Chowing down at Umami.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend an invitation-only dining event in a neighborhood loft, experiencing an impermanent slice of Bushwick’s makeshift community spirit. Umami (People + Food) was promoted solely by word of mouth and run by residents and neighbors for a crowd of about 90. The organizers were actually celebrating the third anniversary of Umami when I stopped by, honoring the day with a three-course reprisal of the first brunch get-together they put on back in 2006.

The night before, the place was buzzing with energy from all the volunteers working in the kitchen, chopping vegetables, baking quiches, and organizing the massive platters needed to feed the expected crowd. Despite the frenzy of activity and the long to-do list, workers still took time to enjoy the groove of a Herbie Hancock album, get nostalgic and chatter over a particular Neil Young track, or sit thoughtfully on a break while a Mr. Bungle album blasted from a PA in the back. The volunteers, friends and friends-of-friends, retired around 11:30 pm, but more woke up early on Sunday to get the final pieces in place.

Tickets were taken at the door starting around 3 pm, and guests got started with lime cocktails and fresh croissants topped with a range of spreads made from scratch, including (my favorite) a very inventive grapefruit rhubarb preserve. People mingled, eating and chatting as they passed back and forth from the front room to the back. Some even went upstairs to the massive warehouse roof, to brave the wind and enjoy the warm spell while it lasted. Inside, the space was set out almost like a picnic, with participants encouraged beforehand to bring their own lawn chairs and set up anywhere in the apartment.

Tables were heaped with too many foods to count — steamed vegetables, baked sweet potatoes, two different kinds of french toast, chicken-apple sausage patties, and at least half a dozen different kinds of quiche. All this was accompanied by a spicy jalapeño-infused Bloody Mary, mixed masterfully by Carter “Bagel” Edwards, a Brooklyn bartender who lent his services for the day.

It was a diverse crowd — set designers, professional musicians, playwrights, short story writers, even urban policy experts. And from what I gathered, a surprising number of people had come in from other boroughs, lured in by the underground cred the event has fostered over the years. In fact, Umami had gotten so much attention just by word of mouth, that their most recent dinner soirée was just written up in the latest print issue of Readymade magazine.

The brunch was headed up by the seemingly ubiquitous Laura Braslow and Chloë Bass, and they and their staff of volunteers managed to keep right on schedule throughout the day. Each course came with at least a few vegan options, and almost all the food was purchased locally and with an eye on environmental concerns. Laura herself was bringing her culinary know-how into experimental territory, saying that with the success of the croissants she was starting to feel surprisingly confident about her newfound pastry-making skills.

An event like Umami shows the kind of quiet force the do-it-yourself ethic can be in a community, bringing dozens of people together to share recipe ideas, cook, eat, meet, and greet in a way that, I’m starting to suspect, just wouldn’t happen the same way anywhere other than Bushwick.