The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Preview Party 2025
The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition Preview Party is amongst the most coveted invites in London’s cultural calendar, promising an evening where creativity, conversation and celebration converge in the heart of Piccadilly. Each year, this gathering marks the official opening of the RA’s Summer Exhibition, and welcomes a guest list of artists, actors, curators and collectors into its iconic courtyard. Continuing an extended history of partnership, Rocket was thrilled to return to cater the night, bringing our signature blend of creativity and impeccable service to the occasion.
Curated this year by Farshid Moussavi RA, the 2025 Summer Exhibition explored the theme of Dialogues, a thoughtful reflection on the connections between people, species, and disciplines. The theme wove its way through every element of the evening, beginning with the artworks on display through to the food on guests’ plates. Our vision for the event was to create an experience where the menu itself became part of the conversation, representing a celebration of shared flavours, sustainable sourcing, and culinary storytelling.
The Menu: A Dialogue of Flavours
Taking inspiration from Moussavi’s concept, our chefs designed a menu which reflected the dialogue between cultures and cuisines, a culinary exchange shaped by migration, adaptation, and fusion. The menu featured an abundance of canapés championing British produce, all elegantly presented across inventive structures. Guests were invited to help themselves to an engaging display of tacos, while an entirely plant-based cicchetti station offered arancini, pithiviers, and chouquettes.
At the heart of the experience were two striking food stall structures, each designed to embody a different facet of connection. The first, a 360 degree structure inspired by artist Sol LeWitt’s geometric structures, invited guests to interact with food as they would a sculpture, weaving through open grids and discovering delicious bites tucked within. The second stall, a true showstopper, was a dramatic 10-foot bed of crushed ice overflowing with freshly shucked Maldon oysters, flanked by twin pyramid structures carved from ice and wood. The result was a tactile, visual and gastronomic experience, a true dialogue between the senses.
Leading with Sustainability
At Rocket, Sustainability is a guiding principle which permeates every detail of our work. Beyond working with local suppliers and sourcing seasonal ingredients, it shapes our entire approach, from menu development to the physical experience we create. This year, our décor was thoughtfully composed exclusively from recycled and sustainable materials, embodying our commitment to low impact elegance.
We are also proud to work alongside partners who share our sustainability ethos, among them, the Royal Academy, whose visionary environmental initiatives continue to set a benchmark for the industry, and Event Concept, whose commitment to embedding sustainability into every facet of their work is evident throughout. This year, Event Concept made the considered decision to forgo the traditional red carpet entrance in favour of sculptural dichroic panels crafted from sustainable materials. These panels were carefully positioned throughout the courtyard, casting prismatic reflections transforming the space and presenting a brilliant photo opportunity for guests. As daylight gave way to dusk, they shimmered with a subtle spectrum of colour, a fitting metaphor for the exhibition’s celebration of connection.