The private stage in Riordan's research was at its end, culminating in a public act, exploring the subject matter of the novel in the form of local flora and fauna. through the purchase of ingredients at farmers markets, and their production using regional recipes, Riordan was able to engage with an environment foreign to him, and in so doing Le Roman du Lievre became performance and food art, skinning rabbits and baking pies.

As a cook and entertainer, Riordan engaged his audience one on one, stomach first. With an oven, apron and a table, his books on hand, on a "set" similar to a family kitchen, Riordan prepared, cooked and served a menu consisting of food related to his research, while simultaneously conversing with his audience.

There were two levels to the evening’s menu. The first is best summed up in the piece’s description as part of the show’s bill:

In 1920 Gladys Edgerton mistranslated the hare of Francis Jammes’ 1903 novel Le Roman du Lievre into a rabbit. After re-translating the book, James Riordan will finally put Edgerton’s rabbit to rest, by skinning, cleaning and preparing a meal out of it and other consumables mentioned in the book, in doing so drawing attention to the steps that occur between the killing and digesting of an animal, thus emphasizing the parallels between the acts of translation and cooking.

The second menu was derived from a chapter of Le Roman du Lievre in which Jammes describes God by describing the plants growing in Gods garden.

The meal took place on the night of the exhibition’s opening and included rabbit pie, rabbit liver and thyme pâté, garlic spread, fresh baked sage crackers, candied violet petals and a marzipan and dark chocolate icon of Saint Francis of Assisi. Food was not present for the following days of the exhibition, but in their stead sat a note explaining to any latecomers that their dinner was “in the dog.”