The Dialectics of Space dinner combines the use of the space with menu items in order to create an overall sensory experience that is able to permeate participants during a multi-course gastronomical happening.
Menu #1
- Beet pâté and marinated apple salad topped with ribbons of red pepper jerky.
- Mushroom tempura atop salsa criolla.
- Quinoa alla Milanese with pickled broccoli.
- Passion fruit and banana cake topped with toasted coconut and ginger glass shards.
- Salmiakki vodka jellies (digestif).
* All courses were made vegan and gluten free to meet the dietary restrictions of the participants.
The 'Dialectics of Space' dining room is a modified greenhouse structure constructed out of repurposed wood and construction materials, it has a dining table covered with living moss as well as specific audio and lighting elements.
PARTICIPANT'S REFLECTIONS:
Participants are asked to reflect on their dining experience and encouraged to express how good, bad or indifferent they felt about it and what made them feel like that:
Participant #2: "For me it was one of the most memorable experiences as far as food is concerned. Was at ease with strangers, the musky earthy smell and the ambient sounds reduced the uncertainty between people to a weird, ethereal familiarity. In India the Tibetans travel down south with their winter caravans with street kitchens, where everyone sits on the floor and there is a meditative feel to it. It felt great and the food experiments were incredibly rivaled by the self-made walnut plates and had me thinking "what am i doing with MY life!"."
Participant #4: The dinner on the mosstable was special in many ways - the fresh and relaxing climate inside the greenhouse, the birdsounds and the tactile sensation on my hands and arms (i constantly wanted to touch and stroke the moss!) felt perfect as it really allowed my mind to disconnect from what had happened earlier that day.
The food served to us was excellent, weird and safe at the same time - as I am vegetarian myself, it always makes me feel safe when I know I can trust what I get on my plate. Many delicious small dishes and they filled my stomach!
The plates that were made and used in the dinner reflected a possible conversation with the moss, for me. I loved that they were made on “stilts” or legs, so the moss would not have to bear the flat surfaces of plate bottoms. The dishes really did it for me.
I was surprised how the dinner was managed so fluidly, without any help. The preparation was swift as we were eating and the timing between the courses was really good!
The people we ended up on at the table, were interesting and good conversations evolved. However, one thought that I had during the dinner, was that maybe a strange question, or a quote or a short paragraph read to us in the beginning, could have steered the talks into unexpected directions, and might have added a dimension to the shared meal that would have transformed “small talk” into "bigger talk”, maybe.
Participant #6: My impressions about the diner:
- being positively surprised about the dining space,
- admiring the moss on the table and sensing the fragility of it,
- the sounds, space, dining with strangers brought to me the airport impression,
- loving the excellent food and good company,
- myself feeling a bit restless with my energy, I would need some grounding exercise like deep breathing, silent moment together or foot washing:) before eating."
Participant #4: The dinner on the mosstable was special in many ways - the fresh and relaxing climate inside the greenhouse, the birdsounds and the tactile sensation on my hands and arms (i constantly wanted to touch and stroke the moss!) felt perfect as it really allowed my mind to disconnect from what had happened earlier that day.
The food served to us was excellent, weird and safe at the same time - as I am vegetarian myself, it always makes me feel safe when I know I can trust what I get on my plate. Many delicious small dishes and they filled my stomach!
The plates that were made and used in the dinner reflected a possible conversation with the moss, for me. I loved that they were made on “stilts” or legs, so the moss would not have to bear the flat surfaces of plate bottoms. The dishes really did it for me.
I was surprised how the dinner was managed so fluidly, without any help. The preparation was swift as we were eating and the timing between the courses was really good!
The people we ended up on at the table, were interesting and good conversations evolved. However, one thought that I had during the dinner, was that maybe a strange question, or a quote or a short paragraph read to us in the beginning, could have steered the talks into unexpected directions, and might have added a dimension to the shared meal that would have transformed “small talk” into "bigger talk”, maybe.
Participant #6: My impressions about the diner:
- being positively surprised about the dining space,
- admiring the moss on the table and sensing the fragility of it,
- the sounds, space, dining with strangers brought to me the airport impression,
- loving the excellent food and good company,
- myself feeling a bit restless with my energy, I would need some grounding exercise like deep breathing, silent moment together or foot washing:) before eating."