Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

Dante’s Weird Fish, San Francisco

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Dantes-Weird-Fish-Menu-logo-SF“Established in 2006, Weird Fish made its mark as a neighborhood favorite serving up Pescatarian meals morning, noon & night. A vast army of darkness [hungry vegans] descended upon this tiny outpost nestled neatly behind everyone’s favorite 18th & Mission bus stop and feasted on mouth watering & artery clogging vegan dishes. […] After leaving in 2009, original creator and owner, Peter Hood (Boogaloos, St. Francis Fountain, Crossroads Café in Joshua Tree), returned to take back the reigns of Weird Fish in March of 2012. Adding the moniker, ‘Dante’s’ to Weird Fish, an homage to the 9 levels of Hell of business divorce, Hood continues to promote sustainable seafood, organic produce from local farms, and California brewers and wine makers in a cozy ‘Devil may care’ environment. Dante’s Weird Fish prides itself in serving food that is bad for you, but good for the environment. So, pull up a chair and take one for the team!”

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Le Cabaret de L’Enfer: Turn-of-the-Century Paris Nightclub Modeled After Hell

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Cabaret-L'Enfer-Paris-Theme-Bars“As a general rule, theme bars are embarrassing affairs. You have your corny waitstaff, your overly literal decor and a sense of forced performance that’s… annoying. Once in a blue moon though, there has been a theme bar so fucking cool you would sell your soul to get in. Tragically, you would have to strike some kind of deal with the devil to go to Le Cabaret de L’Enfer, since the Paris red light district nightclub opened around the turn of the last century and closed sometime during the middle of it. Very little information exists on L’Enfer, but the detail in the decor is absolutely gorgeous—almost Boschian detail of twisting human, animal and skeletal forms—couldn’t you just die?”    –Posted by Amber Frost on Dangerous Minds

Cabaret-L'Enfer-Paris-Theme-Bars-Interior

Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum’s Café G

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cafe-g-isabella-stuart-gardner-museumAn introductory note on the menu of the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum’s Café G:

“Isabella Stuart Gardner’s love for the medieval extended to literature as well as to art, and she was particularly devoted to the great Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). Gardner was a member of the Dante Society and collected several rare copies of the Divine Comedy, including a manuscript of the poem written within a century of the author’s death. She stored these precious books alongside a death mask of the poet in the ‘Dante Case’ in the museum’s Long Gallery. [. . .] We hope you enjoy this special menu, inspired by Inferno. It features fiery hot peppers in a variety of different forms.”    —Café G Menu (click to see full menu)

Contributed by Nancy Vickers

9 Layers of Chocolate Heaven

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9-layers-of-chocolate-heaven“This is a recipe for a 9 layer cake – a play on the 9 circles of hell in Dante’s Inferno. While that cake is representative of hell it tastes positively divine.”    –Dan Lipkowitz

“As a teenager, I fell in love with Dante’s Inferno, it paired nicely with the nine levels of hell in my dark, twisty, 16 year old, angst filled little mind. Make that a dramatically romantic, angst filled little mind. I’m an over achiever.

“I’ve read it countless times since, each time finding comfort in the rhythm of the words, moments of beauty contrasted in an intricately woven dark world. Of course it’s a love story, and what’s not to love about love…food is love after all.” [. . .]    –Jessica, Positively Ravenous, March 14, 2011

Contributed by Dan Lipkowitz (Bowdoin ’14)

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How to Cite

Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.

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