“But sure.”Įscape rooms typically have a backstory, some mythology to prop up the oddly popular recreational activity that is paying to trap yourself in a room of puzzles and horrors for an hour. “I will probably freak the fuck out,” Sze promised in response to the invitation.
So how did they feel about tackling a fictional one? The culinary-themed venue, dubbed “ Esscape Room: The Real Kitchen Nightmare” and unveiled on Friday, September 13, by owners and operators Melanie Lemieux and Kyle Radzyminski of Ess Hospitality Group, seemed an appropriate challenge for the three actual chef-restaurateurs I had invited along: Trigg Brown of Win Son, Richard Ho of Ho Foods, and Eric Sze of Eight Eight Six, all of whom have seen their own fair share of real-life kitchen nightmares. The door was locked behind us, leaving no choice but to continue onward, eventually finding ourselves trapped in what looked like the apocalyptic remains of a restaurant kitchen - complete with sticky surfaces and carefully arranged disarray that would make a rookie dishwasher faint.
We were stripped of our phones and personal belongings. On a dark and rainy night two days before Halloween, I entered a small, square waiting room in the basement of a nondescript commercial building in Long Island City, Queens, alongside three professional chefs.