The NYC Artist Sculpting Mini Meals Of People’s Quarantine Cravings
Susan Alexandra can’t cook you a steak dinner, but she can certainly bake you a miniature one out of clay.
By Jessie Schiewe
One of Susan Alexandra’s mini meals, featuring a dish of shrimp scampi. (Susan Alexandra)
What was the last really good meal you had before quarantine began? Can you even remember the days when beans, pasta, and rice weren’t a part of your daily diet?
Susan Alexandra can. The week before Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a shelter-in-place order for New York City in mid-March, the artist — who makes colorful, sparkly jewelry and accessories for her eponymous online shop — was in Mexico, vacationing on a car-free, flamingo-dense island off the Yucatan peninsula called Holbox.
There, Alexandra dined on fresh ceviche and grilled fish, and stayed hydrated with zesty, salt-rimmed micheladas. Pretty much everything she ate on the island was pure bliss. Even the tortilla chips tasted like heaven.
But that was weeks ago, or, if you do the math, almost 100 meals ago. Since then, Alexandra — and her stomach — have managed to adapt to quarantine life, eating more humble and certainly less fresh meals. But the cravings do hit her every now and then.
“I’ve always been infatuated with and devoted to food,” she said of her gourmand ways.
Even some of the products in her store reflect her unyielding love for the yummier pleasures in life, like these shrimp cocktail earrings or this fruit salad necklace.
With COVID-19-induced food cravings on the rise — not just for Alexandra, but for all of us — she saw an opportunity to add another culinary creation to her shop: custom mini meals.
Now, those missing a particular dish, or even a menu item from a specific restaurant, can order a miniature, clay version of it.
From tiny baked potatoes topped with crème fraîche and caviar to rare filet mignons paired with sides of mashed potatoes and peas — whatever you are craving, Alexandra will make it.
It won’t be edible, but it will certainly whet your appetite and give you something to look forward to when this quarantine is finally lifted.
Plus, proceeds for each $67 mini meal go to No Kid Hungry, a nonprofit that works to ensure free meals for school children.
So who’s been ordering these mini meals? And, more importantly, what foods have they been requesting? OK Whatever spoke with Alexandra over email about her newest products and why a teeny-tiny bowl of spaghetti can sometimes make all the difference — even if you can’t actually eat it.
Your usual focus is on making jewelry and purses. What was the impetus to change direction and create these mini meals?
My sweet neighbor dropped off a slice of chess pie with a big heap of whipped cream. To thank her, I made a mini version and I loved making it so much that this project evolved.
A miniature bagel spread, featuring lox, capers, tomatoes, red onion, a lemon wedge, and a pot of cream cheese. (SA)
What have you been eating while in quarantine?
Lots and lots of chickpea pasta and rice. I’m really looking for other alternatives but falling short.
What mini meal requests have you received thus far from customers?
Surprisingly, lots of requests for shrimp and grits. Also, several requests for shrimp cocktail, oysters, pastrami sandwiches from Katz’s Delicatessen, matzo ball soup, and an entire meal from Sqirl in Los Angeles.
In real life, could you make these meals yourself? Like with real food?
I'm an intuitive chef, but I refuse to follow recipes. So, it's not that I can't make the foods I'm miniaturizing — I just won’t.
A complete miniature meal of rib-eye steak, pees, baked potato, and a bread roll with butter. (SA)
What kind of emotional or psychological benefits do you think these mini meals can provide for someone?
They are so stinking cute. I'm no scientist but cute things have many medicinal and therapeutic benefits.
Since eating them is out of the question, what should one do with a mini meal of their quarantine craving?
Mine are currently sitting on a window sill, but I sprinkle my tchotchkes throughout the house in unexpected places, too, like in bookshelves, medicine cabinets, by the bedside. Really, you should put them anywhere you need a little ocular pick-me-up!
JESSIE SCHIEWE IS THE EDITOR OF OK WHATEVER. SHE BELIEVES IN MERMAIDS AND THRIFT SHOPS FOR EXERCISE.
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