WELCOME TO SPECTRA

SPECTRA is narrative of taste where you are the protagonist, and through seven courses you travel and experience the future of food. 

Welcome to SPECTRA, your experience is about to begin.

This project took place in Japan collaborating with Kayo Mizutani, a student from Tama Art University.

This is a work in progress.

THE MENU

Tonight you will be tasting into the future. Through seven courses you will begin in the present and travel into the future of taste. The Menu is divided into 3 acts like a theater play and you are the protagonist that explores the play as you enjoy each course.

We are focusing on designing 5 out of the 7 vessels and experience that comes with it.

First Course: Tip of the Iceberg

The first course begins with 3 delicous little bites, served on a thin piece of slate.

Once you finish, your waiter will instruct you to lift the tray up, and to your surprise you find it to be incredibly light. You discover the plate was not made of slate but rather the key ingredient for the next course

The plate is symbol of acceleration leaving of the comfort zone. The form of the plate is inspired by the stillness and movement of a feathering brush stroke.

Second Course: Enter the Unknown

The second course is a deconstructed version of the humble miso soup, presented in an interactive way.

After you lift the slate plate, a clear bowl will be placed, and the waiter will begin pouring  hot water from a kettle, over the bowl, dissolving your plate into miso soup.

This experience is a symbolic action of leaving of the comfort zone, reality (the slab of slate) is not what it seems.

Third Course: The Threshold

The Third Course is served on a mysterious glass box, with a thin sheet of ice. 

As you finish enjoying the 5 fresh slices of  sashimi, your waiter will hand you a small mallet and instruct you to break the sheet of ice. Once you break the ice you will find a piece of gradient sashimi (lab grown from 5 types of fish) shrouded in smoke and suspended in air. 

This course is meant to symoblize the end of the reality you are familiar with. Once you break the ice, you have now crossed into the future, where you are presented with a piece of sashimi that tells the story of future meat alternatives.

Fourth Course: The Arrival

The fourth course is served in a sculptural fixture with a mixture in spherical ice.

The course begins with the waiter watering the scuplture, then handing you small sheer to clip the flower. Once you trim the stem you drink the liquid inside the ice.

This course tells the story of hydro farming. The elixir itself is comprised of extracts of roots, flowers, and leaves to show that in the future we will be eating more that the fruits of a plant but also the plant itself.

Seventh Course: The Rebirth

The final course is served in an edible tower form, with a light at the bottom that illuminates creating a candle like lighting. 

The top of the tower has a honey pot ant that you may eat whole or pop and garnish over the chocolate. After, you can break each of the sections and enjoy.  

The final course is designed to be a concluding statment to the experience. The candle form tells the story of a dark future, but amidst this future, food can be a delightful aspect of life in the future that shines in this darkness. The breaking of each piece resembles a candle lighting ceromony, lighting your own candle and taking this new perspective home.