Welcome to Mercurial, an Alchemist's 9-Course Meal
A live culinary theatrical play by chef Memo and Ugly Baby Studio
Want to know one of life’s best-kept secrets? Throw out the boring friends and befriend cooks, chefs, writers, artists, photographers, and creatives. You’ll feel more alive.
I have proof.
Guillermo ‘Memo’ Luengas is an avant-garde chef. His technique and skills alone are worth writing about, but it’s his vision and collaborative abilities that make him stand out as unique. His ideas and concepts revolve around food as a force of life. They come to fruition with the help of his team, Ugly Baby Studio. They send you into a different world, just as immersing yourself into a fantasy book would. Imagine being taken on a journey through true teamwork with a gastronomical play on theatrics, lighting, soundscapes, visual curiosities, custom, and unique table settings, and a honed-in focus reverting to food. Welcome to Mercurial.
Memo, alongside co-founders and sisters, Maria and Rebecca Smith have formed an eccentric team of passionate food creatives that go by the memorable name of Ugly Baby Studio. Their aim of their events goes beyond just food as an experience. They want to inspire and leave you wanting to know what is possible within yourself. I was blown away by the in-depth and lively event by Ugly Baby Studio already once. Read about it here:
This evening was named Mercurial, adding more allure to an exciting project. His goal was to transport the guests to another realm, and he and his team at Ugly Baby Studio which are more than a dozen, succeeded so gracefully.
The invite was a mood board that allowed you to peek into the creative process and lore of Mercurial. This took Memo months to organize, and you will see why.
Welcome to Mercurial
As I took the last steps out of the metro exit, I found myself between two cemeteries cut in half by a busy street with people moving in all directions. The early evening light (and Google Maps) allowed me to spot the chapel that would serve as the restaurant. I tap on the only knockable square on the black gate and ask the first person I saw if this was 21gramm.
It was, so I patiently waited along a dozen others in the courtyard for the promised gatekeeper to open the portal to this event. The Alchemist presented herself as an astrophysical character who was to guide us through this carefully curated dinner.
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Walking into the shrouded door that led inside a foggy and dim-lit chapel was the gateway to Mercurial. A line of waiters in dark masks by the entrance gave me a sense of fear as if I walked into an Illuminati-like dinner. I thought I would be sacrificed if the announced number was under my plate.
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I found it exhilarating, that sense of not knowing what in the world would happen. It was dark, so hard to make out our handwritten names on the place cards. Later, I realized the sense of discomfort belonged to the theme of the evening. Once everyone sat down, it was quiet with little whispers, unsure how to proceed.
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This loss of guidance was curious, for me at least. It forced us to sharpen our senses. To hear the music, to see the artfully designed table, to touch the grains of sand in a mound in front of our plates.
Our host, The Alchemist presented herself again to explain the first two dishes to come. The room was less tense. Her role was poetic and kept us in the dark, with a promise of being brought back to the light. She was to guide us through a story of death and life, dark and light.
She wanted us to appreciate the flesh and the minerals of earth. Her anecdotes on the ingredient’s history gave us a story to hold on to, meanwhile red wine from Galicia, Spain was poured. The first course, a four-week dry-aged steak tartare with beetroot, parmesan oil, and black garlic with a nosey smoked bone marrow mixed within sat on top of a crunchy base. A strong introduction that gave me a new standard to tartare.
It was hard to see, the room was still dark but slowly, blue lights took over. The second course, a mille-feuille of purple carrots with brown butter and miso caramel made us feel rich. An affluent display of technique. Washing the playfulness away with the last drops of wine allowed the table to speak louder.
Confidence and comfort took a stronger hold of all guests. Now, we were socializing with more clarity, and less refrain. Even as the murky atmosphere returned. Sitting on these clouds gave us the sense of being somewhere else, the world outside — gone. Sadly, the obnoxiousness of some guests brought you back to the vanity of our world. Disallowing the full dive into this haze of another world which was maybe for the better.
Our elusive host, The Alchemist came back. After further tales of pleasure, she gave us a lesson in The Savouring of Tongue, That Savours the Soil. She introduced the third, and fourth dishes of braised eggplant with onion glaze and fermented habanero sauce. While I though it was ready to cut I felt tricked as it stuck to my knife — it was a purée. I felt foolish and laughed, then the spice rumbled my throat, and the white wine from Samos, Greece quelled the habanero’s Amazonian fire with salts from the Aegean Sea.
The lights turned brighter as we were nearing halfway, marked by the hummus croquette. Its sesame, pomegranate, and beetroot gel with pickled red onion topped with crispy parsley was a reminder of simplicity. The echo of cutting its crunch in half to see the surprise on the inside was another step into this gustatory curation of the senses.
Again, The Alchemist came to continue her path of the evening. She introduced dishes number five and six. An iron pan bread as light as a pillow, with a lemony twist sat on top of an onion foam base. The summit was gloriously coated chashu shiitake mushrooms. Its citrusy cousin sat in liquid form in my glass with a Greek orange wine from Corinthia. This was one of the best pairings I’ve ever had.
A short heady moment of contemplation took place, but my focus veered to the pine nut mole and terrine of cauliflower laced with za’atar, plantain, brown butter, pine nuts, almonds, and roses with a final dash of Jerez wine. A mouthwatering rendition of Memo’s Mexican roots.
Then came a humble ingredient. A lavish polenta cake scoffing at humility with a sesame-mushroom sauce coupled with an Austrian Sauvignon Blanc. A luxury in the dark. This roller-coaster ride climbed higher from the two previous earthy dishes with a light asparagus dish in clarified broth and verbena oil. This dish brought us back to clarity and peace before the final plate.
The room slowly got brighter as we neared the end of our journey. Last but not least, a floating plate of lavender mousse with rhubarb was carefully placed in front of every guest. Created by Rebecca Keane, the magically mad pastry scientist from Ireland.
The room was bright enough to see the details, the music that was playing was the sound of what seemed like a tropical forest. I took a bite and thought to myself, I never would have imagined I would try white chocolate in a rainforest. I was transported.
Mercurial was a dive into all the senses. The Ugly Baby Studio team surpassed themselves and everyone’s expectations. The depth of planning, from having a fog machine that doesn’t smell or spoil the taste, or to the intricate set-up of the table. To the careful design of the menu and the stellar wine pairing. The theatrics, the discipline, and the rigour of the food itself.
Towards the end of the dinner, people were childish and giggling. Conversation matched the faster paced music. Lights danced among themselves, evading their colors and ticked along our perked-up awareness.
The Alchemist told us to stand up and leave with such bravado the childish giggles halted. We accepted without hesitation or discomfort as if a parent told us to stop. Stepping out and hearing the sounds of the streets felt like my awareness and sense deepend. We left an ephemeral space of creativity, theatrics, technique, collaboration, community, and execution. As transient as dinners are, this one stays in divine memory.
Ugly Baby Studio are storytellers from start to finish. Their story continues to blossom as they are working on curating and designing two books of their own: The Corner Table; and The Pretty, the Ugly, and the Insane: Ugly Baby Studio Productions. The latter is an honest depiction of the difficulties, failures, and successes the creative process poses when hosting such events— a refreshingly sincere perspective.
Memento mori-ly yours,
The Greasy Pen.
This is a promotional piece of a comp’d dinner and all pictures belong to the incredibly talented Gaston Degiglio.
What an incredible experience! 🫶🏽
Really want to try! When is the next event, do you maybe know?