Designer food

by VISI BLOGGER Dee de Kock

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In a shift from the cocooning culture of the 80s, South Africans are venturing out of their homes and exploring markets and fine-dining restaurants. Welcome to the new age of eating – the age of food design.

Sitting under the old oak trees on a carpet of velvet green lawn surrounded by manicured vineyards out in the Franschhoek Valley, one wonders if life gets better than this. Here, at Pierneef restaurant at La Motte, eating is a designer experience. With idyllic settings and a master chef, this is a typical example of food as an art rather than a necessity.

Two years ago El Bulli’s master chef Ferran Adrià was at Design Indaba and demonstrated to a hungry audience that cooking is a pure art form. From formulating new food alchemy techniques to designing crockery specifically for a particular dish, the preparation and planning that goes into his menus is so intensive that Ferran closes the restaurant for six months of the year in order to ready himself for the season. El Bulli, which accommodates 8 000 guests a year, receives an average of 1 million requests for reservations. Is this eating taken a step too far? Or are we talking entertainment more than eating? How far can we go before a love of food goes too far?

In Europe, Italy and France are among the main players in terms of a culture of food and eating. Sharing a meal has, for generations, played an important role in social networking and entertainment – a fact highlighted for me on a recent trip to the French countryside.

Here, even at a country antique market – la brocante – stall holders set up a table with wine and food for lunchtime and enjoyed their food with friends and family, selling their merchandise in between mouthfuls of food. Here, nothing stands in the path of traditional eating and even retail stores close between 12:00 and 14:00. Eating is taken seriously. And the importance of eating and socialising became evident to me, as opposed to simply the necessity of eating.

I spent nine days doing a cooking course at La Creuzette in Boussac, France and saw first-hand the passion involved in cooking – in doing it right, in achieving perfection. Each dish needs to taste good, but also look good. A Michelin chef explained how important a simple task is – cutting beans, for example, all the same size so that, when served, they look professional. It is more than just the doing, it's about the feeling. Cooking with soul and enjoying it to the full.

Eating becoming a destination

More and more South African restaurants are focusing on the art of eating, on the presentation of food and on the whole experience rather than just the functionality of eating. We’re no longer as keen on fast food and we don’t want to eat for the sake of it. It’s a shift from the cocooning culture of the 80s where we simply stayed home enjoying our own facilities. We desire to venture out of the protective “castles” we’ve created and into the town.

Fine-dining restaurants are packed – by word of mouth. Sometimes the wait for a table is as long as a month. And some of the regular, run-of-the-mill restaurants are struggling to survive. Is this a sign of the times, where eating is becoming a destination and not purely a function?

In Europe, it’s an old tradition. With limited space and many people living in apartments, city-dwellers are on the streets, watching the passers-by and enjoying public, open spaces. Here, we’ve tended to insulate ourselves in our homes – the larger the better – with gardens, pool and entertainment areas.

But our culture is changing. And rapidly. Like our European counterparts, we are discovering the quality of fresh produce and the joys of organic markets. Being able to select fresh produce visually stimulates the taste buds, there’s a greater selection and we avoid chain-store shopping with its chemically “enhanced” fruit and vegetables.

The Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, on a Saturday morning, is a case in point. Packed with people, it shows the city’s growing demand for organic produce. Although we pay a premium, the food looks and tastes good and a visit to the market is an experience in new foodie culture – much like London’s Borough Market, where farmers come from far and wide, generating a shopping frenzy for fresh produce.

With a growing consciousness in organic produce and “eating right” combined with a wonderful setting, who would want to eat just for the sake of eating? A memorable experience in a perfect setting with friends and family, an experience that is not rushed or skimped on, leaves you with that feel-good sensation. It’s a reminder that life is good and worth every mouthful. And this is what memories are made of.

About Dee:

Dee de Kock has two beliefs in life: if you don't love it, don't do it. And when you do it, do it with passion. Throughout her extensive career she's been strict in applying these principles and her impressive track record proves that it's been a philosophy worth adopting. Dee is a versatile designer who doesn't consider any challenge too big. Her enviable amount of energy, coupled with the good judgment to know when a project has run its course, means that she always has something new and exciting up her sleeve. 

dee@deedekock, www.deedekock.com

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