Where Food Meets Performance
At the Yale Cabaret, the kitchen is more than a place where meals are made—it’s an essential part of the artistic experience. Under the vision and leadership of our Head Chef, each dish is crafted to complement the energy, themes, and creativity happening onstage. Dinner isn’t just something you enjoy before the show; it’s part of the show itself.
This season, the Yale Cabaret kitchen is embracing “Theatre of the Tummy”: a bold new initiative that transforms our kitchen into a space of artistry, experimentation, and community. Through collaborations with local chefs and nonprofits, we explore diverse cuisines and the stories behind them, celebrating food as a form of original creative expression. Each partnership reflects the abundance at the heart of the Cab: nourishing artists and audiences alike while building connections that extend beyond our walls.
Menu for Cabaret 6: Life is a Drag: The Final Performance of Portia Bella Fontaine
Dinner Reservations
Before every performance, guests are invited to enjoy a full dinner service in the Cabaret. Dinner service begins at 6:30 PM for all 8:00 PM performances, and last call for the kitchen is 7:15 PM. You may continue dining throughout the performance.
Reserve your table here: https://forms.gle/NhneSx1c2EEBrcJBA
Meet the Chef
Parvine grew up in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, a small island in the Southwest Indian Ocean. Parvine speaks three languages-Mauritian Creole, French, and English-and understands Hindi/Urdu, from watching Bollywood movies and Pakistani dramas. She started cooking at the age of fourteen, not knowing how to make anything, but learned from her grandmother and eventually found her own way of mixing ingredients and grew to love making food. Parvine’s cuisine is Mauritian – – Creole, which has influences mainly from India and France. Her specialties include curry with pumpkin and pineapple, her very own tasty invention, and gato arouy – taro fritters she remembers buying from street vendors growing up in Mauritius. Parvine taught enrichment cooking classes in an elementary school in Ithaca and at Cornell University for six years. A few years after moving to New Haven, she started volunteering at Sanctuary Kitchen and eventually became a regular chef there. She believes sharing food forms deep connections with others
This season, Yale Cabaret is proud to partner with Haven’s Harvest, a local nonprofit dedicated to reducing food waste and addressing food insecurity in New Haven. After each weekend of performances, Haven’s Harvest will pick up our leftover food and deliver it directly to local food banks and community organizations.
We’re deeply grateful to Haven’s Harvest for helping us extend the reach of our work beyond theatre into community care and sustainability. When you dine with us at Yale Cabaret, you’re part of that mission too.
Keep an eye out for more exciting chef collaborations throughout the season as we continue to explore the many ways food and theatre intersect!