I was invited along to something pretty spectacular the other week. A once in a lifetime oppourtunity, a collaboration between Wallpaper specialists Graham&Brown and chef Pedro Passin. A unique 2 week popup restaurant with a 7 course wallpaper inspired menu and wallpaper house in Soho, 19 Greek Street.
A three stories tall building taken over with experiences with sight, taste and touch. Each floor told a story of the brand and it's homeware/ wallpaper designs. At the very top a pop up dining area where our tastes explored the visuals infront and around us.
To explain it's menu Pedro Passin described the way he worked and thought up the menu
'The way I work in terms of developing menus is always based around textures, colours, the seasons, drawing inspiration from art from landscape from design from nature.
When looking at G&B wallpaper project I could identify a lot of similarities to research I was already developing at denim n dine.
The idea was to somehow translate what I saw from the wallpaper onto a plate of food whilst Keeping the food delicious, seasonal, visually appealing and with a clear connection to the wallpaper theme.
Textures of the plates, colours, materials, and even their weights help establish a link between each dish and the matching wallpaper, helping to create a food narrative, that ties in all of these aspects together.We also wanted to create a meal that would provoke the diners senses, not just the taste but tactile, visual, aromas, making the experience very interactive. This is where I started research into Edible papers, shaping ingredients into natural elements such as leaves, moss, barks, minerals, using colours, contrasts in textures to help create the connection for the dinner between all of our selection of G&B wallpaper themes and our menu for the experience.'
The dining setting was incredible, as were the dishes. Before starting we were given some wine, and at the start of each course a brief description from our waiter. The main thing taken from this was it was a whole experience. The crockery has been designed and created especially for each meal to fit in with each idea.
We started with as light as paper. Ginger and cumin foam, carrot and orange granita and a edible napkin. It was light and refreshing. I'm not a lover of ginger but it wasn't too over powering. It taste and the texture felt a bit like a carrot cake.
Scrunched up Scallop “sheet”, slow cooked pork neck, squash puree, pickled cauliflower, almonds
Pedro noted the idea of this dish was to replicate the scrunched up effect of the paper by developing the scallop “sheet” and folding it onto the plate. This by far was my favourite dish.
Next was my least favourite, mineral / Aluminium Oyster aluminium, pickled oyster, horseradish cream, parsley mayonnaise, dill
Inspired by the metallic, Aluminium properties of the wallpaper, you could certainly taste this. Presented beautifully but the taste and texture sadly wasn't for me.
Next was the Twigs dish. Our table had clocked on from the beginning that the table displays were infact edible, not taking in to account they were in fact to accompany a dish. Edible crispy mushroom snack, creme fraiche dip. This was one of my favourites and a nice way to split the dishes up.
Next we took 'A walk through the woods' eating Edible moss, celeriac bark, smoked celeriac puree, roasted quail. Inspired by the many Floral and autumn representing wallpapers.
Pedro looked at recreating a forest “floor” and scenery representing the beginning of Autumn season of the year. This was another favourite dish of mine.
We cleansed our palates with some Origami, Watermelon pith, orange blossom. This has a strange textures and a odd sweetness to it.
And to finish the menu, along with mineral / Aluminium, Terra was another dish I wasn't so keen on sadly. Candied beetroot, compressed watermelon, goats milk yoghurt, honey, cocoa soil
Taking inspiration from a variety of different G&B wallpapers. Pedro described the dish ' From an aesthetic perspective, it draws from an earthy colour scheme. Another key element of the dish are the various textures coming together. It is creamy and light and exploding with flavour, hitting your senses intensely. A perfect end to the meal. '
I for one loved my time at the house of wallpaper. The creativity thrived and the dining experience was out of this world, something I certainly won't forget in a hurry. It's definitely lead me to explore more pop up dining experiences not only for the food but the atmosphere and experience.
Love
Michaela
xo
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