Winning Space of the Interieur Awards 2014 - built at the Biennale Interieur 17/24 october 2014, Kortrijk, Belgium. DRIED CHAT ROOM It’s a contemporary attitude towards our heritage
New contemporary social attitudes retaliate ancient manners of cooking and conserving food. We live in a dizzy, restlessness world with a huge virtual reality factor which coexist with a new need of savouring scents and tasting flavours.
Primitive and natural processes of preparing and preserving food like smoked and salted fish or meat, dried fruits and vegetables, use minimum resources for best result. It’s a necessary contemporary attitude with heritage. Moreover, this kind of food is commonly used by travellers, explorers and nomad people, expression of contemporary times.
When a lunchbreak is short, this pause becomes a regenerating moment for the body and mind, a moment to deepen social relationships. DRIED CHAT ROOM is an essential and unusual bar space to eat and meet.
Common materials with strong textures are turned into emotions. Shimmering golden draperies wave naturally above lightweight black ‘stones’ and plain fabrics. Used out of their normal context the materials gain an alternative aesthetics.
Dried food as an element to characterise the whole space, the menu, and the corporate image.The ingredients of the dishes proposed are apparently humble and mainly organic and come from multiple cultures and traditions. Dried tuna fish from Japan, Scandinavian dried meat, Norvegian codfish and smoked salmon, salt preserved lemons from Morocco, Sicilian dried tomatoes, marinated garlic from spain, etc… are blended into new unexpected flavours.
