A restaurant inspired by Netflix’s Orange is the New Black opened this week as part of a publicity stunt that includes Litchfield-inspired gourmet prison food dreamed up by celebrity chef Bjorn Shen.
The OverEasy Singapore diner, which normally serves up American-inspired cuisine, has been transformed into a pop-up restaurant dubbed Litchfield Penitentiary Cafeteria offering gourmet prison food, says their website.
“Welcome to the Litchfield Penitentiary Cafeteria, where the bad (but totally innocent) women of Orange is the New Black congregate to eat, hang and get mouthy.”
For two days this week, June 16 and 17, the diner will be serving totally free food inspired by Red and Gloria’s cooking, but don’t expect this to be dry, tasteless prison food.
The Litchfield Cafeteria will be serving up gourmet cuisine based on the controversial prison dish Nutraloaf. Nutraloaf is a loaf made from a three-course meal that’s made into a paste and then baked, Shen told Mashable .
“Since this is not real prison, I’ve made this dish look and feel like a Nutraloaf, but taste much better. Mine’s made of mushrooms, cheddar, quinoa, pumpkin and nori.
Although it doesn’t sound that appetizing, Shen assures it will taste great; the dish also comes with a corn-inspired appetizer and a white chocolate and coconut-based pudding with almond crumble dubbed “gruel” by the chef.
To complete the immersive jail experience, the gourmet prison food is served on a simple plastic tray and comes with all the pipe flavored tap water you can drink, but to avoid prison fights, utensils may not be available.
The pop-up diner, inspired by the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black, is another pop-culture-themed restaurant following on the heels of the Saved By The Bell restaurant in Chicago. There’s also a Titanic- themed diner in Los Angeles named Café Jack and a Beetlejuice bar in New York along with a Doctor Who- based café dubbed The Pandorica.
There’s bad news for fans hoping to try a bite of Litchfield-inspired food, however; the diner is all booked up, but walk-ins may be available, although you’ll have to fly to Singapore to find out, according to their website.
“Come meet your fellow inmates, wait in line and stay hydrated with a tall plastic cup of our refreshing house beverage: water. The lunch-mates you’ll make here can make or break your stay, so choose your seat wisely. Oh, and don’t eat the pudding.”
The hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black debuts its fourth season this Friday and fans can’t wait.
The series begins right where the show last left off: Litchfield prison has been privatized and the parent corporation is cutting the already lean budget by hiring inexperienced guards. When we last saw our favorite inmates, they were watching a busload of new prisoners arrive, and showrunner Jenji Kohan told iDigitalTimes the show dives right into the action.
“We start with political agendas, the corporatization of the prison, the stratification of people into their little mosaic groups. We want it to be a surprise, but [you can expect] all the fun stuff like race and hate and some things from current events that we wanted to filter through our lens.”
How Well Do You Remember Season 3 Of “Orange Is The New Black”? https://t.co/ofxh20e1YG
— BuzzFeed Quiz (@BuzzFeedQuiz) June 16, 2016
The Litchfield Cafeteria gourmet prison menu was designed by maverick restaurateur chef Bjorn Shen who can normally be found serving up Mediterranean dishes at his Artichoke restaurant. The celebrity chef also just opened his new restaurant Bird-Bird, a Thai-style chicken eatery.
What do you think? Would you eat at the Orange is the New Black- inspired Litchfield Penitentiary Cafeteria?
[Photo credit: Orange is the New Black Season 4 teaser screenshot.]
