There are theatrical evenings in New York that promise nourishment, and then there are evenings that feel like a communion of taste, emotion, and profound human recognition. “Pop Up Dinner Theater @Barlume Downstairs,” produced by Suite524.org, belongs firmly to the latter category.

Staged in the warm subterranean embrace of Barlume Downstairs, the event fuses four short plays with a four-course culinary progression, all threaded together by the whimsical, metaphysical wanderings of Frank — waiter, guide, philosopher — played by the ineffably charismatic Mateo d’Amato.  

Frank does not simply serve drinks; he serves worlds. When he steps into view, blinking as if reacclimating to this century, he apologizes for being “a little scrambled eggs at the moment,” a confession made even funnier by the sincerity with which Domitrovich delivers it. As Frank recounts his curious past — apprenticing with an Anasazi flute maker, learning Maasai dances, falling in love across eras — he invites the audience to enter a space where time, flavor, and story mingle freely.

The structure, simple on paper, becomes thrilling in execution: each play arrives paired with its own course, and each course deepens the meaning of the play it accompanies. It is dinner as dramaturgy, theater as tasting menu. It’s also great fun!

Course I: Appetizers and Appetites — “The Cowboy”

The evening opens with a spread of blue crab toast, grilled halloumi, and a soppressata skewer, all accompanied by cocktails crafted at Barlume Downstairs. These flavors prepare the palate for the comedic combustion of The Cowboy, written by Michael D. Sharp and performed by a sharply tuned ensemble.

At a cocktail table of Manhattan financiers, Brian Reese transforms himself into the titular Cowboy, an unlikely philosophical catalyst in a conversation otherwise dominated by the sharp-tongued executives — the brilliantly incisive Drew Valins, the luminous Paulina Singer, the versatile Michaela Lind, and the effortlessly magnetic Nikki Valdez.

As the bankers debate cattle markets, acquisitions, and a startlingly specific discourse on beef procurement and processing, the soppressata skewer becomes symbolic—an edible rendering of their tendency to pierce one another’s egos with corporate precision. The grilled halloumi, firm yet tender beneath its char, mirrors the Cowboy himself: warm-hearted, grounded, and entirely uninterested in the relentless striving that defines his tablemates. His monologue about Montana — the crisp air, the cedar-scented woods, the sacred quiet — settles over the audience like a fine mist. The blue crab toast, delicate yet intensely flavored, feels like the perfect culinary echo: a taste of something purer, softer, more vulnerable than the urban bravado surrounding it.

Course II: Spreads and Family Histories — “Peekos at Barlume”

The lights shift, wineglasses refill, and bowls of color arrive: fava bean hummus rich with earthiness, spinach tzatziki cool and refreshing, charred red pepper smoky and vibrant, walnut spread intricate and faintly bitter, and whipped ricotta soft as sighing clouds. These ingredients provide a sensory overture to Sandi Farkas’s poignant play Peekos at Barlume.

Here we meet Harriet, portrayed by the marvelous Sharon Ullrick, who sits armored in martinis and maternal mythologies. Across from her sits her son, Mitchell, played by Drew Valins in a performance beautifully distinct from his earlier one. Their conversation begins with the easy banter of a long-practiced habit but quickly plunges into grief, memory, and the fragile negotiations that define family.

The fava bean hummus becomes a grounding force, much like Harriet’s deep-rooted instincts to protect — and sometimes control — everyone around her. The whipped ricotta reflects Mitchell’s tenderness as he attempts to soften the blow of his news. The charred red pepper, with its smoky edge, mirrors Harriet’s volatility; its burn is the burn of a mother afraid to hear the truth. The walnut spread, layered with faint bitterness, speaks to the lingering sorrow they share. And the spinach tzatziki serves as the calming balm of humor, intermittently saving them from drowning in their own history.

When Mitchell reveals that his father, Harriet’s ex-husband, has died in a plane crash, Harriet’s anguished lament — sharp, holy, heartbreaking — slices through the room with an authenticity that leaves the audience breathless. It is a moment when food, memory, and story intertwine so naturally that one feels the emotional chords resonate across the table.

Course III: Main Courses and Emotional Indulgence — “Fine Dining”

As plates are cleared and anticipation rises, servers bring out the mains: chicken kebab, glistening and fragrant; calamarata, its pasta rings looping in tender spirals; and sirloin frites, indulgent and aromatic, rising from its plate like a culinary monument to pleasure.

This course pairs elegantly with Fine Dining, written by the formidable Eduardo Machado, a playwright whose command of emotional complexity is second to none. In this deliciously chaotic tale, Nikki Valdez, Chris Gray, Michaela Lind, Ellis Charles Hoffmeister, and Paulina Singer play a shifting constellation of ex-lovers who find themselves entangled in a dinner invitation from Paloma, whose glamor and emotional volatility rival the intensity of the sirloin frites before us.

The chicken kebab, with its sharp skewer threading tender pieces, becomes a metaphor for the characters’ emotional piercings — every confession and accusation passing from one to another like heat across a flame. The calamarata, with its spirals tangling into one another, mirrors the looping cycles of desire, jealousy, and self-delusion that define the group’s romantic history. And the sirloin frites, rich and unapologetically decadent, captures Paloma’s essence perfectly: bold, intoxicating, dramatic, and haunted by the fear that everything she treasures might one day slip away.

Machado’s writing balances sweetness with bitterness, creating a feast of humor, delight, and emotional flavors that feels perfectly paired with the course on the table.

Course IV: Dessert and Delicate Truths — “See the Forest”

And then, dessert. A beautifully dusted tiramisu arrives — airy, layered, laced with rum and memory. Its name, meaning “pick me up,” becomes the poetic anchor of the final play, See the Forest, written by and featuring Michael Domitrovich.

Kelsey, played by the magnetic Amelia Gwaltney, opens with irrepressible joy as she recounts a night so wildly passionate she woke up “laughing — and slightly bruised.” Sarah Jordan Hupper, as Anya, responds with anxious restraint, creating a dynamic as layered as the dessert before us. Their dialogue flickers between candid yearning, emotional restlessness, and honest confession — moments as sweet and sharp as spoonfuls of mascarpone and espresso.

Enter Clark, played again with delightful crankiness by Eduardo Machado, who brings the kind of Shavian bluntness that slices through sentimentality. And soon after appears Chris, embodied with flirty brilliance by Ellis Charles Hoffmeister, whose swagger feels like the final dusting of cocoa atop the ensemble.

The tiramisu becomes a metaphor for the evening itself: the layering of emotions; the sweetness and bitterness of human connection; the pleasure of being lifted — even briefly — out of one’s everyday burdens.

Frank returns for one final meditation, reminding us that getting lost is often the only way to be found. His words settle gently into the palate, much like the lingering warmth of dessert.

A Theater of Appetite and Empathy

What Suite524.org accomplishes here is nothing less than a theatrical transformation. Dining becomes listening; listening becomes feeling; feeling becomes connection. This is theater that fills every appetite — sensory, emotional, intellectual — with extraordinary generosity.

It is the kind of experience William Archer would admire for its sincerity, and George Bernard Shaw for its wit and daring. More importantly, it is the kind of experience audiences will carry with them, tasting again in memory long after dessert has been served.

Suite524.org’s 2025–26 season promises more of this kind of theatrical communion — bold new works, immersive environments, and evenings that satisfy every craving for story, sensation, and connection.

A Feast of Souls: “Pop Up Dinner Theater @Barlume Downstairs” by Suite524.org

Presented by Suite524.org

Directed and written by Michael Domitrovich
Venue: Barlume Downstairs
325 W. Broadway, New York, NY 10013
info@barlumenyc.com • (212) 555-0199
Season & Tickets: Suite524.org

Run time is about 2 hours with no intermission.
Some adult language and themes.