In Situ Dreams Up Magritte Cocktail and More for SFMOMA’s Latest Exhibition

Chef Corey Lee’s celebrated restaurant inside SFMOMA, In Situ — which just won a James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant Design — is known for its unique, gallery-inspired recreations of dishes from the world’s best restaurants, credited to their creators and treated as visiting works of art. But for a new SFMOMA exhibition of work by the highly recognizable and popular surrealist Belgian painter René Magritte, the culinary team is taking a new approach, designing a cocktail — and soon a full dish — based on Magritte’s work.

First up is the cocktail, called the Magritte, is modeled on the 1946 painting The Cut-Glass Bath. It’s available for $14 at In Situ for the duration of the Magritte exhibition, The Fifth Season, from May 19 to October 28. A beer-based cocktail, it’s made with saison, bourbon, gentian amaro, lemon juice, and egg whites. The giraffe pattern is made from dried orange rind.

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“We chose to use a traditional Belgian style of beer as a nod to Magritte,” in Situ representative Jasmine Peterlin told Eater SF. “[And] in keeping with our beverage program’s focus on California producers, we selected Local Brewing Co.’s SoMA Sunset saison.”

During July and August, the In Situ team will create a dessert inspired by The Son of Man, Magritte’s famous painting of an apple over a man’s face. That dish is still in development, but will be made with flavors of apple, yuzu, and date. Finally, for the last months of the exhibition, the team will showcase dishes from celebrated Belgian restaurants. Those dishes:

- kerremelkstampers, buttermilk and potato, leek, ash

from Chef Kobe Desramaults of In de Wolf

- salmon, algae, sesame

from Chef Peter Goossens of Hof van Cleve

- scallop carpaccio with oyster gazpacho

from Chef Christophe Hardiquest of Bon Bon

- kohlrabi ravioli, smoked eel, goose liver, smoked eel broth

from Chef Gert De Mangeleer of Hertog Jan

Stay tuned for more on The Son of Man Dish when it arrives: More information on The Fifth Season at SFMOMA is here

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