The Cube by Electrolux: Belgium

Combining ground breaking design, fantastic cuisine and stunning locations, The Cube by Electrolux is taking fine dining to a new level. Travelling across Belgium, Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Sweden, two spectacularly designed restaurants will be popping up at some of Europe’s most famous landmarks, inspiring guests with wonderful meals, events and once-in-a-lifetime views.

The Cube is fully transparent and consisting of glass encased in a white, laser-cut aluminium layer. Everything apart from the floor is pure white.

The interior is white Corian in combination with matt and glossily varnished wood. The wooden floor and carpet under the tables give it extra warmth and atmosphere, while the terrace outside provides an exclusive view across the Jubelpark, the centre of Brussels, the Atomium, etc.

The Cube is sited on top of the triumphal arch at a height of 45 metres. The entire structure has a surface area of 150 m2 and weighs 60 tonnes. The guests are taken to the top of the arch by lift.

The Cube, by Electrolux, Photography by Carol Kohen

Icon: Essence Glasses by Alfredo Häberli for Iittala

Possibly the most beautiful glassware ever designed–Alfredo Häberli has created supremely elegant modern glassware for Iittala. He suggested a new series of glasses and a carafe with one essential idea: have as few glasses as possible, while still being able to serve a full range of fine wines and other drinks.

Häberli says that he always designs his objects for a specific person. When he designed the Iittala Essence glasses, he kept thinking about a friend who is a wine expert. “I went to dinner with him. I wondered how someone with the latest model mobile phone, an expensive watch, a modern car and clothing, could hold an ugly old wine glass. As I was designing the glasses I thought that this must be something that he will like.”

“My personal heritage was essential for this project. Knowing the gastronomic business well (restaurant & hotel in my family), my aim was to integrate this knowledge in a modern shape. Not losing the scientific functionality of a shape in relation to the liquid. The idea for the glass range was to create a balance between tradition and modernity, between celebration and daily use, a balance with one and different uses. In a way, I tried to find the essence in-between. The shape was a challenge for production. The most difficult detail was the stem going into the completely flat bottom plate. This detail with the trapeze shape of the bowl gives the unusual character of the glasses. The water glass is without a stem and can be used as a shot glass or table wine glass in a daily function.”
- Alfredo Häberli

Iittala Essence Glassware, by Alfredo Häberli

Books: The Geometry of Pasta

If you like design and you like to cook, then The Geometry of Pasta will help in pairing the right pasta shape with the perfect sauce. There are said to be over 300 shapes of pasta, each of which has a history, a story to tell, and an affinity with particular foods. These shapes have evolved alongside the flavours of local ingredients, and the perfect combination can turn an ordinary dish into something sublime.

Published by Boxtree, The Geometry of Pasta pairs over 100 authentic recipes from leading chef, Jacob Kenedy (co-founder of Soho restaurant Bocca di Lupo), with graphic designer Caz Hildebrand’s striking black-and-white designs to reveal the science, history and philosophy behind spectacular pasta dishes from all over Italy.

The Geometry of Pasta, by Jacob Kenedy and Caz Hildebrand, Publisher: Pan Macmillan, Hardback 288 pages, ISBN: 9780752227375
Buy it here: Amazon

Photography: Ditte Isager on Noma & Chef René Redzepi

Photographer Ditte Isager has captured the essence of Chef René Redzepi, head chef of Copenhagen restaurant, Noma

Book Early, Reservations: Noma, Photography by Ditte Isager
View the interview on Charlie Rose

René Redzepi has been widely credited with re-inventing Nordic cuisine. His Copenhagen restaurant, Noma, was recognized as the third best in the world by the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards in 2009 and received the unique ‘Chef’s Choice’ award at the same ceremony. Redzepi operates at the cutting edge of gourmet cuisine, combining an unrelenting creativity and a remarkable level of craftsmanship with an inimitable and innate knowledge of the produce of his Nordic terroir.

Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine, Published by Phaidon, Hardback, 290 x 250 mm, 11 3/8 x 9 7/8 in, 320 pp, 200 colour illustrations ISBN: 9780714859033

Buy the Book: Amazon

Mangier by Smarin

Smarin have created a collection of objects of celebration, in collaboration with celebrity chef Mauro Colagrec. Mangier is a tree that can be decorated with various types of food, and is made of untreated wood. The range consists of three different models from 20 to 100 ‘branches’.

Mangier, by Smarin Design, for Mauro Colagrec

Happy Hour Chandelier by Marcel Wanders & Nanine Linning

Happy New Year!
Award–winning choreographer Nanine Linning and designer Marcel Wanders present an innovative concept in which a Dancing Angel is hanging upside down for 20 minutes from a Chandelier. The dancer offers little spoons of chocolate mousse and flutes of champagne to the crowd beneath her.

Happy Hour Chandelier, by Marcel Wanders, and Nanine Linning.
Bookings: Happy Hour Chandelier

Casa Camper Dos Palillos by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have designed the interior of a new restaurant called Dos Palillos for Camper Shoes in Berlin.

“What immediately interested us was that Dos Palillos was a one of a kind culinary experience offered by Albert Raurich, elBulli’s former chef. In order to celebrate his cuisine, the concept of the restaurant gives full means of expression to his culinary art.”

“Naturally, the kitchen had to be the centre of the space and thus, it had to be wide open so that guests could see the preparation of the dishes from the beginning to the end. We have decided to articulate the environment around one long wooden table and the stainless steel kitchen, one module facing the other. Consequently, the guests find themselves at the centre of the kitchen, while the chef acts in front of them.”

Dos Palillos Restaurant, Casa Camper Hotel, Berlin, Germany,
by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

Eternal Ice Drop by 5.5 Designers for Hennessy

Encapsulated in a glass drop, the imprisoned water freezes after a few hours in the freezer then spreads its coolness through the glass by finding its liquid state. Beyond its sustainable and reusable aspect, this object has a not unimportant consequence over the moment of the tasting of a good Cognac. Certain consumers, if they like the effect cooling some ice cube on their drink, do not like that by melting ice cubes alter the taste of this one, by dilution. Furthermore, the action of the cold tends to break certain aromas of the Cognac. This mode of cooling, lighter than a traditional ice cube, represents then an ideal solution to lead the cognac to the good temperature of tasting.

Eternal Ice Drop, by 5.5 Designers, for Hennessy

Evian Packaging by Paul Smith

Paul Smith has designed a bottle for Evian which will be on sale in limited amounts until Christmas. The London based designer describes the package as “…a nice glass bottle with colourful stripes around the top, printed with organic ink!”

Evian Bottle, by Paul Smith

Nomiya Space Restaurant at Palais de Tokyo

The Nomiya restaurant is replacing the Hotel Everland on the roof of the Palais de Tokyo for one year. Designed by the artist Laurent Grasso, the glass cube is part of the ‘Art Home’ culinary project by the Palais de Tokyo and Electrolux. The Nomiya concept developed for the Palais de Tokyo is a project that’s both inspired and named after the tiny Japanese bars. In the creation of Nomiya, Laurent Grasso was assisted by his brother, Pascal Grasso, an architect. Nomiya Space is a rectangular glass box about the size of a shipping container. “We tried to create an overall impression of airiness, transparency, floating,” said the French artist Laurent Grasso.

Nomiya Space, by Laurent Grasso, for Art Home
via: Travel with Frank Gehry