Hellions,

It's been a long and glorious descent and it's taken me awhile to wrap my mind around it.  Truth be told, I've never had the opportunity to be part of something so unique.  Moreover, I've never put so much of myself into a project.  Now that it's over, I feel vulnerable - almost raw - like I've released a significant part of me.  My immediate response after O.N.C.E. in Hell on Thursday night came as God - played by JJ's husband, Anthony, - began playing the sitar in Heaven.  As I watched the aerialist, Beatrice's, routine,  I couldn't control the tears any more.  After going through two months of planning and a week of execution, my catharsis was this beautiful star dancing through sitar notes. 

Over 1500 plates passed through our hands on this run.  10 courses of local food, prepped in four days.  I had the pleasure of working with the tremendously capable staff at OBERON, and also, was so lucky as to have the kitchen support that I did.  Cuisine en Locale has some people who share our philosophy, who habitually say upon learning about the next O.N.C.E., "how can I help"?  Without our volunteers and core team, we would never have been able to pull off a project of such magnitude.  For them I am so grateful.  And I am incredibly grateful for JJ, a mentor of the highest kind, who placed confidence in me from the beginning and continues to believe in me.

But for now, enough thank yous - let's talk about Hell.

For us, working with Dante's Inferno was simultaneously a pleasure and a pain.  Some circles are obvious, so we interpreted them literally.  Others required more thought and kept us all up at night.  We all lived this production, so it wasn't uncommon for one of us to comment to the other.. "so, heresy kept me up last night".

Purgatory, from the beginning, was simple.  We viewed Limbo as an enormous waiting room, where souls drifted, suspended in this netherworld.  Our Purgatory was the waiting room of a restaurant, where the waitstaff played the errant souls, moving in what seemed to be slow motion.  Waiting for diners was a plain roll with tap water - a bland reminder of nonbeing.

We pictured Lust very vividly.  In Dante's text, souls in circle two are blown about, caught in a hurricane - his way of describing those who have no control over their carnal desires.  In circle two, Dante meets Francesca and Paolo, two lovers who have been condemned for adultery.  Paolo, Francesca's brother in law, spent an inordinate amount of time with her - reading, mind you - while his brother was away.  And then they read no more.  Lust, in the eyes of our team, was a tango.  Francesca and Paolo were dancers, pulling each other this way and that, but never really closing the distance to get what they really wanted.  To complement our passionate tango, we opted for an oyster shooter.  The creamy, somewhat sweet, somewhat briny oyster was perfectly complemented by a green apple mignonette - local green apple juice, shallots, and cracked pepper.  Many mentioned that we came out of the gate strong with this one.

I'll come back soon with write-ups of Gluttony, Avarice, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treason.  If you're dying (pun intended) to know more, do check out this great reviews by CeL supporters, Adele, the Basil Queen, Annabelle, who advocates Wholesome Cuisine, and Carolyn, also known as LimeyG, who went to Hell and it was delicious.  Thanks again to all our supporters.  Stay tuned for part 2 of my write-up AND a preview of things to come!

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