Ella Scott
The Met Gala is meticulously themed from top to bottom: from outfits to the guest list and even the food offerings have to go through a rigorous approval process before they’re given the green light.
On Monday night (4 May), hundreds of the globe’s most famous faces will descend on The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan, New York, to celebrate the opening of its annual fashion exhibition.
Beyoncé, Venus Williams and Nicole Kidman have been tapped to co-chair the 2026 Met Gala, with Anna Wintour serving as lead chairperson.
Last year, attendees were treated to a sit-down meal by 36-year-old chef Kwame Onwuachi, whose dishes drew on Jamaican, Louisiana, and Nigerian influences to fit the Superfine: Tailoring Black Style theme.
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In 2024, caterer Olivier Cheng was in charge of bringing the Sleeping Beauty: Reawakening Fashion theme to life, opting to serve up ‘romantic and ethereal’ dishes teaming with seasonal ingredients.
And the year before, guests were actually given a can of Diet Coca-Cola, a nod to late designer Karl Lagerfeld.
For the 2026 edition, which will take place in the Great Hall and near the Temple of Dendur, chefs will need to adhere to Wintour’s ‘Costume Art’ theme.
And while the menu is yet to be revealed, the global chief content officer and artistic director at Condé Nast has previously detailed some items that we are unlikely to ever see on celebrities’ plates.
According to an interview with Today’s Jenna Bush Hager, the media mogul does not permit chives, onions, or garlic to be served.
“Well, those are three things I’m not particularly fond of,” she claimed.
Katy Perry once honoured Wintour’s aversion to onions by donning a burger suit to the Met Gala, sans pickles.
Two other food items are effectively ‘banned’ from being served - meaning you will not see them on the ‘Costume Art’ plates this year.
According to a Vogue employee in 2016, the mother-of-one really isn’t keen on herbs or bruschetta.
We can guess that the former is probably not permitted because it can easily get stuck in guest’s teeth.
And with so many photographers lurking around the dancefloor, the last thing you want is for a little bit of parsley to be wedged between your nashers.
As bruschetta is notoriously messy, it’s understandable why Wintour would ban it from the event.
Because let’s be honest - nobody wants to be caught dropping food on their £100,000 rental gown, do they?
According to Melissa King, one of the three chefs behind the 2022 event, it’s difficult to get dishes approved by Wintour.
“Anna Wintour is certainly involved every step of the way,” she informed The Cut.
“There’s a pass-off of the menu and several tastings, as well as quick checks about what’s working and what’s not, then we tweak it from there.
“It took a few months, and that’s just me speaking on my one dish.”