FOOD AND DESIGN

University of Minnesota College of Design

  • Remembering a Food Experience

    • 13 Jan 2013
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    • Experience Steven Brown Surprise Tilia Vessel
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    Steven Brown, Tilia (Minneapolis)

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    Chef Brown recounted one of his most vivid food memories at Fat Duck, outside of London. With the Red Cabbage Gazpacho and Grainy Mustard Ice Cream, Chef Heston Blumenthal played with imagery, color, and the experience of surprise. The theatrical presentation of the soup inspired the way Tilia serves their butternut squash dish.

     

    The waiter pours this absolutely magenta-colored broth around this tiny quail egg, and explains that it’s a red cabbage gazpacho and that the egg is, in fact, grainy mustard ice cream. It really surprised you in a lot of ways because, first, it wasn’t what you thought it was, and second, there was this really unbelievable, otherworldly color that came out of this pouring vessel which you couldn’t see, and then when you ate it it was harmonious and perfect, in every sense of the word. It was a moment for me that is really indelible. To me that was the gold standard of what people’s food experiences can be.

    Restaurant: Fat Duck  photo: Lennard Yeong

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  • Grilled Bison New York Strip

    • 20 Dec 2012
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    • Experience Steven Brown Structure Tilia
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    Steven Brown, Tilia (Minneapolis)

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    A hearty entrée served with carrots, marinated kohlrabi, and a Choron sauce, Chef Brown arranges the bison into a plate that is both controlled and haphazard. The visual effect is of a natural formation, with delicantly layered pink masses and orange limbs that create tiny crevices and hidden pools. As the dish is eaten, small nondescript chunks of kohlrabi are exposed, offering a surprising punch of flavor.

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  • Tuna Tartare

    • 20 Dec 2012
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    • Experience Heidis Iteration Stewart Woodman Vessel
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    Stewart Woodman, Heidi's (Minneapolis)

    Tunatartarre
    Accentuated with roasted pork, sesame powder, and rice wine vinaigrette, Heidi’s Tuna Tartare is served in a Japanese custard pot reflective of its inspiration and flavor profile. Originally a deconstructed arrangement of elements on a plate, Chef Woodman and his staff discovered that the user experience of assembling ingredients into bites wasn’t successful. As a result of this observation, they experimented with reconstructing the dish into a single spherical vessel. Not only does this combine ingredients and flavors in a random pattern, but it requires the diner to “dig” into the mixture through a small opening, giving it the satisfying sensation of a treasure hunt.

     

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  • Carrot Terrine

    • 31 Oct 2012
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    • Deconstruction Experience Heidi's Imagery Plating Stewart Woodman Structure
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    Stewart Woodman, Heidi's (Minneapolis)

    Carrotterrine

    In this dish, Chef Woodman places the silverware down on a certain location to the plate to suggest a starting point for the experience.  The dish is designed to make the customer/user/consumer feel immersed in a whimsical garden.  Roasted fennel has been transformed into “dirt” and edible flowers, carrot tops and baby cilantro are arranged with tweezers around the plate to balance the composition.  The customer/user/consumer is encouraged to play with the food by pulling from the compressed, slow cooked, layered carrot monolith and mixing it with the carrot gel, carrot powder, beet powder, and lemon sorbet. This dish is not fully deconstructed, but is deconstructed enough to allow for some variety in each bite. Chef Woodman and his team have designed a novel, immersive edible experience on a plate by taking into account principles of interaction design, graphic design, architecture and product design.

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  • About

    I am a professor of product design at the University of Minnesota. I love making things (especially with food). You can find more information about me on www.wonderbarry.com

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