Conflict Kitchen
Pittsburgh, Pa.'s Conflict Kitchen (221 Schenley Drive, Pittsburgh, Pa., conflictkitchen.org) is a new kind of "pop-up" dining experience. The restaurant serves only cuisine from countries with which the United States is in conflict, according to their website, and rotates the country of food based on current geopolitical events.
Each iteration of the kitchen is complemented by events, performances and discussions seeking to expand the public's engagement with the culture, politics and issues of the current "conflict" country. Their mission, according to their site, is to use "the social relations of food and economic exchange to engage the general public in discussions about countries, cultures, and people that they might know little about outside of the polarizing rhetoric of governmental politics and the narrow lens of media headlines."
The kitchen is currently focusing on North Korea. In concert with the menu — which features items like Bibimbop (seasoned veggies on rice), Manduguk (vegetable dumpling soup), Haemul Pajeon (seafood and scallion pancake), Kimchi and more — they recently passed out candy on Kim Jong-Un's birthday (Jan. 8), the same free candy the dictator passes out to children under the age of 10 in North Korea on his birthday. Their food wrappers (it's take-out only) also feature interviews with North Korean defectors of varying viewpoints. The website also offers additional educational resources about the country in question.
They have previously featured food from Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba and Venezuela. Upcoming versions will feature food from Palestine/Israel.
Read more on locally based roadtrip planning website Roadtrippers' blog. Or visit conflictkitchen.org.
