A throwaway line in a Saturday Night Live sketch might become a reality thanks to some savvy store owners with a sense of humor.
In a sketch parodying the gentrification of Brooklyn‘s Bushwick neighborhood, SNL host Kevin Hart mentioned that he was going to see Martha—not a woman, you see, but rather, the name of a local artisanal mayonnaise store that he found on a food blog.
“They said that the garlic truffle was a must-try so I said alright, I’ll try it,” Hart’s character says in the sketch. (He ended not going for it because it would’ve cost him $8.)
“Martha’s Mayonnaise” isn’t real, but the location where SNL shot that part of the sketch is. It’s actually Empire Mayonnaise, an artisanal mayonnaise shop and business on Vanderbilt Ave. that’s been in business for the past four years. To capitalize on their newfound fame, Empire Mayonnaise is now considering making and offering limited edition jars of garlic truffles.
Their Twitter account makes it clear that they’re fully in the joke.
@JessHullinger They filmed with permission at our production facility and changed our sign to read “Marthas” – anything for comedy : )
— Empire Mayonnaise Co (@empiremayo) January 21, 2015
“It would be amazing,” co-owner Elizabeth Valleau told DNAinfo. “We’ve mixed our roasted garlic with our truffle before, and it’s been good.”
Valleau is used to being teased about her shop, but her products are in demand. The shop produced more than 60,000 jars of mayonnaise last year. Valleau, however, aimed to dispel the notion that Empire was responsible for gentrification.
Most of my team grew up in lower income families myself included. This is not gentrification. This is hard work. This is the dream @valleau
— Empire Mayonnaise Co (@empiremayo) January 21, 2015
H/T DNAinfo | Screengrab via Saturday Night Live/YouTube
