Anime Night at the NC Museum of Natural Science

The NC Museum of Natural Science was never on my radar because I didn’t think it had much to do with food. But Anime Night at the museum completely changed my mind.

This is a recap of the Adult Nights: Anime event at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC.

NC Museum of Natural Science Adult Night: Anime Edition

Adult Nights aren’t new at this museum, but this seems to be the first time that this event is anime-themed.

The museum set up several interactive science stations across four floors featuring anime shows and movies such as:

• Full Metal Alchemist
• The Apothecary Diaries
• Sailor Moon
• One Piece
• Frieren
• Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and other Ghibli films

Food is all around us

So, what did this event have to do with food?

Sometimes, we only pay attention to food when it’s right in front of us, ready to eat, but there’s a lot that happens before it makes it to our tables.

For example, the Spirited Away to the Naturalist Center on the second floor and the Ant Lab on the third floor featured several insects that are pollinators: bees, dragonflies, butterflies and wasps.

Pollinators are one of the reasons why we are able to successfully grow food.

One of my favorite activities of the night was identifying the animals and insects in the Ant Lab that several Pokemon were based on.

The fourth floor’s Apothecary Diaries Pick Your Poison activity showcased how plants, some edible like Chinese bell flower, can be utilized for their medicinal properties with the correct dosage and if you’re using the right part of the plant.

Every floor highly encouraged composting, which is a way to keep food and certain supplies out of landfills and will eventually break down into rich soil that home gardeners and farmers use to grow more food.

I’d love to see every event educate its attendees about this so that they know how much power they have in reducing waste and increasing our food supply.

No anime-themed food but there were anime-themed drinks

And they were really good! I had the Saitama’s Serious Punch with lemon honey and ginger and another drink that I think had pineapple.

Each cocktail was $11 but the mocktail versions were $4 each. There were other options like wine, beer and energy drinks.

The Daily Planet Café on the first floor served its regular menu of pastries and sandwiches but I would have loved Japanese snacks or light bites.

It’s a big undertaking to create a new menu for just one night but this was an opportunity to garner attention for Raleigh restaurants and vendors who had pre-made snacks or handhelds.

Food trucks would not have worked because there’s no where for them to park and/or plug in their generators without blocking off streets.

But *what if* there was anime-themed food?

At the top of most anime fan’s ideal menu would be ramen.

Miso Ramen Bar, which is less than 15 min from the museum, would have been a great choice.

Aside from the ramen, their pork bao are amazing.

Onigiri would have been a great handheld item, with veggie, chicken (especially karaage) and pork options. I don’t have a vendor in mind for this yet.

Karaage onigiri from MUJI Market in NYC

For savory pastries and desserts, June’s O:HU Bakeshop is a micro-bakery popup with creations that are both French and Korean, however, she uses Japanese ingredients as well.

Her chili crisp oil mushroom and cheese croissant, using roasted shiitake and maitake mushrooms would have been my pick along with her Japanese veggie curry puff pastry topped with nori furikake.

Dessert wise, I’d go with her matcha pound cake with red bean Chantilly cream or her basque hojicha cheesecake.

What kinds of foods do you think would have been good for this event?

Tickets for Adult Nights: Anime

Tickets for the event were $25 for non-members and $15 for members.

You can buy tickets online at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences website or at the door the night of the event.

And you have to be at least 21 years old to attend. These events are not for kids.

Yes, they check IDs.

More about the Adult Nights series

The museum is planning two more events in this series.

Next will be Social in the Shire, happening Friday, May 15.

The last Adult Nights event will be in October but the theme has not been announced yet.