300seats, the creative startup, is hosting its third event this upcoming weekend, September 16-18: Baton Rouge’s first pop-up restaurant. To be held near the main courtyard in Perkins Rowe, the event will feature three themed seatings, with fare ranging from South American/Andean cuisine, contemporary Italian, and NYC-inspired fare. Rumor has it the BR symphony is playing and that the organizers have rounded up a great team of chefs including a 13 yr old wunderkind chef.
Haven’t heard of 300seats yet? Its current iteration is a creative pop-up event concept, bringing a taste of New York style to south Louisiana. Designed to inspire, its long-term goal is to host a permanent independent art theater and creation space. For now, though, it’s pushing the envelope just fine thank you very much. Novel? Absolutely. Thought-provoking? Always. Read on to learn more about this team’s innovative approach.
Its first event was held June 11 when 300seats aired the critically acclaimed film, Gun Hill Road, a 2011 Sundance Film Festival premier, along with the film short, Down This Road, a 2010 Tribeca Film Festival favorite.
Next up? A social revolution.
On the eve of an outbreak of conflict between Israel and Palestine, 300seats kicked off a #socialREVOLUTION of its own in Baton Rouge, taking the form of food, film, and intellectual stimulation. Hosted on Thursday, August 18 at the City Club in downtown Baton Rouge, 300seats delivered an evening that explored the intersection of society and social media, set in the context of religion and revolutions.
Prior to the event, Manny Valencia, founder of 300seats, and one of the panelists, Giles Whiting, Executive VP and COO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, went on NPR to talk about the Arab Spring. Their interview can be heard here.
The evening of the event, attendees watched the Oscar award-winning independent short film “West Bank Story,” which portrayed a humorous look at Arab and Israeli relations. After the film, Farah Gheith, a local Palestinian student, shared a story of modernity and personal freedom. Saiward Pharr Hromadka, NPR/WRKF radio veteran, moderated a panel discussion that explored how social media has sparked revolutions and new democracies in the Middle East and north Africa. Joining Giles Whiting on the panel were Rabbi Barry Weinstein of Temple Shalom in Lafayette, LA; Dr. Abu Jamal of Southern University; and Miriam Overton, philosophy and religious studies scholar and instructor at LSU.
A revolution? You bet. Cordell Key, founding partner of Green Monday, said, “The event was fantastic. At one point, it felt like I was not in Baton Rouge.”
Whoa. We’ll let you mull that one over.
Tickets to this weekend’s pop-up restaurant event can be found at the 300seats website.