East Passyunk’s Mish Mish transforms into SUR for Halloween to the delight of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ super fans
Reservations to the two-night only Halloween special sold out within an hour, owner Alex Tewfik said, and guests were encouraged to dress up in their Bravo TV best.
What happens when a restaurant dresses up in costume for Halloween? They sell out reservations in an hour.
For the two nights before Halloween, East Passyunk Mediterranean restaurant Mish Mish transformed into SUR, the clubby West Hollywood lounge at the epicenter of the Vanderpump Rules universe — goat cheese balls, Pumptinis, and all.
Though owned by former Real Housewife of Beverly Hills Lisa Vanderpump since 1998, SUR’s true purpose is as the backdrop for confrontations, secret hookups, and parties that end in drink-throwing hysteria on Vanderpump Rules. Since 2013, the RHOBH spin-off has been as much about the restaurant industry as it is about making terrible choices.
After a decade of airing cheating scandals came Vanderpump Rules’ pièce de résistance: Scandoval, or the time cast member Tom Sandoval cheated on longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix with new cast member Raquel Leviss while his best friend (also a cheater named Tom) covered for them. The magnitude of the betrayal stunned many reality TV skeptics into becoming binge-watchers, scoring Madix a spot on Dancing with the Stars and a tell-all cover of Glamour.
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“It’s strangely addictive,” said Becca Savana, a server at Mish Mish who was a fan of the show long before the Scandoval of it all. “The dynamics that happen within Vanderpump — people hooking up, having emotional breakdowns, and living together while working at the same restaurant — is something every server has experienced to some extent.”
Mish Mish owner and former Philadelphia magazine food editor Alex Tewfik (who admits he has never watched an episode of the show) said the idea to dress up the restaurant with sultry purple lighting, tall white floral arrangements, and an ode to SUR’s infamous back-alley table came from Savana and head chef Kyle McCormick.
Mish Mish was “so dead” for Halloween weekend last year that Tewfik said he closed the restaurant. This year, he said the weekend was on pace to perform as well as New Year’s Eve, a typical boon for the hospitality industry.
The special menu pulled directly from SUR’s greatest hits and inside jokes: Scheana Shay’s “fab” chicken enchiladas served alongside breaded goat cheese balls, a crudité in tribute to Stassi Schroeder’s ranch fountain, and a “not about the pasta!” truffle gnocchi. Grapefruit and raspberry Pumptinis flowed, while the restaurant was awash in the sounds of DJ James Kennedy’s EDM mixes.
“Vibes are high,” said Olivia Manganella, 25, while sipping a Pumptini next to a friend who came as consummate villain Jax Taylor after he got one of his many nose jobs. “Lisa Vanderpump would love this. It’s a testament to what she’s given us.”
‘Pretty true to life’
For attendees, the evening at Mish Mish was a chance to revel in a campy world that, while more relatable than the Real Housewives franchise, isn’t exactly proximate.
Guests were encouraged to come in costume for a chance to win a gift card to Mish Mish, and tables booed or cheered depending on who walked in. Attendees erupted into joyous screams for a DJ James Kennedy copycat, then playfully heckled a Sandoval impersonator dressed in a white dress shirt with several buttons undone.
“The show’s messiness makes me feel better about myself,” said Gaby Goldberg, 33, a marketer who dressed as the cloyingly sweet Scheana Shay, complete with clip-in and hair extensions and a Sharpie-drawn tattoo that read “It’s all happening.”
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Goldberg came with her friend Kait Holden, 33, who works in advertising and dressed as the posh Vanderpump herself, a stuffed version of Giggy — Vanderpump’s beloved Pomeranian — in tow. Holden fashioned her Giggy’s frilly white shirt from a bonnet and now plans to keep the stuffed animal she bought just for the occasion.
Arielle Brousse, 38, who came dressed as a pink-clad version of Vanderpump (this time with a stuffed flamingo as a stand-in for her pet swan Hanky Panky), described herself as a “Vanderpump evangelist” who “converted upward of 30 people” into becoming fans. Two of those people are Lansie Sylvia, 38, who donned a mustache and lots of body glitter for her take on Sandoval, and Claire Shuester, 31, who did not come in costume but did take four friends to visit the real SUR in 2019.
The Pumptinis “were as strong as they are” in Los Angeles, Shuester said, and that the overall experience was “pretty true to life.”
“The servers at SUR are meaner, though. They don’t want to be there,” Shuester said. “Can I say that, or is Lisa Vanderpump going to come after me?”
Diners appreciated the restaurant’s attention to detail, which was mostly thanks to Savana, who waited tables in a short, tight black dress with “SUR” emblazoned on the back in homage to the restaurant’s current uniforms.
Around 9 p.m. Sunday, Mish Mish’s playlist switched from Kennedy’s EDM mixes to the Vanderpump Rules theme song, “Raise Your Glass” by Dena Deadly. Guests waved their napkins and sang along, toasting like the lyrics instruct.
Soon after, Shay’s breakout (and only) hit “Good as Gold” came on, and the myriad of Scheana impersonators got up to lip sync. A fake Lisa Vanderpump recorded the whole ordeal.
“This is the smartest, stupidest idea I’ve ever seen. It’s so smart for one restaurant to dress up as another restaurant, and so dumb for Mish Mish to go as SUR,” Sylvia said, her Sandoval mustache smeared with goat cheese. “I love it.”