There's A Spice Girls-Themed BRUNCH & It Comes With "Wannabe" & "Forever Viva" Cocktails

I am still reeling from the news that the Spice Girls will NOT be doing a reunion tour anytime soon, even though I've listened to the Spice World soundtrack at least five times in preparation, JUST IN CASE. But it appears memorizing the choreography to "Spice Up Your Life" was at least marginally useful, now that I've discovered a Spice Girls brunch is headed to New York City later this month. Slam two eggs down and scramble them all around, baby, because the Gods of Spice are smiling down upon us once more!

Indeed, per a press release, on Saturday, April 21, Manhattan eatery 5th & Mad will host a Spice Girls Brunch in honor of Spice Girls Day, which I do not think is a real holiday but I will celebrate it nonetheless. According to the release, the brunch will run from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and include All Things Spice, as it should. Attendees are encouraged to don their best "fancy dress," which, in the Spice Girls' native tongue, means costume—come as Baby, Ginger, Posh, Sporty, Scary, or some harrowing compilation of all five — and there will be a special award bestowed upon whomever looks most like their chosen Spice.

Other highlights include special cocktails named after "Wannabe" and "Viva Forever," singalongs (duh), and themed games. The event costs $35 per person (5th & Mad suggests you purchase tickets in advance, which you can do on their EventBrite page), and the price includes entry, a main dish, a dessert, and a glass of prosecco. It looks like the additional Spice Girls cocktails can be purchased a la carte. And while the games and dancing will go on all day, 5th & Mad will do timed seatings for brunch itself, so you can break up the "Say You'll Be There" boogeying with some bites.

There's a promo video that looks preeeeettty darn good:

5h & Mad promises the Spice Girls brunch will be "perfect for '90s babies," and as a '90s baby myself (I snuck in at the tail's end of 1989, but still), I can confirm that at least thematically, it hits the mark. I was in third grade when the Spice Girls hit peak domination, and even though their reign was rather short-lived, at the time, they were EVERYTHING.

My mother wouldn't let me buy their album (she thought it was too racy), but I did have a tape (REMEMBER TAPES?) with several versions of "Too Much" when it dropped as a single, and I listened to it on repeat whenever I could get ahold of my parents' tape player. I also forced my mother to drag me and my sister to see Spice World in theaters, which is, to this day, an incredible film. Alan Cumming is in it. And Richard E. Grant! And Hugh Laurie! And Meat Loaf! And Roger Gosh Darn Moore. I wasn't able to appreciate the casting in 1998, but even if Spice World didn't truly end up being my generation's A Hard Day's Night, it at least had the setup to get there.

It's amazing how quickly the Spice Girls came into our lives and then fell apart. They were only around for a few years, and unlike some of the '90s' and early aughts' other beloved pop acts, they didn't produce a Justin Timberlake or Beyoncé to endure long after the group fell apart (though Mel C had a pretty lengthy solo career in the U.K. post-Spice). But maybe that's also why the Spice Girls still hold some magic. I went to a karaoke party the other day, and when someone put on "Wannabe," the room went nuts. Those opening chords will never not be great. Hopefully they will hold up in brunch form, as well.