As the de facto One Fat Frog DJ (if you come into the office, the music you’re hearing is one of my iPod playlists), I love it when my musical interests intersect with our restaurant industry. That’s why I love eating at places like Hard Rock, House of Blues, and B.B. King’s Bluesville. So I was really excited when I found out that one of my favorite bands, Radiohead, has inspired a restaurant menu.
The only bad news is that the restaurant in question isn’t local, so I would have to travel to Detroit to experience this. Anyway, Chef Kyle Hanley at the Detroit Golf Club, studied music before he became a chef. He has always loved music and food and feels that some music, in particular Radiohead, has certain “textures and colors” to it.
For that reason, he decided to create a 10-course tasting menu where each course goes with a song from the band’s 2000 masterpiece Kid A. Diners listen to the experimental rock album in full and during each song, the menu item and its accompanying wine or cocktail that is paired with that song is served. Servers will act like stage hands, bringing each course without distracting from the experience, where one song seamlessly flows into the next along with its accompanying dish.
For an example of the menu, the title track is paired with Black Caprese, “National Anthem” is paired with pan seared lamb chops, and the album-closing “Motion Picture Soundtrack” ends the dinner with Mousse Duo with blackberry pate de fruit.
To be honest, I’m just glad that “The Bends” is on a different album, because although it’s a great song I would hate to taste any food inspired by it. So the next time you’re in the One Fat Frog waiting area and you hear a Radiohead song, try to think of what dish would go best with that music.