In the world of espionage, food is not just sustenance; it is a strategic element in building connections and extracting intelligence. Restaurants serve as inconspicuous meeting grounds, allowing agents to exchange information discreetly in settings that foster a sense of confidentiality. This week, we break bread with the pros.
To run spies, agent handlers need to coax targets into revealing their insecurities and innermost desires - to manipulate, exploit, and subvert. It is a high-risk dance of power and persuasion, one that often plays out in a most unlikely setting: a restaurant, where espionage is the plat du jour. We’ve asked several True Spies to share their supper club strategies and deliciously dark secrets.
NYC photographer Henry Hargreaves was always interested in espionage - it was in the family's blood. His grandfather joined Britain’s SOE spies during WWII and was a close friend of 007 author Ian Fleming. So when Hargreaves met food stylist Charlotte Omnès they decided to collaborate. ‘Dying to Eat’, is their photographic celebration of 007’s most striking meals from stone crabs to Rognon de veau.
The dramatic heist that unraveled in Honolulu’s airport in 2013 didn’t involve gold bars or government intel. Thieves were hoping to shift something smaller and possibly even more valuable: US rice seeds. The unusual heist involved an ‘inside man’, a Kansas scientist, but the robbery had an unexpected twist and the rice heist turned sticky.
Naveed Jamali used family connections to set himself up as an FBI double agent, fooling the Russians into revealing their US operations. Armed with a secret recording device, an encyclopedic knowledge of spy movies, and a high tolerance for fast food, Naveed spent three years luring in a senior Moscow operative at one of the Russian’s favorite dining spots: Hooters.
In a shadowy corner of Manhattan's East 85th Street, members of a deadly network of Hitler supporters met in a German restaurant during WWII to drink Eichenlaub beer in steins and plot to bring down the US from within. The German spy ring was led by Frederick ‘Fritz’ Duquesne, a soldier of fortune, and the Casino Restaurant was the Nazis’ unofficial HQ in New York City.
“You’re quite the gourmet, aren’t you Palmer?” Colonel Ross sneers as The Ipcress File’s Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) drops French champignons into his supermarket cart. There’s no pretense in Palmer’s choice. Simply good taste. The creator of Caine’s iconic character is Len Deighton, a former British spy and chef in Europe’s best kitchens. Here are some of the spy writer’s lesser-known gastronomic secrets.
At SPY HQ you’ll explore hidden worlds, break codes, run surveillance and spot liars - while a system developed with MI6 experts reveals your personal spy role and profile. At SPYGAMES you and your team will activate your physical and mental powers in 10 different zones of brain-teasing, adrenaline-pumping fun!
