A Taste for Design

Gaggenau has created an extraordinary short film and event series called “A Taste for Design” exclusively for Gaggenau Club 1683 members and prospective members. Devised to laud the intersection of architecture, design and the culinary arts, each event pairs a MICHELIN star chef with renowned architects, designers and/or spaces to discuss the cross connections between food, art, architecture, and design. They provide an intimate glimpse into the private lives and living environments of “top of their craft” talent as they explore the materials, ingredients, sources of inspiration, tools, spaces, locations, and an individual commitment to pushing traditional limits to reach a perfect state.

Brian Tichenor, architect, Tichenor & Thorp riffs with Chef Josiah Citrin of 2 MICHELIN star Mélisse and Michele Chan Soon-Shiong, owner of the LA Times on the diverse cultural connections that influence Angelino design, architecture and culinary arts. The three share how LA melds together a wide swath of artforms, communities and experiences to create an incredibly vibrant place unlike any other American city. Shot in The Kitchen at the LA Times, the “Wooden Modernism” space is infused with industrial materials in the vein of LA mid-century architects Rudolph Shindler and Harwell Harris. The culmination of the conversation shares the way of being that is a mélange of things that contribute to living life well.

Chef Eric Ziebold, 2 MICHELIN star chef at Metier and Kinship in Washington DC, was invited to prepare a dish in the Simon Jacobsen designed “Spy House” kitchen where he and Joan Dempsey, “Spy House” owner, Simon Jacobsen, architect shared their secret ingredients for success. This film short creates an intimate portrait of a chef, homeowner and architect coming together to reveal the nuanced details that make for good living.

Celebrity Chef Andrew Zimmern, best known for his Travel Channel “Bizarre foods” series, invites 2 MICHELIN star Chef Curtis Duffy, formerly of GRACE – now of EVER in Chicago, into his home in Minnesota to dish on design, ingredients, cooking and the details that make perfection. This film short gets underneath the precision that is Chef Curtis, reinforcing the importance of the tools, materials, ingredients, place and patience to make perfection real.

Ashley Stark, creative director, STARK Carpet and the granddaughter of STARK Carpet founders, Arthur and Nadia Stark, joins with Chef Emma Bengtsson, 2 MICHELIN Star Chef of Aquavit New York - founded in 1987 by Hakan Swahn, to share the legacies they have been passed while also bringing new inspiration forward. This film short and event takes place in Stark’s kitchen, where Ashley and Emma share stories of their muses and paint intimate portraits of family connections.

Step into the meticulously preserved Kendrick Bangs Kellogg project, the Doolittle House in Joshua Tree, California. Little to nothing has been changed since the homes’ original inception and long construction. Chef Niki Nakayama of 2 MICHELIN starred restaurant n/naka in Los Angeles joins Gerard O’Brien, gallery owner and California Modernist authority on a walk in and around this sublime example of organic architecture. This short film and event explore the relationship of organic design to the artform of Japanese Kaiseki cooking that balances out taste, texture, appearance, and color.

Join internationally acclaimed Chef Eric Ripert of 3 MICHELIN star restaurant Le Bernardin in New York City, as he discusses learning to cook from his mother, his passion for cooking, his friendship with Anthony Bourdain and how, at age 29 his commitment to his craft earned him a four-star rating from the New York Times and in 2006, was only one of four New York restaurants to be awarded the maximum of 3 MICHELIN stars for excellence in cuisine.

MICHELIN Chef Ryan Ratino of Bresca, Washington, DC joins Chef Matt Voskuil, executive chef of the Ocean House a Relais & Chateaux property in Westerly Rhode Island as they discuss the importance of the foundation of Gaggenau product design - the professional kitchen principle. Working with leading chefs, Gaggenau develops intuitive and enabling technology for the residential kitchen. Chef Ryan and Chef Matt elaborate on the value of this practice while cooking in the Gaggenau Culinary Studio at the Ocean House.