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Inside Tyra Banks and Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s 10-Course Drive-Thru Dinner

Marc Malkin and Angelique Jackson
·3 min read

Tyra Banks and Jesse Tyler Ferguson weren’t going to let the pandemic restrictions get in the way of enjoying a night out with good food.

Sure, they could have gone to a restaurant that offers outdoor seating, but instead, the two were among the many people who had dinner on Thursday at The Resy Drive Thru, a 10—course tasting menu featuring some of Los Angeles’ top chefs, including Nancy Silverton of Chi Spacca and Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Jon & Vinny’s.

The gastro event took place over two nights in the parking lot of the Hollywood Palladium. Attendants greeted each car (there was a total of 600 cars over the two nights) with a temperature check along with a bottle of hand sanitizer and face masks from Los Angeles-based Hedley & Bennett.

The complete experience took about 45 minutes and included a server in a Resy t-shirt and face shied delivering each dish along with water or a watermelon mocktail. Dinner began with spicy deviled eggs with rice cracklings by chef Keith Corbin from Alta Adams and betel leaf with tamarind braised coconut, lime leaf and smoked trout roe from chef Mei Lin of Nightshade. The last dish was dessert featuring a ricotta cake donut with coriander brittle, lemon curd and strawberries (Curtis Stone of Gwen) and a houjicha caramel and ganache tart and apple cider pate de fruit cubes (Jen Yee, Nick Montgomery and Akira Akuto of Konbi).

Other chefs represented included Kris Yenbamroong (Night + Market), “Top Chef” star Nyesha Arrington, Spank & News (Trap Kitchen) and Chad and Chase Valencia (Lasa).

The two-night event, which was presented by American Express Gold Card, also offered a smidge of entertainment—a five-person roller-skating group whizzing around with a flashlight, music being playing on a portable speaker and a mirrored disco ball.

Lovecraft County Season Finale Screening

The journey through HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” is coming to an end, but not before the network hosted an exclusive 1950s-inspired drive-in screening of the show’s season finale on Thursday night.

HBO transported guests back to the 1950s for the special presentation, at the Paramount Drive-In in Paramount, Calif. The production set the mood for the sci-fi, adventure series with retro billboards and marquees with messages like, “Getting here is easy; Leaving is hard.”

As guests drove to their way to their parking spots (which were marked six-feet apart in adherence with COVID-19 protocols), the kitsch continued. Costumed window-washers cleared off each driver’s windshield so they’d have a perfect view of the screen and so that a camera crew could pose for a photo with one of the show‘s monsters superimposed around them.

Guests were gifted a branded metal lunchbox filled with popcorn, cookies, an illustrated bandana and a branded bottle opener, all of which were sourced from Black-owned businesses. Audio for the episode was available on a custom radio station, which played 50s tunes and Lovecraft-inspired radio spots, while ads for the Lovecraft Country pet shop and a soda with the slogan “America Loves The Taste of Terror” popped up on screen.

When it was time for the sneak preview screening, there were no remarks from cast or crew before the show began. But on hand for the celebration were series creator Misha Green; stars Jurnee Smollett, Wunmi Mosaku and Jada Harris; episode 4 director Victoria Mahoney and Ava DuVernay, who posted selfies on social media, posing while wearing their masks.

View this post on Instagram

#LovecraftCountry finale is going to keep me up all night. I'm not joking, when you see it Sunday–you'll understand. Halfway through the episode, I confessed to @ava, I was really afraid of some of the stuff happening. Ava said, "It's OK Vic, it's only make believe, Misha (@mishatrillxxl) made it up." What a treat to roll thru an old timey drive in, on an 80° night, tune the car radio & travel with this talented team. Brava, One & All. XV Hashtag: #ScaredtyPants

A post shared by Victoria Mahoney (@victoriamahoney) on Oct 15, 2020 at 10:57pm PDT

As guests left the screening, costumed characters yelled warnings to the passing cars — “You’re not safe here” and “Leave, we can’t protect you” — teasing that the television terrors might follow guests home.

The season finale of “Lovecraft Country” airs Oct. 18 on HBO.

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