I stumbled upon RICE, an art collective and curated meal series that celebrates South Asian cuisine, thanks to the Instagram algorithm. Intrigued by their goal to blend food with poetry, film, and performance, I reached out to RICE cofounder Ankit Khadgi, whom I had seen recently at an exhibition on Chicago’s queer South Asian community. A few weeks later, I found myself in Hyde Park for RICE’s inaugural meal.
The cozy apartment where the meal took place instantly made me feel at home. As guests arrived, we were welcomed with a unique concoction of rice water and green tea. The theme of the evening was “Matamaal,” meaning “grandmother’s house” in Kashmiri, and each dish prepared by the collective members was inspired by memories of their grandmothers’ cooking.
One dish that stood out was aloo tama, an indigenous Newa dish made with potatoes, bamboo shoots, and black-eyed peas. Khadgi shared that he had to use canned bamboo shoots from a local store, as the fresh ones are not readily available in the U.S. This sparked a conversation about how recipes and stories behind food change as they move across cultures.
RICE was founded by Khadgi, Abyad, Vohra, and Anwar, who met during their graduate studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Their goal is to bring people together through food and share the diverse culinary cultures of South Asia. The collective’s meals are not about restaurant-quality food but about creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere reminiscent of home-cooked meals.
At their second meal, the star dish was chicken and potato biryani, chosen for its ability to transcend borders and bring people together. The evening also included short films from the collective members that reflected on crossing cultural and political boundaries. Through their fusion of food, art, and poetry, RICE aims to challenge the limitations traditional arts institutions place around food.
As RICE prepares for their upcoming dinner with the theme “Michigama,” they invite anyone to attend and experience the spiritual connection to Lake Michigan through food and art. Anwar hopes that RICE will become a space for building community and connections in Chicago, reminiscent of the sense of community she felt in her native Pakistan.
“When we invite people into our home,” says Anwar, “it means we have invited them into our hearts.”
