Matt Levin, executive chef at Adsum restaurant on South 5th Street, is used to unusual ingredients.
He once used exploding candy pop rocks in a main course.
Tonight, he's serving up an explosive pop culture controversy by using Four Loko in three courses.
The idea, he admits, began as a joke while walking to work one day.
"And I was about three blocks from [the restaurant] and I tweeted it, I said, 'we're going to do a Four Loko dinner at Adsum, who wants in?' And within about 3 minutes, I had 40 people who said I want in," Levin said.
With that, it was a joke no more.
Levin initially planned to have just one seating at midnight, but once word of the culinary event spread, one seating became two, then three, then, appropriately, four; all sold out in a matter of minutes. 160 total diners.
So what exactly is the idea?
Well, Levin and his team have cooked up a menu where the high octane drink, with 12-percent alcohol and as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, compliments each dish.
Each course is served with a variation of the drink itself and the food is infused with it, too.
Turns out, this ingredient is the real deal.
Levin began stockpiling cans once reports surfaced the government may ban it.
The company has since stopped selling the caffeinated version of Four Loko, so for those of college age who wished to bid it goodbye, this was a tasty and not unhealthy way to do it.
"It's a Monday, and what better way to spend a Monday than being here drinking Four Lokos. It's going out of style," University of Pennsylvania student Steve Loeffler said.
"It's a one time thing, just to have a good time, and do something a little bit different and fun," Levin said.
To be clear, Four Loko is not for sale at Adsum and will not be in the future.
