Full Circle Meal 2019: The Beginnings (Part III)
While the meal proper began at the all-new Promise Ridge Pavilion overlooking the windingly verdant Appalachian Trail, the Full Circle Meal really begins its life well before anybody even sets foot at the Stroudsburg, PA location.
The Invitation
By now it’s no secret that Alisa Tongg and her Bacon & Lox Society put an incredible amount of planning and care into just about every aspect of their annual event, from the music and the food, to the ambience, and beyond. For the Society, the Full Circle Meal starts months before the first ankle is even so much as splashed with creek water.
For the guests, though, the event begins to take shape even before they arrive, as well. Its inception comes from something that sets the mood and tone for what’s to come in ways that few things can, which is what makes it so important: Every year, the Full Circle Meal truly begins with the invitation.
For the second year in a row, Nicole Hutnyk and the Rabbit Rabbit Crew took lead in designing and creating the invitation. And for the second year in a row, it’s safe to say they pretty much knocked it out of the park.
Guests were heralded to the event by the Rabbit Rabbit Crew’s line-drawing motif, which was splashed with pockets of pastel color, and eye catching lithographic effect added to the brand new Bacon & Lox Society logo, a winged ampersand, for that extra little bit of tangibility and flavor. What really stood out about this year’s invitation, though, was the way it subtly introduced the themes of the event to come, creating a paradigm by which even the RSVP would become an act of conscious cooperation, creativity, and gratitude.
In keeping with this year’s theme of those small, brave actions of creativity (whose impact is often bigger and wider-reaching than we even realize), each guest was asked to provide, along with their RSVP, a small note of gratitude or appreciation — their own account of a ripple that they had come into contact with, at one point or another. Didn’t even have to have anything to do with the RSVP, at all: All guests had to do was acknowledge someone whose ripple had positively impacted their lives, in one way or another.
And the Full Circle Meal was officially on its way!
Introductions and Ice Breakers
By the time everyone finally made their way to Promise Ridge, everything was ready to go in the highest of style, starting with an hour or so of icebreaker activities, and a cocktail station where guests could mix drinks and company at the very same time.
If you’ve never been, Promise Ridge is certainly something to behold. Perched high above the Appalachian Trail and overlooking the Cherry Valley, the ridge features a sweeping view bracked with trees, and lit luminously by hanging lights. 2019 would see the debut of the brand new pavilion, having been built under the guidance and craftsmanship of master builder Will Croasdale of Abundat Inc. The Full Circle Meal would be the first event in the newly-polished location, featuring concrete flooring etched with a continuation of the area’s breathtaking mountain view, which Alisa and Will filled using a gold metallic epoxy in a tribute to kintsugi, the Japanese art of “golden repair.”
As they arrived, guests made their way to the new overlook Pavilion, where they were greeted by the evening’s first round of activities.
Atomic Cocktails and the Great Seed Bomb
One of the most captivating things about the Bacon & Lox Society is the way they manage to bridge the gap between tradition and the unexpected. Almost everything Alisa and her crew of creative collaborators do is bound, in one way or another, to tradition. And yet, the Society seems to insist upon approaching these traditions from the most delightfully unexpected angles possible.
Central to this process is an important idea Alisa brings to the planning process preceding each and every event: The idea isn’t just to create something guests will enjoy, but to go well beyond the simple hope for a good time spent with friends and loved ones. Instead, Alisa sets her sights on creating a way to create, so to speak. Her creations exist to beget further creation, in a way that truly embodies the “ripple” effect that wound up becoming such a central motif in 2019’s Full Circle Meal.
One of those ripples took the form of something called The Great Seed Bomb, conceived and created by Ken Jones Jr. of This Beautiful Life:
We fostered an environment of play and connection through making seed bombs! We supplied everyone with locally-sourced clay, wildflower seeds, and compost. The act of gathering one’s supplies, preparing a creation, and then being able to spread beauty by tossing the seed bomb into a dull corner of one’s garden or an abandoned city lot was, to us, a metaphor for the act of creation and how our art leaves our studios and goes out into the world for a life all its own.
Guests mixed and mingled as they created their custom seed bombs, with an interesting addition contributed from the property of the aforementioned Will Croasdale — a little flight of his Gorgeous Honey samples, waiting at the end of the table to provide guests with a tasty-sweet hypothetical of what their seed bombs might very well become, at some point in the future. It’s almost impossible to miss the inspired symbolism at work here, as guests were allowed to not just create something, but to then step into the future ever so slightly, and sample one of the many potential results of their forward-facing ripples.
And trust us when we say that “tasty” doesn’t even begin to cut it. Not too long ago, Condé Nast’s Traveler Magazine described the Delaware Water Gap as being the most beautiful place in all of Pennsylvania, and it’s not impossible to consider that the honey from Will’s beehives must surely taste every bit as beautiful as the surrounding area looks.
Of course, no soirée is complete without the appropriate amount of libation, which is why Jason Lonigro of Atomic Cocktail Experiences was on-hand to make sure everyone could sip to their heart’s content:
Our vision was to create two cocktail activations meant to reflect the theme and stage of the dinner, in order to provide a communal gathering area for guests to connect with each other. Inspired by complexity through simplicity, the cocktails featured at Promise Ridge added color and tiki-inspired, tropical whimsy.
From the decorative straws and garnishes we sourced, to the vintage Featherstone flamingo and barware set up, the goal was to make our guests realize their reality is better than their dreams. We [also wanted] the drinks to be as environmentally-friendly as possible. From compostable paper straws and cups to making citrus stock with the lemon and lime husks we had left over from juicing.
Guests could pick from hand-crafted syrups, juices, and infusions, which they could mix and match with sous vide-cooked tequila and Mezcal for a series of fun, tasty cocktails.
As guests created the first of their many ripples, sipping drinks and enjoying each other’s company, Alisa was preparing to take the stage on the Promise Ridge’s impressive Infinity Deck, where she would deliver the opening remarks and officially mark the inception of 2019’s annual Full Circle Meal.