The Crispy Clouds

The freitagsküche is not a restaurant, but it looks like one. It is a social meeting place, exhibition and performance venue that combines cooking, eating together and good conversation. Food as a vehicle for communicating art. This is a food design project in the freitagsküche.

Person in black clothing managing pieces of frozen fish or seafood on a white surface.

This is a project that was designed and finished in the kitchen. I used rice paper as the design material. Rice paper is a traditional Asian food. It can be softened with water, dyed with food coloring or deep-fried. As it is translucent, the rice paper enlarges after frying and forms many small bubbles that create a beautiful texture. The light passing through these bubbles creates a soft lighting effect. I have made many pieces of colored and fried rice paper in the shape of clouds. The clouds are placed under the lights in the restaurant. The clouds are also within reach of the guests. While they wait for their food, they can eat this rice paper cloud as an appetizer.

A person using tongs to fry meat in a pot on a stove in a kitchen.

Colorful tissue paper art installations suspended above trays of dyed tissue paper in a decorated room.

Decorative hanging paper lamp with multicolored tissue paper over a warm light bulb in a dimly lit room with bottles on a table in the background.

Colorful cotton candy hanging from ceiling lights in a restaurant with two women and a man sitting at a table.

Two black pendant lamps hanging from the ceiling illuminating colorful tissue paper clouds. The photo is taken through a blue metal grid or barrier, with some text in the background.

View of a messy indoor space seen through a window, with a table holding torn paper, and a wall with large black artwork of a face and glasses.

Interior of a modern restaurant with black and white text-covered walls, hanging black lamps with decorative cloud-like fixtures, and people dining at tables.

Dimly lit restaurant interior with hanging cloud-shaped light fixtures, white tablecloth-covered tables set with utensils, and a large black and white abstract wall art.