The Fire Marshal Crashes This Underground Dallas Dinner Party, But the Fun Won’t Stop

A Wild Foodie Night

By Natalie Gempel // Nov 3, 2017

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Photo by Wendy Teague

The best parties always have a few surprises in store. That said, a surprise visit from the Dallas Fire Marshal will most usually kill the vibe. Luckily, Wildcats, an underground dinner party put on by House of Plates and Café Momentum, was far from usual.

But let’s start from the beginning of the night. It’s 6 pm on the dot. As expected, I receive an email from House of Plates. Subject line: WELCOME TO WILDCATS. The body is a poetic riddle hinting at the location of the party. I have two hours to take my seat.

After dissecting the riddle, I find myself driving to the old Four Corners Brewery past Trinity Groves. I arrive and find nothing. It takes more than a few minutes of wandering to see a flicker of light through a warehouse window and pick up the faint sound of music. I walk up to the unassuming building and find a sign reading “THIS MUST BE THE PLACE.”

House of Plates, an anonymous local blog, has thrown four of these mystery dinners; this was the second time it teamed up with noted restaurant and non-profit Café Momentum.

Like the blog itself, the dinner series combines food, drinks and music. George Kaiho of Jettison crafted a welcome cocktail for the evening; Café Momentum served six adventurous courses, each paired with wine by Orin Swift; and Brooklyn-based DJ Tanlines provided a perfect soundtrack. Photographer and dinner guest Shayna Fontana snapped candids on a disposable camera and passed it around the table.

And then, in between the raw akaushi (Japanese beef, we Googled it at the table) and the coffee-roasted beets with goat ricotta, dinner almost came to an abrupt halt. The Dallas Fire Marshals, infamous buzzkills in the local arts scene, crashed the party. Just when we thought we’d have to miss the PB&J churros, it was announced that dinner would be moved outside.

Holiday Decor

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It took about 15 minutes and a little community effort to reassemble the long table in an adjacent field and bring a speaker outside. House of Plates may not have expected to party al fresco, but these dinner guests were game for another surprise.