Pedersen + Lennard
Conceptualise and prepare a lunch menu for a team of designers participating in the Design Week Challenge with a focus on sustainability, recycling and/or up-cycling that captures the essence of collaboration.
STARTER
3D-printed food waste dip served with ‘plastic’ veggie chips and crackers.
MAINS
Collaborative Sosatie: We asked the design team a few fun questions prior to the event to help us create giant sosaties that represent everyone’s favourite ingredients and flavours — one of the highlights included goat meat. These were braaied on site to perfection by Chef Thabisho Sechogela.
Cricket Flour Irostile: Larger-than-usual irostile infused with cricket flour accompanied by cultured butter.
Shake and Rake Salad: Inspired by Fluxus artist Alison Knowles, we recreated her performance ‘Make A Salad’ which was first performed back in 1962. We got the design team involved and hands-on in ‘shaking’ and ‘raking’ (again) a larger-than-life coleslaw.
DESSERT
DIY Trifle: A next gen dessert giving new life to cake off-cuts donated by our baker friends from Crumb Boutique Bakery and Sweet Lion Heart.
DRINK
G&Sea: In collaboration with Pienaar & Son, a reimagined gin and seawater sourced right from the Atlantic Ocean.
Studio H
Chef: Thabisho Sechogela
G&Sea: Pienaar & Son
iRostile: Ou Meul Botrivier
Cultured Butter: Cream of the Crop
Cake Offcuts: Crumb Boutique Bakery and Sweet Lionheart
Photos: Samuel Jordan @samsamsamesam
Thank you Pedersen + Lennard for the inspiring brief and the opportunity to work with your incredible team!
Nando’s
Conceptualise a strategy that would celebrate the launch of two new Nando's Bag ‘n Bake flavours.
The new flavours have inspired a selection of #PERiTricks recipes that puts a fresh spin on some of South Africa’s favourite foods and ingredients. And as part of the launch, customers got to discover these recipe tricks at a popup in Braamfontein. Think super fun recipes made in a tumble dryer, air fryer or even with an iron.
As the lead creative agency on the product launch, Studio H was responsible for creating and managing the concept, developing the recipes and directing and producing the recipe video content for the project. The studio collaborated with some of the finest local talent to make this project come to life.
This project was shortlisted for the Loeries Awards 2023. See here.
Concept and production: Studio H
Architect: Stretch Architects
Pattern design: Bonolo Chepape, Lulasclan
Video: Yellow Brick Media
Setbuilding: JMC
Culinary support team: Prue Leith Chefs
Location: 99 Juta
Graphic design: Spook Design Co., Sisanda Nxumalo
Interior photography: Marijke Willems
Scape Magazine
Create three installations (including something to eat and drink) for the SCAPE Trade Show that tie in with the overarching theme of ‘What If’, where we will be pushing the boundaries of convention, unravelling the threads of possibility, and weaving narratives that bridge the gap between the fantastical and the tangible.
G&Sea
What if you could harvest or drink sea water? SCAPE & Studio H in collaboration with Pienaar & Son presents G&Sea, a salty and delicious cocktail of origin the Atlantic Ocean. This concept challenges our palate and perception, exploring the fusion of taste, sustainability, and culinary creativity through a speculative scenario of a world where consuming sea water becomes a normal part of our diets. G&Sea sparks a dialogue about a future where our culinary boundaries know no bounds, inviting us to taste the unimaginable.
Veggie Lights
What if vegetables could power lights? SCAPE & Studio H in collaboration with Mr Munro explore the possibilities of a world in which ordinary fruit and vegetables could power our grid. Imagine these seemingly ordinary pantry staples become extraordinary power sources for generations to come.
Coffee Sausage
What if we could eat our coffee? SCAPE & Studio H in collaboration with Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants present a breakfast alternative of coffee-infused sausages. Picture a world where your morning ritual takes on a whole new dimension – a daily dose of energy isn't just sipped, but savoured as a culinary delight, allowing us to reimagine our culinary traditions.
Mamakashaka for Spotify Africa
Take the culinary lead for the Spotify Greasy Tunes Popup.
Our studio was commissioned by Mamakashaka to be the culinary lead for the Spotify Greasy Tunes Popup that runs in Braam for the month of July. We designed the menu, set up the kitchen and are in charge of the daily food service in collaboration with Chef Luyanda Sogiba from Lish Foods. We assisted BCKRDS, who designed the CI for the project, to style the food for their campaign shoot.
Menu design: Studio H
Food designer: Juwan Beyers, Studio H
Culinary execution: Jenny Ward, Luyanda Sogiba
CI design: BCKRDS
Creative Director: Wade Moonsamy
Lead agency: Mamakashaka
Project manager: Siba Mosana
Food prep for shoot: Food I Love You, Studio H
Photographer: André Badenhorst
Studio H Project managers: JC Landman, Angelique Smith
Adidas
We were briefed, alongside six other artists, to re-imagine sustainable footwear for the future for the new adidas concept store in the Waterfront.
As a future food design studio, our approach is deeply rooted in exploring a sustainable future. With our micro mushroom farm, we celebrate mushrooms for their ability to perform the alchemy of transforming agricultural and other organic waste into a nutritious food source. Growing mushrooms is a unique blend of recycling, science and efficacy. This powerful combination makes them one of the most sustainably produced foods in the world.
The interior of the Stan Smith shoe has been converted into a micro mushroom farm and 3-D texture was added to the exterior of the shoe by sculpting fondant and piped royal icing flavoured with dried mushroom powder. The laces are coloured with natural mushroom dye.
Concept, micro mushroom farm and laces: Studio H
Exterior design: Sweet LionHeart (Nikki Symons)
WCellar (Woolworths)
Create an immersive in-store display for the redesigned WCellar store in Hout Bay.
An interactive, tactile Masterclass detailing the process of champagne making – from grapes to bubbles, accompanied by an olfactory flavour pairing station.
Concept, Design and Creative Direction: Studio H
Props and styling: Studio H
Basic structure build: Happinest
Installation: Studio H and Happinest
Graphic design: Casper Schutte, Spook
Special thanks: Hendrik Coetzee
Sonic seasoning is one of our favourite tools when designing experiences. The term “sonic seasoning” refers to the deliberate matching, or pairing, of sound/music with taste/flavour in order to enhance, or modify, the multisensory tasting experience.
Photos: Alix-Rose Cowie, Jade Ruijzenaars
Crowd-sourced food design: Hannerie was a speaker at the 2022 Design Summit at 100 Percent Design Africa. As part of her presentation the audience took part in a crowd-sourced food design experiment. The Happy Cake Project in collaboration with Sweet LionHeart, aimed to design the world’s happiest cake. At the Summit we presented a Beta version of the cake for everyone to taste: Kefir and cacao nib chocolate cake with honey and mucuna Swiss meringue buttercream. We asked the audience to design version 2.0 of the cake with us by voting for various options through a cloud-based platform. The audience voted that the next cake would be:
Cake flavours: Dark chocolate (1st choice) and Sourdough honey (2nd option)
Filing and icing: Bee pollen buttercream (1st choice) & Lavender buttercream (2nd option)
Colour: Yellow
Eaten with: Your hands
Listen while eating: Happy by Pharrell Willliams
Emazulwini Restaurant
Media launch for new menu
A Millets Celebration that was attended by media and creators to experience the new Emazulwini menu, and a feature and photo shoot included in the Studio H Millets report.
Read part of the feature below.
In celebration of millets, Chef Mmabatho has embarked on a culinary journey that challenges convention. Traditionally associated with humble fare, millets are now at the heart of Emazulwini’s spring menu. It’s a surprising twist that demonstrates the restaurant’s commitment to redefining perceptions about ingredients often dismissed as ‘not fine dining.’ This departure from tradition isn't just about following a trend, it’s an act of creative reinvention. Chef Mmabatho, born and raised in KwaZulu-Natal, has chosen to explore her culinary imagination beyond her childhood recipes. While the flavours and ingredients remain rooted in her family’s culinary traditions, the millet menu allows her to step outside the confines of her own life story.
Emazulwini’s millet-centric menu features three different varieties of millets: pearl millet, fonio, and sorghum. These ancient grains form the basis of a six-course culinary journey that is both a tribute to the past and a vision of a more sustainable future. The menu is meticulously designed to reflect the essence of the spring season, offering dishes that are light, fresh, and vibrant. It’s an embodiment of Emazulwini's philosophy of celebrating the changing seasons and the abundance they bring.
One of the signature dishes, “Lucky's Star,” is a creative tribute to a South African favourite – pilchards in a can. This dish features fried sardines, roasted red pepper, tomato puree, served with a millet and spinach salad composed of pearl millet, fonio, and sorghum. To end the meal on a sweet note, Chef Mmabatho has crafted "An African Love Letter," a dessert that focuses on three foods deeply rooted in Africa but enjoyed worldwide – coffee, chocolate and millet. It takes the form of a millet chocolate tartlet, coffee crémeux, nut crumble, and cardamom and vanilla ice cream, offering a sweet symphony of flavours that pays homage to the continent's culinary legacy.
Read the full feature in our Millets Report.
Photos: Paris Brummer
Copy: JC Landman
