Bringing Fun Back To Food

I was driving back from the grocery one fall evening and my friend made the suggestion to put the rotisserie chicken in the front trunk (frunk) of my Tesla. “You could say it’s chicken powered,” he laughed. To which I replied, “It’d have to at least be filled to the brim with fried chicken before I said that.”

And one year later…

So why did I finally do it?

Two reasons: my decision to use social media to create and publicize my food events gave me motivation to do more things and I just remembered that I wanted to do this.

Though these two reasons are really rooted in the same idea — I wanted to do more food events that would make food more fun for everyone. There could be these ridiculous creations that everyone could laugh at in amazement, while still bringing my own twists to the table in unique flavor combinations. Ridiculously large foods and feasts are out there, but I felt like there’s a general perception of large and good as being mutually exclusive in the food world.

With my car getting the newly released enhanced summon Tesla update, I decided to pair the two events together. I could have fun treating my full sized car as a remote control toy and get a kick out of the ridiculousness that is a frunk full of fried chicken. Two long standing dreams at once! So I jumped at the opportunity and created an event, while pitching the idea of having a video where my car would drive up from where it was parked to deliver me my frunk full of fried chicken to a couple co-workers.

I expected some interest, but was blown away by the amount of support I actually got. One person to edit, another to bring a drone, people to participate in the video and help out, and someone to even bring a cat for a possible video idea. Everyone I told went from initial shock (giving me that “what would even drive me to propose such a concept” look) to being enamored with actually seeing it happen.

All these events culminated in people from all ages enjoying fried chicken out of the frunk of my car, which made me sure of one thing: it really is great to have fun with your food.

The world could always use more fun food events

Sometimes I feel like the food world takes itself too seriously all the time. There is often a stress on executing the right technique/steps, paying respect to culture/history, or having to prove yourself in the pursuit of doing things differently. I do think its important to have “perfecting your craft” as part of the focal point, but I don’t think it has to mean sidelining silliness. After all, that silliness is a crucial point to the uniqueness of any creator’s artistic endeavor.

This is not to say that fun food is not out there. It just usually isn’t accessible. The internet is filled with ridiculous food creations if you look hard enough, but when’s the last time you were actually able to participate in one.

All this is exactly why I want to break that mold with more food events. The world is in constant need of more opportunities for people to not just enjoy food, but for it to be fun events that they can participate in. I want to continue to capture ridiculous moments where there is more to enjoy than just the food itself. But more importantly, I want more people to experience the fun of these concepts themselves.

In the words of Tesla founder Elon Musk himself, “fun is underrated.”

Time will tell if I’m wrong and people just want regurgitated formats and impersonal food experiences. But if I’ve learned anything from sharing my thoughts and experiences with people, it’s just that people want to have fun with food. There needs to be a shift in the perception of what can actually be done and is available to them. A realization that there is more to food appreciation than the food itself. There’s so much in the little details of food presentation and the environment surrounding a meal left to be explored to continue to spark the imaginations of all those who partake.

So here I’ll continue to try to do just that. Trying to play my part in making food a personal, fun experience that all can enjoy. Hopefully you’ll join in on this journey, one fried chicken filled Tesla frunk at a time.