Chain takes a stab at fast food burgers with its latest drop.
What if you think you’re in on the joke and you get murdered anyway? Also, what’s your favorite scary fast food meal?
The answer to the first question might be a bit complicated, but B.J. Novak and chef Tim Hollingsworth’s Chain restaurant pop-up wants to give you an easy answer to the second question.
Chain, a mischief-loving LA-born pop-up that has lovingly reinterpreted iconic dishes from Taco Bell, Chili’s and other chain restaurants, will unveil the Stabby Meal on February 24. The Stabby Meal is a collaboration with Paramount, which is releasing Scream VI in theaters on March 10. So guests at Chain’s West Hollywood house (and “museum of American food culture”) will be able to enjoy “Chain’s Extremely Medium Sized Bone Marrow ChainBurger,” “Throwback Fries” and the hand-held “Woodsboro Orchards Warm Apple Pie.”
Don’t forget that everyone is a suspect when you enjoy the Stabby Meal.
Yes, there’s obvious inspiration from McDonald’s here, and Hollingsworth wants to give people the nostalgic combination of ketchup, mustard, pickles and onions.
“That was the genesis of this,” he says. “How do we make a really good burger with the flavor profile of a McDonald’s burger?”
So the accomplished chef (who runs the kitchen at Otium and was previously chef de cuisine at The French Laundry) has created his own umami-seasoning blend with porcini powder and some salt, pepper, onion, garlic and paprika.
“It’s a seasoning base for the patty that kind of uplifts it,” Hollingsworth says. “It doesn’t take away from anything, but it gives you that je ne sais quoi.”
The thick half-pound patty itself is about 20 percent bone marrow, blended with brisket and dry-aged beef. The poppy-seed bun is a Rockenwagner brioche/potato hybrid that deftly balances the flavors and textures Hollingsworth wants.
Think twice at Chain if somebody says “Meet me in the bathroom.”
Instead of a toy, each meal comes with one of four Scream-themed collectible pins: Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barerra, A Bloody Buck Knife 120 or NYC Subway to Blackmore University. Hollingsworth says he’s excited about this collaboration because Scream’s tongue-in-cheek riffs on the horror-movie genre have similarities to Chain’s perspective on chain restaurants. Another similarity between Scream and Chain that Hollingsworth doesn’t even need to mention: Having the right knife can make a huge difference.
As always, you can check for updates on Instagram and text Chain at 323-310-4642 for a chance to try the Stabby Meal at a house party that will likely bring in assorted food-loving hypebeasts and celebrities. (Guests at Chain events have included Mindy Kaling, John Mayer, Kiernan Shipka, Elizabeth Olsen, Roy Choi and many others.)
And maybe if you’re lucky, or unlucky, depending on how you look at these things, there could be a Ghostface sighting. (Please don’t kill me, Mr. Ghostface. I want to be at the next Chain drop.)