Ripe Art Gallery • Huntington, New York • 8 October 2016
As part of The BIG POTATO project at Ripe Art Gallery, Jeffrey Allen Price organized the Potato Masquerade Ball, a formal potato-themed dinner and social event inspired by the legendary potato banquets of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier in eighteenth-century France. Held on October 8, 2016, the event brought together artists, collectors, friends, and members of the public for an evening celebrating the potato’s culinary, historical, and cultural significance.
Drawing inspiration from the famous dinners Parmentier organized to promote the potato throughout France, the event connected contemporary Potatoism to one of the most important moments in potato history. Guests were invited to attend in formal attire or period costume, recalling the gatherings attended by figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Antoine Lavoisier, King Louis XVI, and Marie Antoinette, whose public embrace of the potato helped transform its reputation throughout Europe.
The evening featured a multi-course potato-centered menu prepared by Home Cooked Catering, including potato hors d’oeuvres, specialty potato stations, desserts, music, dancing, and awards. More than a themed dinner, the Potato Masquerade Ball functioned as a living artwork, combining food, performance, historical reenactment, social participation, and celebration into a uniquely immersive Potatoist experience.
Presented in conjunction with The BIG POTATO exhibition, Think Potato Festival V, The BIG POTATO Patch, and a reunion performance by POTATOTRON, the Potato Masquerade Ball demonstrated how food, history, community, and art can converge through a single cultural symbol. The event remains one of the most ambitious and memorable public programs organized by the Think Potato Institute.
→ Event Flyer & Menu (PDF)
Explore Further
→ Think Potato Festival V (2016)
→ POTATOTRON Performance (2016)
→ Open Feast: Potato Potluck (2012)