Eat Your Words: The Commercial Type Pop-Up Dinner Party for Marian

There isn't a word yet for being both a foodie and a typophile, but we're sure it's coming soon. And will probably be invented within the week by someone (possibly you?) who's going to attend the closing dinner party for Commercial Type's "Thieves Like Us" pop-up show. Open since October 13th, the pop-up showroom at 29 Kenmare St (at Elizabeth, NYC) in Nolita features a collaboration between Commercial Type and artist Dino Sanchez, exhibiting Marian -- a new typeface by Paul Barnes. (ABOVE) More on the pop-up and the type-dinner mashup after the jump...

The pop-up experience features Sanchez' elegant displays in metal, neon and more of text set in Marian, Barnes' new typeface for Commercial Type that "reduces classic models of serif type design to their basic skeletal forms." Hours for the show are conveniently after-work, to take advantage of the ways the show works best after dark: Mon-Fri, 5 to 8; Saturday & Sunday noon to 8.


                

                        

(ABOVE: scenes from the pop-up shop)


Of course, the best time to go may be Sunday afternoon, closing day, because you'll be conveniently close for the finale: O, the Oprah Magazine Art Director Jaspal Riyait has collaborated with Commercial Type's Christian Schwartz on "a crazy dinner" to celebrate the closing night of the pop-up shop. They've taken the 9 variations of Marian and paired with chef Tessa Liebman to create a 9-course meal based on the time period (1500's to 1800's) and region (from France to Hungry) to reflect the new typeface's history:


If you'd like a taste of what happens when you work with lost, esoteric ideas, recipes and typefaces and distill them to a single stroke and 26 letters, expect to experience 9 versions of a beautiful new typeface, 9 courses of updated European dishes and one limited-edition letterpressed poster to take home with you.

Seatings for dinner start at 7pm and 8:30pm; $100 includes meal, service and art work. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.