Since New Year's is a celebration devoid of religious overtones (in
fact, the mandate to enjoy full-scale decadence on December 31 almost
makes it seem like an official pagan holiday), there really are no
rules when setting up themes for your New Year's Eve.  Case in point:
the surrealist Frida Kahlo-themed dinner that's planned at New York's Crema Restaurante.

The
theme made sense to Julieta Ballesteros, owner/executive chef of this
Zagat- and Michelin-rated eatery on 17th Street in Chelsea.  She hails
from Monterrey, Mexico, was trained at New York's French Culinary
Institute, and specializes in fusing traditional Mexican cuisine with
French presentation.  Crema's interior plays with traditional Mexican
colors and textures filtered through a modern New York eye, and the
original paintings on display are custom created for the space by the
celebrated artist and mother of the chef, Del Bosque.

But the
idea for the actual Frida Kahlo dinner is a collaboration with Miguel
Calvo, former owner of legendary New York hotspots Global 33 and 71
Clinton Fresh Foods and a design consultant for Rockwell. Calvo took a
few minutes to answer MOLI's queries about the night.

Crema
has a wonderful chef of Mexican heritage, but a Frida Kahlo-inspired
dinner for New Year's Eve?  How did you come up with the idea?
We're
both Frida fans, and Julieta's mother is an artist as well, so it just
dawned on us and we thought we could have a lot of fun with it. 
Besides, Frida loved food and had her own unique recipes. And since
it's the centennial anniversary of Frida's birth, we thought it would
be a fitting tribute.

You're going to feature dishes inspired by her famous lovers. What can guests expect?

We're
going to attempt to re-create one of Frida's signature dishes, oyster
soup.  It will be dedicated to her Japanese lover, Noguchi, and we'll
use kumimoto oysters.  That will be our Japanese-Mexican dish.  And
then there will also be a Russian-Mexican red dish dedicated to her
lover Trotsky.  Maybe this one will use the molé? Julieta is traveling
back to Mexico for Christmas with her family and will be bringing back
Oaxaca molé for the most authentic flavor.
How will the dinner be
structured: like a dinner party with five courses starting at 10 pm and
ending at midnight?  Will there be a toast or any surprises at midnight?

Well,
there are actually two seatings on the 31st: 7:30 pm for the early
birds and 10 pm for the revelers. There may be more than five courses.
We're not sure yet, but there will be lots and lots of delicious food
and flavors you probably have never had before.  Some of the extras
include having guests actually "paint their dishes" with brushes. We
are interested in presenting and plating the dishes with a surrealist
sensibility; I'm having a lot of fun with this. Tall and wacky! The
decor will include piles of fruit.  If only I had a monkey; maybe we'll
get a stuffed one?  And our party hats will actually be the traditional
white paper chef hats that we will have the guests draw their own
eyebrows or unibrows on.  And last but not least, for the guests at the
10 pm seating, at midnight, we will partake in the Mexican tradition of
eating 12 grapes, one at every stroke of the clock. I think Frida would
really love all this.

If Frida were alive today, what do you imagine she'd be doing for New Year's Eve 2007?

Oh
gosh, well, she'd be celebrating being 100 years old by drinking 100
percent agave tequila, maybe a shot of Crema's house speciality, which
is pineapple infused?  And no doubt she'd be looking for a new lover, a
new conquest and inspiration.  But then again, who knows?  Maybe she'd
be sober and a born-again Christian like Bettie Page!

A
Frida Kahlo Surrealist New Years': Frida Kahlo’s actual recipes
reimagined by Julieta Ballesteros. December 31st at Crema, 111 W. 17th
Street, New York.
Seatings: 7:30 pm, $75  per person, and 10 pm, $130 per person.

Cathay Che is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Travel & Leisure.