The Mouth, the Gut

Salt, hot sauce, and honey: grit, fire, and sustaining sweetness, rest on the wooden tables of the Philadelphia Assembled Kitchen dining room. The place comes equipped with sunlit views and survival’s strength. Since October 10th, the flavor has shifted from survival to resistance, from coarseness to burning resilience.

In a texture deeper than savory, Laos in the House rests on the palate in the form of Mieng Lao sticky rice lettuce wraps. The rice is made from preserved rice paddies, intended to reconstitute when called to battle. Each dish is carefully crafted in the name of survival, each dish telling a story of someone’s or someones’ connections to their roots.

Before the space was open to the public, behind-the-scenes-members of Philly Urban Creators gathered round the dining room table. Meals were shared and poetry rang. Kirtrina and Stanley let their knowing hands fall on the taught skin of the hand drum, while Jeaninne called to the poets in the room. That same drum which led the procession from the auditorium, to the streets. That same drum, and those same hands which sung through head phones in the place of Sanctuary. We are surviving together in every space.


-Gen Rollins