clark lost interest in the project and Goodden was left to carry on mostly on her own.[15] Eventually, the restaurant was handed over to new operators who ran FOOD until the 1980s.[19] However, FOOD did not retain its artistic roots under the new management.[15]
Legacy
FOOD was said to inspire others who create food art, or work in the field of relational art."[18] Many famous artists and performers, such as Donald Judd, Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage created meals at FOOD.[18] The cooking and the meals themselves were a kind of a performance art,[1] especially the soup.[5] Gooden felt that soup could be used as a sort of "painting" for the table.[20] Matta-Clark developed a meal that he based on bones called Matta-Bones[21] which cost $4.[18] After the meal, the bones were used to create necklaces for the diner to wear.[11]Matta-Bones once served over 100 people and after they ate, Richard Peck scrubbed the bones clean in the kitchen after which Hisachika Takahashi, an assistant to Rauschenberg and a jeweler, drilled holes in the bones so that they could be strung onto rope.[22] Another unusual meal was made of living brine shrimp swimming in egg whites[15] called Alive.[21] Perhaps the most unusual dinner was never realized: Mark di Suvero wished to serve meals through the windows of the restaurant using a crane and directing diners to eat with tools such as screwdrivers and hammers.[23]
FOOD was noted for using fresh and seasonal foods, which was a "vaguely countercultural" idea for the time.[12] FOOD was one of the first New York restaurants to serve sushi[8] which had been suggested by Takahashi.[12] Another unusual feature of FOOD was that it was one of the first places to serve vegetarian meals.[8] FOOD also "championed" the use of the open kitchen which is seen in many modern restaurants.[24]
Other famous artists who were frequently seen at FOOD included the members of Mabou Mines, the Philip Glass group and dancers of Grand Union.[17] Filmmaker artist musician Vincent Gallo stated FOOD was the first place in New York City he ate at.
FOOD 1971/2013
The Frieze Art Fair recognized the contributions of FOOD to the artistic community in 2013 by inviting several chefs from the original FOOD to participate at the fair.[5] Goodden and Girouard both contributed to the tribute of FOOD with Goodden preparing her famous soups and Girouard paying homage to the pig roast under the Brooklyn Bridge.[24] FOOD 1971/2013 was created by curator, Cecilia Alemani and conceived of as a special project for the fair.[23]
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