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THE CLIENT
Birkenstock
THE BRIEF
Partner with Birkenstock on their Summer Story campaign, creating a food programme for a 4-day pop-up café, as well as a public-facing Sunday activation on Bree Street.
THE RESULT
A summer food programme designed to move between brand world and street energy. For the 4-day pop-up café, Studio H served as Birkenstock’s culinary partner, developing a menu that translated the campaign into flavour.
In collaboration with Tadaa Ice Cream, we created a set of custom summer ice cream flavours, anchored by Birkenstock’s iconic blue — a visual cue reworked into a sensory signature.
The week culminated in a Sunday activation on Bree Street with a hotdog bar with Kosgangsta.
Concept and culinary partners: Studio H
Culinary collaborator: Juwan Beyers Food Design
Ice cream: Tadaa Ice Cream
Sunday activation hotdog bar: Kosgangsta


Moët & Chandon
Studio H has been the lead agency on the Moët & Chandon Golden Tree project for a number of years, driving the structure design and launch events.
In 2017, 2018 and 2019 the tree consisted of 1680 empty champagne bottles that were collected from across the country and carefully re-used to make a 10-meter-high tree by 15 people over 17 days. 15 300 LED lights were used in 26 concentric rows to create the light.
Most recently, in 2021, a new tree design was launched at Nelson Mandela Square. It was an evening as memorable as it was celebratory in the City of Gold, as Moët & Chandon brought its unique savoir-fête to open South Africa’s festive season in style at the Moët & Chandon Golden Tree opening celebration at Tang Restaurant, attended by the country’s leading celebrities and dignitaries.
Festivities began with a musical performance by SAMA winning artist Simmy who entertained guests with her hit song Sonini. As is custom, Moët & Chandon included iconic South Africans in the experience – this year with Zozibini Tunzi, global humanitarian and Miss Universe 2019, alongside SA cricket captain Temba Bavuma. Black Coffee’s brilliant surprise performance ended the evening with an atmosphere few will forget.
The new Moët & Chandon Golden Tree, poised to offer perfect golden reflections of the Sandton skyline, is a sight to behold. Golden baubles adorn the tree’s gleaming metal exterior, while (for the first time) the interior opens to offer guests a truly immersive experience. Expect a show-stopping chandelier, crafted from 1,400 Moët & Chandon bottles, hanging delicately over a custom-designed champagne cork floor.
Concept: Studio H
Architect: Stephen Hitchcock, Stretch Architects
Studio H: Hannerie Visser, JC Landman, Hendrik Coetzee, Elena Schutte
Styling: Klara van Wyngaarden
Logistics: Dirkie van der Merwe, Henk van der Schyf
Reveal moment: Tiaan Schutte
Venues: TANG Sandton, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton City Mall
Staffing: Holla’
Travel: JetSet-Go


At the 2022 Food XX Awards, we honoured a group of 19 women from across South Africa - and beyond - for their outstanding contributions to the food and hospitality industry. For this event, the Studio H team designed a neutral canvas that would represent our equality-themed Awards breakfast ceremony. We collaborated with some of our favourite women in food to produce the all-neutral breakfast spread of Wild Yeast edible sourdough cracker plates, Sweet LionHeart regal cakes (bright pink on the inside) and Studio H’s souttert cakes decorated by the SLH team with cream cheese frosting and gold glitter olives, soetkoekie forks and of course Krone Cap Classique to toast our winners.
Programme MC: Khanya Mzongwana
Ayurvedic tea and meditation ceremony: Michele Mistry, Indikaap
Imphepho installation and intention setting: Ukutya
Keynote speech: Mmabatho Molefe, Emazulwini
Continental Connections: Anna Trapido
Event sponsor: Spekko Rice
Venue sponsor: Makers Landing
Awards sponsors: Spekko Rice, Krone, Nando's
Trophy plates: The Detailsmith
Publicity team: Ten X Collective
Social media team: Star Shongwe, Zanie Nxa
Production design: JC Landman
Culinary design: Juwan Beyers
Photos: Daniela Zondagh
Floral design: Mr Munro

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As a food design studio, we’re in our element when we get to translate material narratives into edible experiences. For the Art Party hosted by House and Leisure, Viviers Studio and Soho House, Studio H, in collaboration with Juwan Beyers, designed a menu inspired by the natural fibres explored in Lamb of Hope – the exhibition by Viviers Studio and Philip Fimano that formed the backdrop to the evening.
Drawing from the tactility and integrity of raw fibre, we approached each ingredient in its simplest, most honest form and then treated it as material. Pulled. Braided. Woven. Stitched.
On the table:
Turkish delight, delicately structured and hand-finished.
Fruit leather, hand-sewn by Juwan Beyers Food Design.
Braided fior di latté.
Hand-woven cracker breads.
Forelle pears in their natural blush.
A savoury mosbolletjie cake layered with lamb jam.
Each element became a study in texture and craft, exploring tension, pliability, repetition and form through food. The menu echoed the exhibition’s meditation on fibre, transforming softness into structure and nourishment into narrative.
A sensory extension of the installation. Design you can taste.


Etienne Hanekom for Babylonstoren
One of our all-time favourite designers, Etienne Hanekom, asked us to contribute to the ‘Wine Aroma’ section of the brand new Wine Museum at Babylonstoren.
We worked with Etienne and the Babylonstore wine makers to develop a range of perfumes that represent the key flavour notes of each of their wines.


My work "Visnetten” was on show at in The Hague until the end of January 2022 as part of the show “Food For Thought” curated by Diana Wind. Recipe cards attached to embroidered fishing nets tell the story of a broken food system and the invisible people, often women, in that system. Visitors are encouraged to remove the cards with family recipes to expose the embroidery. Also on exhibition is my grandmother and great grandmother’s recipe book that’s been in our family for more than 100 years. Fishing net bags made by Weskusmandjie were for sale in the museum shop.
This project could not have been possible without: Hilda Adams and the women whose story inspired this work.
Embroidery by Keiskamma Art Project: Veronica Betani, Nombulelo Paliso, Bonelwa Paliso, Setyenzwa Mangwana, Esethu Makubalo, Nokuzola Mvaphants, Thabisa Gusha, Fikiswa Madlingozi, Sanela Maxengana
Graphic design: Casper Schutte
Special thanks to: Michaela Howse, Tracy Lee Lynch, Hendrik Coetzee
Museum Rijswijk: DianaArnault, Astrid, Anneke and the rest of the most wonderful, helpful and passionate team of people.

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Ten X Collective for Amazon Prime
To celebrate the premiere of Amazon Prime’s Last One Laughing in South Africa, we were asked to design and execute a menu for a South African street food village.
Embracing the opportunity to be boldly innovative with an added element of heritage and humour, we created a menu that came alive with the vibrant and energetic spirit of Amazon’s iconic blue. Canapés were elevated, flavourful treats with a nostalgic twist, packaged as tuckshop snacks – think spiced biltong zoo biscuits and Nik Naks flavoured skhokho crisps. Guests got to co-create their own kotas with a selection of toppings, and choose thick or thin, long or short at the self-service “boerie bar”. The evening ended on a sweet note with “guess the flavour”" soft serve, candy floss a 10-meter-long skopas treat. Everything in bright blue!
Concept, menu design, culinary curation: Studio H
Head chef: Jenny Ward
Food collaborators: Fifi Kusotera, Strone Henry, Charming Chef
Graphic design: Spook Design Co.
FOH Manager: Angelique Smith
Service: Blackjack Events
Event production: Until Until Events


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


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.


Studio H designed an interactive installation, Don't Feed The Birds, to launch our Millets Report in the Future of Design area at Decorex in Cape Town. We wanted to highlight that millets are mostly only available as bird feed in our supermarket aisles. Our stand navigated visitors through a collection of bird baths by Kassa Studio, that were filled with either bird seeds or millet brownies (for human consumption).
Project Manager: JC Landman
Concept: Hendrik Coetzee, Juwan Beyers
Floor vinyl design: Hoick
Bird Baths: Kassa Studio
Photos: Paris Brummer

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THE BRIEF
We teamed up with 2 Stories to create an internal communications experience for Standard Bank.
THE BRIEF
Turnconversations about global creativity, internal comms and the future of AI at work into something sensory.
THE RESULT
The overarching theme was connection. We translated this into a physical language using string as a core decorative element – threaded through every touchpoint of the day, linking spaces, moments and interactions. A simple material, used deliberately, became a quiet but constant reminder of how ideas, people and systems intertwine.
When you turn ideas into experiences, you create space for connection, curiosity and collaboration in a way content alone can’t.
For the lunch, we designed an interactive menu:
SALAD: A Study in Connection
Breaded whole chicken
Whole lettuce heads
Vine tomatoes
Parmesan wedges
Connected cucumbers
Pain d'épi
Caesar dressing
Participants had to disconnect the connected elements to create their lunch — a deconstructed salad inspired by the elements of a chicken Caesar.
Alongside the menu, Juwan Beyers and Studio H hosted a collaborative cookie-making workshop, while Hannerie led an interactive food-play exercise, that included sonic seasoning tastings and some of South Africa’s favourite treats reimagined as jello shots (think jello rusks, cream soda float and Hertzoggies).


Eskort
Create 107 extraordinary cakes for Eskort’s 107th birthday. As South Africa’s leading antibiotic-free pork producer delivering quality you can trust since 1917, we were briefed to take it a step further – the cakes had to feature pork sausages and bacon, of course!
Teaming up with Sweet LionHeart, we came up with six designs for sweet and savoury cakes that honoured the products on which Eskort’s early success was built.
“It’s not often a brand gets to celebrate a 107th birthday,” says Eskort Marketing Director Marcelle Pienaar. “And we wanted to do something epic to mark the occasion but also underpin it with a nod to who we are and where we have come from.”
Eskort was born in the small town of Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal when nine farmers started the Farmers Cooperative Bacon Factory in 1917. It started making sausages in 1920, and they won a gold medal at that year’s Rand Easter Show.
These days, Eskort has more than 300 world-class pork products, ranging from high-end fresh cuts to convenience meals and staples. But Gold Medal pork sausages remain a favourite with South African consumers, and more than 300 of them decorated our savoury focaccia cakes, which had an onion jam base and cream cheese icing. Bacon decorations were dotted around the vanilla buttercream icing covering the sweet vanilla cakes.
The delicious creations didn’t just stay on display. Thanks to the efforts of SA Harvest, they were distributed to Salt River High School in Cape Town and the 123 Movement, a non-profit company that aims to bridge the gap between the disadvantaged and the privileged by eradicating hunger and purposelessness.
“Birthdays are a big family occasion, and these cakes were an expression of the family values that have sustained Eskort over the years,” says Pienaar. “Many people call us a ‘family corporate’, so celebrating our birthday with delicious cakes seemed very fitting. The cakes were a huge hit, and they proved that with imagination and innovation there’s really no limit to the versatility of pork.
Shoot production, concept and creative direction: Studio H
Culinary production: Studio H
Cake decoration: Sweet LionHeart
Stills shoot: Nikki Symons
Video: Jeff Moffat


For the Only One Ingredient lunch presented by Studio H in Venice, as part of Littlegig Homofaber, we served a six course water-themed menu. This lunch was prepared in collaboration with Hotel Il Palazzo Experimental and their Head Chef, Denis Begiqi.
ARRIVAL DRINKS by Experimental Cocktail Club
Alcohol-free Cocai Cola (Venezianos refer to seagulls as cocai)
COURSE 1: VENICE TAP WATER
The first course was water sourced by Studio H and the Littlegig team from 126 water fountains that provide safe drinking water for the city of Venice. In an effort to minimise the environmental impact of tourists, the team at Venice Tap Water compiled a map of water fountains to encourage visitors to access clean water from these sources instead of using plastic water bottles.
COURSE 2: PICKLED WATERBLOMMETJIE
South Africa’s indigenous waterblommetjie grows naturally in ponds and dams during winter and is foraged on a large scale. The waterblommetjies we served were sourced from Babylonstoren – we pickled and then marinated them.
COURSE 3: SEA
Fish Martini with sorghum flatbreads and bokkom oil. We took sorghum flour from South Africa and asked the hotel to use that to make their famous flatbreads. Sorghum is an ancient African grain that has been cultivated in Southern Africa for at least 2000 years, is not only drought-tolerant but also extremely versatile as an ingredient. Bokkoms are a salted, sun and wind-dried fish delicacy – the ones we served were made by the women of Weskusmandjie. (Available via Abalobi). We turned the bokkoms into a powder and added it to olive oil. The oil we sourced in Modena from Massimo Bottura’s condiment collection, Villa Manodori.
COURSE 4: WATER SALAD
A tablescape salad with seasonal water-dense fruit and veg. Guests were encouraged to create their own water salad by foraging from the table scapes in front of them, using hardware tools to cut their fruit and veg and salt spray or salts provided to season their salad. The salad consisted only of fruit and veg with a very high water content, sourced from Rialto Market in Venice. We provided three types of salt. Sea lettuce salt, harvested and made by Weskusmandjie, mushroom salt from Babylonstoren, containing oyster, cloud ear, portobello and shiitake mushrooms and lastly, Baleni salt, a very special salt sourced from the hot mineral spring which was declared a Natural Heritage Site in 1999. The current Baleni Salt Project workers harvest in winter according to ancient ritualised practices and only women can work at the salt spring, all their movements governed by a secret symbolic language.
COURSE 5: MINDFUL EATING
Spaghetti pastificio felicetti with vongole clams and samphire
This course was all about mindful eating and slowing down to appreciate the food that we eat. We served Chef Denis’ vongole with clams and samphire (a coastal succulent that grows on dunes). The deliberately heavy and awkward cutlery for this course was designed for us by Cape Town artist, Githan Coopoo, with the intention to slow you down and to amplify your mindful eating experience. Experts recommend that you wait one minute between each bite of food – so we encourage you to put down the cutlery in between bites, slow down and enjoy every mouthful of Chef Denis’ dish.
COURSE 6: CAMEL MILKSHAKES WITH KOFFIEKOEKIES
We ended the lunch with a dish that the guests co-created with us: a camel milk coffee milkshake served with Babylonstoren’s koffiekoekies. The secret ingredient was a choice between something that grew in an abundance of water or in a desert. The winner? Desert, meaning that we flavoured the milkshake with Kalahari Truffle Aperitif, an extremely rare truffle that grows in the expansive deserts of Southern Africa and is only available for harvest 5-weeks a year. (Find the recipe on our website - link in bio.)
TAKEHOME SNACKS: OSTRICH EGG MARSHMALLOWS
Inspired by Hannerie’s great grand parents who were ostrich farmers, we prepared two flavours of ostrich marshmallows. The marshmallows were designed to enjoy before and after that evening’s Masked Ball. The superfood-rich baobab marshmallow was for added energy, whilst the restorative qualities of the spekboom mallow would make for a welcome snack in the morning.
THANK YOU:
Littlegig:
Georgia Black
Seth Shezi
Bielle Bellingham
Marina Gemeliaris
Homo Faber:
Hanneli Rupert
Il Palazzo Experimental:
Chef Denis Begiqi
Guillaume Pinaut
Pietro Lorefice
Venice Tap Water
Marco Capovilla
Hoick:
Claire Johnson
Adam Strong
Tiffany Schouw
Chefs:
Louise Wessels
Bianca Strydom
Collaborators:
Weskusmandjie
Babylonstoren


Decorex Africa
Host an inspiring media launch for Decorex Africa 2022 with snacks that resonate with designers.
We collaborated with some of our favourite food partners to create an interactive food experience that showcased both form and function. One of our highlights was the customs-shaped banana butters in collaboration with Cream of the Crop Micro Dairy.
Concept: Studio H
Mould design and production: Studio H
Butter and shaping: Cream of the Crop
Photos: Ashleigh Frans

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CLIENT
ESKORT
BRIEF
To design an immersive experience for Innovation Day that redefined how guests think about food, while celebrating the brand’s legacy and future-forward thinking.
CONCEPT AND EXECUTION
Studio H transformed Eskort Innovation Day into a sensory study of how we experience food, not just how we eat it.
Hannerie guided guests through a curated series of sensory interventions:
Each course functioned as a micro-installation, revealing how colour, sound, smell and texture shape taste perception. The experience blurred the line between dining and design, inviting guests to question what they thought they knew about flavour.


KRAAKTAFEL
The KRAAKTAFEL is a dining experience created and curated by Kraak, embracing vulnerability in nature. For this special New Year's Eve edition, we were tasked with designing a shared feast that celebrated fire, bold flavours, and the joy of communal dining.
In collaboration with chef Mmabatho Molefe, we designed a menu that embraced generous, fire-cooked flavours and interactive, shareable moments. The evening began with a striking 20-meter mille-feuille braaibroodjie installation on arrival. The bread course featured rosemary tear-and-share bread served with butter blocks and a hummus rich with sundried-tomato and olives. Starters included a vibrant green goddess salad and delicate yellowtail ceviche, cured in coconut tiger’s milk with apple, red onion, fresh coriander, and curry oil. The main feast was cooked over an open fire – spatchcock chicken with salsa verde, whole Tomahawk steak with peppercorn sauce, clay-baked root vegetables, a leek and ricotta galette, and lemon couscous salad brightened with pomegranate, mint, and peach. Dessert brought a duo of indulgence: fire-cooked pineapple with coconut crumb and butterscotch, alongside a shareable dark rum and muscovado brûlée. As the clock struck midnight, the feast ended with Kosgangsta burgers and chips, a fitting way to welcome the new year with comfort and celebration.
Menu concept, design, culinary curation: Studio H, Mmabatho Molefe
Food collaborator: Mmabatho Molefe
Culinary team: Mmabatho Molefe, Bianca Strydom, Faith Sotondoshe, Wes Watlington, Zandi Bhayi, Strone Henry, Ashleigh Frans, Luyanda Sogiba
Photography and videography: Daniela Zondagh


Laphroaig
Design a sensory tasting kit for the iconic single malt Scotch, Laphroaig.
The sensorial kit links the brand to the peaty hills of Islay through touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight, making for a memorable tasting experience wherever it is presented to the consumer.
Design and production: Studio H
Photography: Daniela Zondagh


Cherry Time
Create a disruptive activation for Cherry Time.
At Studio H, we are committed to designing experiences that reveal the intricate connections between food systems and the natural world. One such project, created in collaboration with our client Cherry Time, highlights the essential role of bees in agriculture.
This installation captured live audio recordings of bee activity directly from the hives within Cherry Time’s orchards. Paired with video footage and presented in a custom-designed installation box, the result is an immersive sensory experience that invites participants to engage with the symbiotic relationship between pollinators and food production.
By bringing the soundscape of Cherry Time’s orchards to life, this sonic installation offers a unique opportunity to deepen the connection between consumers and the ecological systems that underpin sustainable agriculture. It serves as a reminder of the critical balance required to maintain both biodiversity and the resilience of our food supply.
This collaboration with Cherry Time reflects Studio H’s commitment to creating thoughtful and impactful design interventions that tell the stories of those working to protect and enhance the environments that sustain us all.
Concept: Studio H
Creative direction: Studio H
Video and sound: Jeffrey Moffat
Art direction: Creative Revolt
Vinyls: Signbomb
Collaborators and activation venues: Paul's Homemade Ice-cream and Oranjezicht City Farm Market


Our studio moved into new offices with a street-facing window display just before the launch of the 100+ Flavours Report. To amplify the launch, we commissioned Hoick to activate the window space.
“Given the location on Buitenkant Street, it was an opportunity to personally and meaningfully connect with any South African that engaged. We drew inspiration from the democratic medium of classic South African TV, and the visual of screens piled up in Joshua Doore's windows, playing infomercials on repeat. The result was 8 microwave-clad TV screens displaying a selection of rotating dishes, striking a resemblance to nostalgic South African television, as well as the relatable feeling of watching your food as it heats up in the microwave. The broadcasts of rotating plates are interrupted by clips from beloved South African TV shows. A jodetert is interrupted by an Abo Mzala clip, with friends discussing the awkward noisiness of eating skopas at the movies. A skhokho is interrupted by a clip of Ina Paarman mimicking the cry of a refrigerated tomato. A bunny chow is interrupted by an Egoli clip, with Ester and Elsa mistakenly high on weed brownies, hysterically listing everything they want to eat. The window display leads the viewer to an online shop where they are able to purchase the report, but also gives passersby a moment to reflect on South Africa's diverse food culture – to see their own food culture represented, and to indulge in personal sensory memory, free of charge.” – Claire Johnson, co-director, Hoick
Take a stroll past the window at Tiny Empire in Buitenkant Street to see the display IRL.
CI design: Hoick
Window creative direction and concept: Hoick
Videography: Daniela Zondagh
Culinary production and styling: Studio H
Photos: Daniela Zondagh

Shelflife
Design cement-inspired treats and drinks for the release of the Jordan 4 “Cement” sneaker at the Cape Town and Johannesburg Shelflife stores. These needed to be easy-to-eat, packaged items that are visually aligned with the sneaker’s iconic grey-and-white colour way. The food experience needed to mirror the in-store design and create a shareable moment that would resonate with sneaker culture and elevate the overall launch.
"Cement" lemonade and monochrome snacks included chocolate “cement" fudge, donuts and cupcakes.
Concept and menu design: Studio H
Chef: Strone Henry