THE CULINARY DESIGNER JULIE ROTHHAHN
The food artist in her words, “To be a designer, I start by eating. With curiosity I taste everything in order to deconstruct its meaning, to open up a line of thought and to bring to food a design that helps to digest and escape.”
in her world, food becomes a material that can be modeled, to which a meaning can be given. Julie is a food artist because she specializes in creating designs with edible ingredients. She re- imagines new snacks, meals and entire food experiences that experiment with form, colors, and technique. Some projects include cube cakes, appetizer sculptures, and a paper bag fruit bowl. With 15 years of experience in the field, her studio supports brands and companies in the creation of experiences, installations, performances, immersive dinners, and workshops, always with edible elements at the heart of her creations. Winner of the 2009 Grand Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris design section. She co-coordinates the Master's degree in Design & Culinary at the Reims School of Art and Design.
Julie, please tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences.
The living world, nature in general, is an inexhaustible and wonderful source of inspiration for me. I will also draw on my culture of the performing arts, which is growing with time but which I was given the opportunity to cultivate at a very young age thanks to the cultural openness of my parents.
Then above all, I try to discover as many new restaurants and new dishes as possible.
What would be a dream project for you?
My dream project would be to design a place for which I would be the artistic director, where I could experiment with different formats of dinners by inviting my designer friends and great chefs to work together to create extraordinary multi-sensory culinary experiences.
What is one of the most memorable projects you have worked on so far, that you feel best represents your creativity?
The most extraordinary project I had the opportunity to work on was a dinner for Hermès in Taipei. The artistic and culinary direction of a dinner for 200 people on a 60m long table on the theme of « flânerie".
With my team of graphic, sound and light designers and the chef Bertrand Grebaut, we created a multi-sensory experience where the guests discovered Paris as if through the eyes of a bird during the course of a day. The dinner was scripted and punctuated by the arrival of the dishes, the ballet of the waiters, the movement of the projected drawings and the musical atmosphere created for the occasion. The six tableaux vivants that illuminate and decorate the table (the sky, the balconies, the French garden, the carousels, the city, the stars) were coordinated with the tasting times and synchronised with the gestures of the different services.
Created with gouache, the animated drawings were superimposed on the cutlery and decorations designed for the monumental table. They matched the gastronomic dishes, creating a dreamlike landscape and making this experience an invitation to flânerie.
http://www.juliehhh.com/portfolio/hermes-dinner-taiwan/
How does innovation affect your creativity?
Innovation interests me when it can provide more precision and emotion to the creation I am undertaking. Also when it helps me to better serve the purpose, and the narrative.
What does wellbeing mean to you?
For me, well-being lies in harmonious sharing with those I love. A sum of small precious moments
Anything else we should know about your creative process?
I work a lot by association of ideas and by image impulse.
