Note: A special thanks to Beeple Studios for sharing most of the photos in this article. The only one taken by us is the shot of the noodles. We were so busy, we forgot to get food shots.
We started prepping the Sunday before the event and worked 8-10 hours a day through the next Friday: 2000+ handmade empanadas, 1000+ skewers of marinated chicken, 90+ lbs of hand sliced pork loin and over 15 large hotel pans of drunken noodles with vegetables. Sixty pounds of braised beef cooked for eight hours and 75 pounds of vegetables chopped and cooked before assembling empanadas or making noodles. We also took into account that we needed to offer vegan and vegetarian options because with a crowd that large, there will always be requests. A big job even for a catering company. But funny enough, we don’t own a catering company.
My husband and I own a personal chef business and bakery. We are the only two employees for the company, although we regularly employ contract staff depending on events. So how did we end up prepping and cooking for a gig to feed over 2000 people?
It all started a couple of years ago when we accepted a gig to cook for Beeple Studios. Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, owns the digital art gallery housed in a warehouse. If you don’t know his story, Beeple sold one piece of art in 2021 for over $69 million. The now famous Christie’s bid started at $100. The 319 megabyte NFT purchased by Vignesh Sundaresan is comprised of 500 daily art posts by Beeple, mostly satirical and dystopian in theme. Prior to that purchase, Beeple worked as a graphic designer. Now he’s considered the world’s leading NFT artist and still posts his art daily as @beeplecrap on Instagram.
But we didn’t know any of this two years ago. We just knew a local artist was throwing a huge party in his studio for 300-500 people. We needed the work, so we took the job. We had no idea that Beeple was a generous, albeit wealthy and famous artist.
Several times a year, Beeple Studios throws a huge community art event, of varying themes, inviting local artists to apply to participate. The attendees include any adult who RSVPs on the website, and shows up. The food and alcohol are free. The emphasis is on the artists and sharing local artists with the community. From the beginning, the atmosphere is one of celebration. It’s an amazing creative scene to experience even if you only appreciate art from afar. Beeple Studios also allows artists to submit work to be displayed in the studio.
We laugh now about how huge that first event felt to us. With every event, the numbers grow. This last one, although insane and so much work, ended up being one of my favorites. And as I’m writing this, we received the final count, shared with my husband by Beeple himself, of people who actually attended - over 2300.
We started out short staffed, which isn’t common for us. We often have gig workers give us their info because they want to work with us. We pay well, share all tips and treat our contract folks the way we want to be treated. But my normal assistant was off visiting friends in Ireland and a handful of our regular staff live together and had a personal event to attend. Rather than four or five people helping us prep, we had one friend, Leah (of Beware Of Artists), who could give us about eight hours. That meant six days of prep with just my husband and myself, mostly working 12-14 hour days. But we went into the event fully prepped - already exhausted, but ready to roll.
The cooking and food staging area for the events have to be set up each time in one of the rooms off the main warehouse studio. Rented warmers and an industrial oven, along with temporary tables, and permanent two door glass front fridges provide storage, cooking and work space, including the production line and expediting. With this event, we also had a grill station outside. Our grill guy, John, spent six hours grilling chicken skewers and never actually caught up. But he never stopped smiling.
Our other contract staff includes another personal chef and good friend, Michele Kern along with Leah, of the aforementioned prep work, and Becky, an assistant we often hire and a great cook in her own right. Normally, we would’ve had at least six more people, but two canceled at the last minute and several couldn’t work for previously mentioned reasons. So, we recruited help among the servers and they all jumped in enthusiastically. Not one of them complained and most stuck it out until the end. Amazingly, morale stayed high and everyone worked so hard to make it happen. One young man did ask my husband, at a crazy point in the event, “Chef, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” We all laughed, even my husband although he told me later that he didn’t know who said it because he was so deep in the weeds.
Beeple Studios provides the food passers and clearers, so we just load trays and send them out. There are also a few food tables we try to keep loaded. The key word here is “try”. With thousands of people, most of the trays are empty before our staff can get to the tables. For this event, we tried to use some of the tallest guys and had them carry half sheet pans over their heads. But even as they set the trays down on the table to unload, folks were grabbing food. It only became crazier as people took advantage of free adult beverages.
Guests arrived at 7 and stuck around until midnight. And we serve food right up until the end. During that five hours, we don’t stop. Even if we run out of a dish, as we did with the drunken noodles, my chef husband always has another idea to throw together and keep the food pumping out. At a past event, we literally served macaroni and cheese on sweet rolls, and folks gobbled them up. By the end of the night, they’re usually up for almost anything.
My husband and I usually arrive around 3:30 along with one helper to set up and start cooking. We decided after this event, we may need to arrive a couple hours earlier. People used to come in a hundred or so at a time. Now, hundreds wait outside excitedly for the doors to open.
So, why was this event one of my favorites? I didn’t expect it to be because I didn’t bake for it, as I often do. The theme was street art with huge set ups for local artists to create murals using all variety of mediums. One room was set up with creative tools and large wall coverings so anyone could write or draw what they want. Other guest artists were creating their own master pieces around the warehouse. Beeple always sponsors contests and one or more artists walk away with cash prizes. But the pièce de résistance for this event was the special guest artist: Shepard Fairey (links to his site at the end of this article). I am a huge fan of Shepard Fairey’s because of his heart for resistance and his ability to provoke such emotional responses with his art. I’m all about humanity and when I look at his art, I feel like he’s a kindred spirit in that way. He’s also from our city so that local connection made this event even more special.
At one point I was talking with Shepard Fairey, with Beeple standing a few feet away, and I just felt overwhelmed by the imagination and artistry that these two men contribute to the world. Both men, in very different ways, express so much of what I feel about our current political climate in the U.S. Fairey has been around longer than Beeple, and many folks know him for his Obama Hope poster. He recently created an Emmanuel Garcia poster that brought me to tears.
His most recent art, Not a Terrorist, is available on April 9, 2026. It’s simply stunning and for me, heart wrenching.
While I only spoke briefly with him, out of respect for his time, he seemed so authentic and quite humble. He asked my name and I saw him do the same with other people, including Leah, who is an artist herself. I am not one to ogle celebrities or wealthy folks. We’ve had plenty as clients and we’ve cooked for clients with celebrity guests, but Shepard Fairey has gained my respect because of his work, not because of his popularity or wealth. I can say the same of Beeple. Respect. Much respect.
The artist and attendees spent hours exploring art and ideas, creating on the spot and attendees leave at midnight excitedly sharing their experiences with each other. These Beeple events offer such a human experience, and in the middle of the mess that is currently our country, I am greatly encouraged by the interaction and creativity among so many people. I love this opportunity for our local artists to receive recognition and their chance to share their gifts in action.
We arrived home around 2 am after finishing up the gig. The next day, a Sunday, we recovered, watched movies and analyzed the entire week. We do this because we know we can always improve. Every event brings new challenges, and we’re always up for the challenge because it’s one of the best parts of this work we do.
Our normal gigs range from a couple to 100 people. We cook for a lot of vacationing families, locals celebrating special occasions, small weddings and some regulars. Beeple events offer a totally unique opportunity and for that, we are so grateful.
I’ll share more about these events and other fun experiences as personal chefs in my new weekly articles focused on working independently in the food industry.
For more info about Beeple and Shepard Fairey:
Beeple Studio - sign up for email, check out upcoming events, discover places around the U.S. and internationally for his exhibitions, artist sign up to be considered for future events and studio submissions.
Beeple’s art - check out his short films, VJ loops and Everydays.
Shepard Fairey - his art, exhibitions and more at his Obey Giant site.
Thanks for reading! I am grateful to you for giving your time and support. I no longer offer paid subscriptions on Substack because I’m not comfortable with who benefits most from the financial arrangements. However, I do accept gifts through Venmo at BethMH. At this time, I use all financial gifts to help feed folks in my community.
What an event! You always amaze me.