BBG celebrated the opening of its new bonsai exhibition, Graceful Perseverance, with a magical evening called Small Scale on Friday, February 11, in the Palm House.
As the evening got under way, guests sipped sake as bonsai curator Julian Velasco spoke about the art of bonsai and the creation of the exhibition. Dinner was an exquisite composition of gemlike vegetarian dishes, created by Chef Makoto Suzuki of Momo Sushi Shack. Each course, presented by Momo Sushi Shack’s Phillip Gilmore, was carefully paired with its own fine sake by expert Hiromi Iouchi. Conversation flowed—and so did the sake—as in between courses, performers from the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York provided an elegant visual tribute to the traditional arts of Japan.
By the end of the evening, DJ Saiko Mikan’s ’60s Japanese pop tunes had the Palm House dance floor filled with a mingling of full-length kimono, long beards, stockinged feet, and seriously loosened ties.
