ROCHESTER — Patrons of an evening showing of “Spirited Away” at Pop’s Art Theater emerged from the theater to a scene that looked like something directly from the screen. A colorful feast of Asian food including a boar’s head, cornish hen, radish stew, sausages, sushi, steamed bao and more lay spread out on the tables and counters in the theater lobby. The feast, prepared by Tiffany Alexandria, food blogger and chef with Choochoo-ca-Chew, was inspired by the colorful spreads of food seen throughout the 2001 Japanese anime movie.
ADVERTISEMENT For Alex Torgimson, who remembers watching the movie as a kid, the spread brought those scenes to life. “I really enjoyed picking out the pieces from the movie and trying them,” Torgimson said. The movie, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli, was an instant hit for children and critics and is considered a Ghibli classic.
Pop’s Art Theater planned a month of screenings of Ghibli films. After Alexandra finished working at Minnesota State Fair, she approached Pop’s owners with a]the idea to bring some of the food from “Spirited Away” to life. “We said ‘yes’ right away,” said Maggie Panetta, co-owner of Pop’s Art Theater.
“It sounded fun,” added Nate Nelson, co-owner of Pop’s Art Theater. “We trust (Alexandria’s) experience and creativity and wanted to expand the types of events we have here,” Panetta said. “But first and foremost, we wanted to do it because it would be fun,” Nelson said.
ADVERTISEMENT The event sold out with more than 50 people attending the screening and feast Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. Alexandria said she also remembers the food in multiple scenes throughout the movie.
“I grew up with this movie and always wanted to eat the food in the movie,” she said. “The whole movie is so beautiful and the food looks so good.” Alexandria aimed to recreate what people see on the screen.
As soon as the film started, Alexandria, Sean Archer, Pop’s staff and other friends and volunteers got to work setting up the feast. Alexandria cooked most of the food herself using 1928’s Kitchen in downtown Rochester. The sushi was provided by Ootori Sushi owned by 1928 owner Sammi Loo.
“You’ve got to have the best do the sushi,” Alexandria said. When the movie ended, patrons emerged from the dark theater to find the theater lobby transformed into a feast hall decorated with lanterns, flowers and candles. Each dish had hand-written cards explaining the origin of the food and the inspiration from the movie that put it on the table.
ADVERTISEMENT “It was more than I expected,” said Pa Chia Xiong, a University of Minnesota, Rochester student. Xiong attended with her friends and fellow students. Xiong said she expected a catered meal or maybe bites of food corresponding to specific scenes throughout the movie.
“This is a real feast, Xiong said. Nelson dressed as No Face, a creepy character in the movie, to help lead people back into the theater after everyone got a first look at the food. At the suggestion of a friend, Alexandria set up the food for pictures and ogling before anyone would have a bite.
After everyone had a chance to see the spread, Xiong was in the front of the serving line. However, she was reluctant to disturb the layout. “Do I just start taking food?” she asked.
Her friends, Liansu Tucker and Jessica Ha, enthusiastically encouraged Xiong to begin serving. “We’re hungry,” they said. ADVERTISEMENT Pop’s Art owners said they plan an annual screening of Ghibli films.
They didn’t rule out feasts as a part of the month-long event in the future the same way live actors are part of the theater’s annual screening of “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” “I love fun and weird things,” Nelson said. “Actors in the theater? Yeah.
Food? Yeah.”.
