Met Gala chef defends menu after Keke Palmer's viral food picture leads to hilarious 'Fyre Fest' comparisons

Keke Palmer recently took the internet by storm after posting a picture of her dinner from the Met Gala 2021. The Scream actress took to Instagram to share a photo of her meal from the star-studded night, with a humorous caption that read:

“This is why they don’t show y’all the food. I’m just playinnnn!”

The first-time Met Gala attendee and red carpet host also posted a picture on Twitter saying, “the menu chile.” Keke Palmer’s dinner image included a small portion of barley with mushrooms, corn, tomatoes, and zucchinis.

The photo went viral immediately, with social media users hilariously mocking the menu of the lavish $30,000 ticketed event. It also led to several people comparing the Met Gala food to the infamous sandwich from the controversial Fyre Fest.

In 2017, rapper Ja Rule and con artist Billy McFarland organized the Fyre Festival with tickets ranging between $900 to $400,000. Guests were reportedly expecting a gourmet menu but were served two slices of bread, cheese, and salad for dinner.

The luxury music festival's organizers were heavily trolled after a photo of the cheese sandwich surfaced online. Keke Palmer’s food picture from this year’s Met Gala reminded people of the appalling menu from years ago:

However, Met Gala chef Marcus Samuelsson defended the menu for the event, stating that Keke Palmer’s dinner photo was part of the entire three-course meal for the night.

He told TMZ that food is mainly associated with taste and stated that the Met Gala menu tasted “plenty good.” He also said that he received positive feedback from guests and was assured that the cuisine was well-received.

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Twitter reacts to Keke Palmer's dinner photo from Met Gala 2021

Twitter trolls Met Gala cuisine after Keke Palmer's food photo (Image via Getty Images and Twitter/Keke Palmer)

The Met Gala is undoubtedly one of the biggest social events in the world. Every year numerous celebrities from across the globe gather at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to participate in the grand fashion event.

Hosted by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, the Met Gala 2021 was a highly anticipated affair after being postponed last year due to COVID-19. Like every year, the prominent fundraiser left Twitter abuzz for several days.

Surprisingly, this year's dinner menu from the event garnered as much attention as the stars in attendance after Keke Palmer’s food photo went viral online.

The culinary team at the Met Gala 2021 presented a sustainable plant-based menu in line with the theme “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.” Chef Samuelsson collaborated with Bon Appétit and brought together 10 rising chefs from New York to curate the menu.

However, the revelation of the cuisine left the internet far from impressed. Following Palmer’s picture of Met Gala dinner, netizens flocked to Twitter to hilariously troll the menu for the gala:

As reactions continued to pour in online, representatives from Vogue told Page Six that organizers were impressed by this year’s cuisine as it marked the return of New York’s restaurant industry:

“We are so thrilled and grateful to have worked with Marcus Samuelsson on the menu for this year’s Met Gala. The plant-based menu featured recipes from 10 emerging New York-based chefs to celebrate the return of the city’s restaurant industry, which was devastated by the pandemic.”

According to Cosmopolitan, guests were served a salad made with local ingredients in the first course. Meanwhile, the main course consisted of creamy barley with corn, pickled turnips, and roasted maitake mushrooms. The cuisine was complete with apple mousse and calvados glazed apple confit.