natural | imaginative | delicious

sarah weiner, my new food crush, has a few restaurants in berlin. she's a promi-chef who puts her focus on traditional, simple and healthy foods. she's one of the leading foodie activists against gen-manipulated foods.

i have one cookbook of hers, frau am herd (lady by the stove) - i love it. i am looking forward to trying her food at her cafes and checking out her set up. specifically menu design, uniforms, decor and operations.

majakowski.gasthaus | berlin

with my summertime schedule and 'new to berlin' status, i've been doing a lot of research about my new surroundings.

i found this great design work about this restaurant on the outskirts of town. i haven't found much else about it and am very intrigued. the identity is done by a berlin/vienna cooperative called up designers.

interview with style

Marije Vogelzang - Interview from Design Blast on Vimeo.

in june, Jill Enders and Chris Spatschek (students from the Arts and Design academy in Karlsruhe) interviewed dutch eating designer marije vogelzang. their approach was very whimsical and creative. they crafted a box of treats that had questions hidden underneath them. marije was allowed to choose eight from the eleven bits and answer those questions. clever, indeed....

Scripty Bits

Marian Bantjes is an artist who specializes in script work. This image is of her business card. She has collaborated with Stefan Sagmeister on his books and her work is featured in numerous magazines. Her site is {lovely}.

Check out the {sugar type} on her site. 

Seeing this got me thinking about guest services books in hotels and menus. They are so nice when the focus is on not only the information itself but also the communication channel & design.

Peace Plates

On Mocoloco, they featured some designs from the Centre de Design at the Université du Québec in Montreal's school of design's year-end exhibition. This exhibition features the final projects from grad students in the Environmental Design program. 

The exhibition was entitled Poupées Russes (French for "Russian Dolls" or more commonly known as Matryoshka dolls) aiming to show the importance of layers in designs - and more broadly conceived, the interplay and interdependence on form & function; how these layers are inextricably tied to one another. 

The feature is fascinating and there are a number of excellent, inspired designs. My favorite is this dinner plate by Marie-Pier Rivard. Here's a snippet from Mocoloco about the design:

"Dinner plate for the elderly, disabled, by Marie-Pier Rivard. Taking on the task to improve the famous Manoy plate designed by Russel Manoy in the late 60s, the designer aimed to help without signaling, marking or even implying a person's disabilities: camouflage in tableware. The first step was switching the original oval design made of melamine to a more contemporary, common and elegant round ceramic dish. Though it keeps the vertically curved side wall designed by Manoy helping users pick-up difficult foods with only one hand, it now cleverly includes a slanted bottom to naturally set liquids on to one side, a groove under its rim facilitating handling, and finally an air-insulated double-wall which enables the safe manipulation of hot contents. Tutors: Patrick Evans & Katherine Lapierre."

I wasn't familiar with the Manoy plate. This is the original plate design (from MoMA's site) as well as its modern iteration which we all know from hospital, etc (...can almost smell it!) 

The newer version from Rivard has a sophistication to it that I really appreciate. It is adult and civilized while successfully addressing the needs of its user in a subtle, classy way.

More Marije

I can't even get over how amazing she is....
'In the food for love' video from {die gestalten}.
{link to video}

Kitchen Helper

Have been looking for something like this for a long time at Brocantes, etc. Found one 'new' at {Octopus}

In the Genes

salt cellar

Aldo Bakker (son of Gijs Bakker, founder of Droog Design) has designed a nice new line of simple and ergonomic kitchen goods. Served up in basic black and white porcelain with comfy curved edges. Available through Thomas Eyck or Wannekes.

Dip Dye

New ceramic collection from Heath. 

Via design*sponge

Quality Packaging

When I was in Paris last month visiting friends and attending Masion et Object, I did a lot of grocery shopping. Visiting groceries and fresh markets is one of my most favorite travel activities.

On one shopping jaunt, I found these yogurts from St. Malo. I was drawn to the logo and the packaging: various kinds of yogurt, same logo, different colorways for each; waxed carton tub (vs. plastic!) and foil tops.

At my local market here in Heidelberg, I found another packaging treasure: Yogurt la Fermiére. These yogurts are in ceramic pots with a lovely logo imprint. 

The ceramic pots are made by Cermer. I love to see this kind of quality in product presentation.

Four out of Five Senses Agree

Seems like there could be unlimited uses for this new creation from PolyIFF®. It is a type of plastic that has the ability to hold a scent for a very long time. Possible also to use in paint or other design element or component as it can have any color, opacity, density or flexibility. IFF also offers a professional "nose" service to help create a special fragrance that specifically suits your purpose.

Uniforms

These would be fabulous for cafe uniforms. From DECOPUR - Belgium