An edible popcorn bucket and a Bafta-branded tub of vegan caviar are among the treats that await awards-goers after this year’s film ceremony.
Approximately 2,000 guests can either drown their sorrows or fill their boots with a three-course menu catered by head chef Matt Crow to be served in the Southbank Centre once the final awards have been dished out.
It’s the fourth time Crow’s company, Caper & Berry, have catered the event, hiring about 60 chefs for the night, alongside legions of porters and waiting staff.
Organic mushrooms from East Grinstead are being served two ways for the starter (pickled, and in a parfait). Alongside them will be sourdough and a tin of Chinese seaweed caviar decorated with the Bafta mask – and eminently repurposable as a pillbox.
Hemel Hempstead chicken also comes two ways (roasted, and in a terrine) for the main, alongside scorched carrots and alyssum, while vegetarians are offered “roast crown prince (squash)” with accompaniments including a zero-waste root bhaji.
The pièce de résistance is the “Bafta popcorn sundae”: a white, orange and gold-coloured chocolate tub filled with strawberry mousse and topped with salted caramel popcorn. The dessert, which may bear a passing resemblance to a KFC bucket, can either be eaten entirely on the night or its innards scooped out and the shell retained as a souvenir.
“I imagine a lot of people will go in without a spoon,” predicts Crow of the pudding, adding that how long the container takes to melt “will depend on how warm your hands are”.
Sweaty-palmed hopefuls on Sunday night include best actor nominees Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet and Ralph Fiennes, while Demi Moore is the frontrunner for the best actress prize.
It was confirmed on Friday that Moore’s rival, disgraced Emilia Pérez star Karla Sophía Gascón, will not be attending the ceremony, although director Jacques Audiard and the rest of the cast will be in attendance.
It is widely predicted Brady Corbet’s epic drama The Brutalist will clean up in the best film category, but a homegrown bias could give Edward Berger’s Conclave the edge.
The Baftas mark the last major awards ceremony to take place before Oscar voting closes on 18 February.
