Keke Palmer gave a glimpse of the Met Gala’s small-portioned vegetarian menu

US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions hearing “An Update from Federal Officials on Efforts to Combat COVID-19�

Keke Palmer was all over the Met Gala, as she was co-host of Vogue’s red carpet live stream. Keke was soooo good at it. She had read her briefing notes, she knew practically everyone there, she knew how to transition between small talk, fashion IDs and real talk, and she made it all look easy. I agree with CB – Keke needs her own talk show, right now (Keke did co-host a GMA spinoff talk show with Michael Strahan and Sara Haines but it was cancelled during the pandemic). Anyway, after busting her ass for hours on the Met Gala carpet, Keke went inside the event. The Met Gala really is a “dinner,” and the hundreds of people in attendance are supposed to receive a multi-course meal. This year, the meal was entirely vegetarian and Keke gave people a glimpse of one of the courses:

US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions hearing “An Update from Federal Officials on Efforts to Combat COVID-19�

That looks okay… for a first course of a five-part meal. But if I paid thousands of dollars for a ticket to an elite event, yeah… I’d want more and I’d want better quality. Keke’s post upset people and there were suggestions that the Met Gala menu was done by the Frye Festival people. Well, the Met Gala chef is clapping back:

The Met Gala chef curator is defending the quality of the food served at the ritzy shindig … this after Keke Palmer posted pics of the grub that seemed reminiscent of the Fyre Festival. Marcus Samuelsson — the restaurateur/chef who helped select the 10 up-and-coming chefs who created the Met Gala menu — tells TMZ … for starters, yes, Keke’s picture is in fact some of what was served at the $30k-$50k per ticket soiree.

As for Keke’s plate, Marcus tells us it was barley topped with roasted mushrooms, tomato salad with corn and zucchini slices. Marcus says food, like anything, is a matter of taste, and it tasted plenty good. Marcus says the 3-course meal was delicious … and the feedback he got has been incredible.

Marcus, in collaboration with Bon Appétit, selected and then challenged 10 NY chefs to create a sustainable, plant-based menu … hence all the fruits and veggies. However … Keke’s pic, which was displaying the entree, had just about everyone talking smack on social media.

[From TMZ]

I’m all for vegetarian menus and vegetarian options, but dang, they really should have a “hungry bitch” option. I feel the same way about the Oscars – the Governors Ball happens right after the Oscars and they serve dinner, and I’m not sure they could get away with this kind of thing, because those people are HANGRY. And yeah, a three-course vegetarian meal with small portions probably isn’t that filling either. Reportedly, the Met Gala menu also had a “watermelon pumpkin salad” (the f–k) and dessert was an apple topped with chocolate mousse. I just… ugh.

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Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty.

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52 Responses to “Keke Palmer gave a glimpse of the Met Gala’s small-portioned vegetarian menu”

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  1. MF1 says:

    Apple topped with chocolate mousse? Nope, that does NOT qualify as dessert.

    • detritus says:

      Just that dish alone begs some questions – Was it baked? Why wasn’t the mousse caramel or cinnamon or something other than chocolate? Did they perch a mousse swirl on a whole apple?

      I dunno, I think mass serving like at a gala is incredibly hard.

      but, way to Streisand yourself dear chef! Just shh and it will go away

    • JRT says:

      +1 An apple topped with mousse is not a dessert.

      They most likely had a chef create it and not a pastry chef that is versed in providing innovative and unique dessert options! This happens constantly with regular chefs thinking ‘I can make desserts,’ and coming out with the most basic crap. The culinary world is a disaster and it’s definitely an ‘old boys club’ even with the new masochistic a-holes.

    • Mina_Esq says:

      If it was baked apple topped with chocolate mousse, then it absolutely qualifies as dessert. I love baked apple desserts, especially if there are walnuts involved. They don’t make you feel gross after you eat them.

  2. Carol says:

    Wow! She looked amazing! I think she was one of the best dressed at the Met. Food looks sad.

  3. lanne says:

    That looks like middle school cafeteria food from Iowa, or some other place in the midwest where seasoning doesn’t exist. (I went to grad school in Iowa so I*’m speaking from experience). It may as well have been slopped onto a tray with a cheap spatula by Marge the Cafeteria Lady. It’s the MET Ball for goodness sake: the presentation should be better than that. Kids eat better at summer camp. That does NOT look appetising, nor does it look flavorful.

    • Z says:

      I live in the Midwest and you don’t know what you are talking about.

      • Mo says:

        Yeah, like what the hell is with the original comment? I was born and raised in Iowa and we had actual home cooked meals everyday in my rural school. I’m guessing you never checked out any local Scandinavian cuisine?

  4. CROOKSANDNANNIES says:

    Agreed, but it’s not like celebrities eat a lot. I can imagine budgeting and being like eh, we might not need to have substantial serving sizes for models and actresses. I’m not saying it’s right though.

  5. girl_ninja says:

    Even with vegetarian meals you can do healthy in abundance. That was not enough food for all night party where folks are moving, shaking and dancing.

  6. sally says:

    Even if that was the starter, this looks so sad.

  7. Noki says:

    To be fair, anyone can make a plate look sloppy and unappetising after playing around with it. She will never get another invite!

    • Lightpurple says:

      Right? That plate has been picked over.

    • Pusspants says:

      I don’t get why people are saying it looks sad. It’s a half-eaten plate of food, which of course will look sad. It’s kinda shitty to knock chef’s right now after the horrible year plus they’ve had during the pandemic. I appreciate that they put together a sustainable menu for this affair.

  8. Mikaela says:

    I know Marcus Samuelsson and his food is incredible. This plate looks like it’s been half eaten so we really can’t judge it 🤷🏽‍♀️

    If it came out that way, I would have some words to say. But I can attest to Marcus’ awesome food.

    • Scal says:

      He’s a Michelin starred chef. His food is amazing.

      That plate looks half eaten and not what came out from the back.

    • Natters says:

      I agree, I met Marcus when he first started out at Aquavit and he is nothing but a perfectionist and incredible chef. Other posts gave a thumbs up to the menu and I appreciate the Met going for a sustainable menu. I always hear anyway the celebrities don’t bother eating because they are comped their tickets.

    • Becks1 says:

      Yeah its half eaten and in poor lighting etc (use portrait mode! lol) so of course it doesn’t look appetizing. But I’m assuming the initial presentation was a lot better.

    • enike says:

      “”This plate looks like it’s been half eaten so we really can’t judge it 🤷🏽‍♀️ “”

      that was my first thought, she took a picture when she finished her meal? like why? From the position of the knife and fork its clear she is done eating.

      If she didnt like – well, personal taste. But posting a picture of your meal after you finished? just seems unnecessarily petty, imho

  9. Eurydice says:

    Well, looking at the plate and fork, it looks like she already had eaten half of it before she took the pic. But it doesn’t look all that appetizing, or like an entrée.

  10. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    This is THE MET GALA. People spend hundreds of thousands on costumes. There’s a THEME. The dinner should reflect everything about the evening in spectacular fashion. And this fact should’ve been addressed a long time ago. If anything is part of this over the top affair, it needs to be memorable. I think I ate that plate of food this weekend rewatching some series. In bed.

    • zinjazin says:

      Yeah it looks like something youd throw together on a lazy day, with whatever ingredients are in the fridge. The guests must have been disapointed.

  11. Alison says:

    I’d be racing to Burger King after this fiasco! Even vegetarians need protein!

  12. Va Va Kaboom says:

    It would be interesting if this reminded the people in charge that every guest isn’t a vegan or is too busy doing coke in the bathroom to notice the menu. Lots of celebrities talk about how little food is served at these events and that they either bring something themselves or leave starving.

  13. Delphine says:

    The food on that plate is half eaten! There’s still food on the fork and you can tell half the barley is gone. Not fair.

  14. Chaine says:

    Honestly not that unusual for a fundraising dinner. Before the pandemic I usually attended a dozen or so fundraising/charity ball events like this every year and the food is pretty much always sparse and mediocre at best. One time I didn’t get fed at all because despite requesting a vegetarian plate in advance, the kitchen ran out of them before the servers got to my table. So I had donated something like $600 ultimately to sit there and listen to speeches with just my glass of wine and somebody else gave me their bread roll, while everyone else chowed down, and after about another hour twenty I was brought dessert.

  15. Driver8 says:

    I’m more offended by the cutlery. That janky bamboo design went out of style in the early 80s.

  16. AMJ says:

    With 30K per ticket, they should get a Michelin star level menu and one that would reflect the theme. Barley with zucchini, my ass

    • Pusspants says:

      That’s an interesting idea AMJ. I suppose if the theme is about America, a theme-inspired menu would have likely had meat…or a bunch of junk food. 😉
      Though I don’t think that pic she posted is representative of what the food looked like when it came out, it doesn’t seem on-theme. But I wonder if the food is ever on-theme.

    • Sammiches says:

      Marcus is a michelin star chef so…they did

  17. TaraBest says:

    As a vegetarian of 18 years I can say, there are plenty better desserts than an apple with chocolate mousse!!!

  18. Athena says:

    It looks like a vegetarian meal prepared by a non vegetarian.

    • Pusspants says:

      I don’t know the stats on chefs that are vegetarian or vegan, but I’m guessing it’s low. But if you are a professional, you should be able to use your creativity and knowledge of food to put together something great. I just don’t know how much of a push there is for chef’s to do non-animal based meals…especially not on the East Coast. Perhaps if this were a similar event at The Getty, the chefs would have had more background in this type of cooking.

  19. ME says:

    You can only imagine the amount of food that gets thrown away at the end of the night at events like these. Most of those celebs probably didn’t touch their plate. It’s so wasteful. Maybe small portions are a better idea anyways.

    • Katherine says:

      Exactly what I was going to say. They probably know from experience no one eats there, so they just made small light portions for people to nibble on. I rarely full-on eat at events, it’s always good to come full in case they serve things I hate and I like only select items served. I’m sure people can survive one poor meal, Jesus. Let’s worry more about what they serve at soup kitchens – people there actually rely on the food there being nutritious.

    • Cate says:

      I was thinking that also. You hear so many stories of people starving themselves on the day of the event to look good in their outfits…seems like many of them would not be eating much until after the gala is over, no?

  20. Jillian says:

    Soooooooo, the vegetarian option at fancy sit down dinners is typically terrible: usually vegan to cover the most ground and a legitimately small amount of food. I’m a lifelong vegetarian who’s terribly fancy, and this is always a thing. Keke was obviously expecting a proper meal, and I’ve learned to eat something ahead of events like this.

  21. Mel says:

    That serving looks about right for an upscale restaurant. Whenever I’m forced to go to the fancier ones, I know that I’ll be hungry by the time I get home. I’m hoping that apple was baked, the food sounds blah, I think Regina King and Gabrielle Union went for pizza afterwards.

  22. Aimee says:

    We know some of these people don’t eat but you know there were some burgers being chomped on at the after parties.

  23. Premadonna says:

    Keke knocked it out of the park with her interviewing skills AND looked AMAZING doing it. (I freaking love LOVE her dress). Every outlet that reported on the Met Gala has sung her praises, I have no doubt that big things are in store for Keke. Working a red carpet like that, instinctively knowing how to interact with this celebrity vs. that celebrity, getting the info we want without coming off as intrusive etc etc….it is INCREDIBLY difficult but Keke made it look easy.

  24. Cmehe says:

    I had this exact vegetarian option on my wedding menu four years ago… it is not innovative. I’m a vegetarian and I was disappointed in mine! I often am at any events.

  25. Tiffany says:

    I thought Keke was joking with the pic. Still do.
    *shrugs*

    • BothSidesNow says:

      Me too @ Tiffany, as she stated at the bottom, just playin’. I don’t think that there was any ill will on her posting.

      She does look stunning!!!

    • MissMarirose says:

      She was obviously joking. Her caption literally says, “I’m just playin.”
      I can’t believe anyone took this seriously. C’mon.

      • enike says:

        “”She was obviously joking. Her caption literally says, “I’m just playin.””

        I mean to take a picture with half-eaten food may be a bit offending to the chefs who prepared the food.
        I dont know how she tought its a good idea. What was her aim with it?
        I would be very upset if i been the chef and I hope they will post pictures when the whole buffet/meal is displayed, not Keke´s waste.

        She looks stunning

  26. susan says:

    awe, c’mon…..it’s not like people go to events like this for the FOOD, even if it is done by Marcus Samuelsson!

    Someone-IIRC it was Nicole Kidman- was reportedly getting colonics and drinking lemon water for days before the event to look as good as possible in her dress. I’m sure that’s a widespread practice. And most of the attendees don’t want to take a chance of spilling something on their clothes before being photographed!

  27. why says:

    I dont think anyone said his foods taste bad tho
    the issue was with portion right?
    it may taste out of this world good but we all know most fancy restaurants’ portion is small