THE CLIENT

Kove Collection

THE BRIEF

Shoot content to launch the new restaurant's menu offering on their website and social media platforms.

THE RESULT

Restaurant menu items shot against graphic interior elements in the background. Simple pastry patters on monotone backgrounds to launch the bakery menu.

THE TEAM

Production: JC Landman

Photography: Paris Brummer, Warren Talmarkes, Daniela Zondagh

Styling: Juwan Beyers

Studio-H co-hosted Li Edelkoort’s Trend Talk with House and Leisure magazine at Babylonstoren. After a few years’ absence, it was so good to welcome Li Edelkoort and her long-time business partner Philip Fimmano back to South Africa. Studio H produced the event and food installations with Juwan Beyers Food Design. Tickets sold out within hours, confirming the appetite for thoughtful, future-facing dialogue.

Thank you:

Goeters Event Design

AKJP

THE CLIENT

Nando’s

THE BRIEF

Conceptualise a strategy that would celebrate the launch of two new Nando's Bag ‘n Bake flavours.

THE RESULT

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.

THE TEAM

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

THE CLIENT

V&A Waterfront Makers Landing

THE BRIEF

Develop a kids food curriculum

THE RESULT

We are thankful to collaborators like the V&A Waterfront and Makers Landing who are serious about positively impacting South Africa’s food system by investing in children’s culinary education. Showcased here is a food curriculum we developed for them, aimed at teaching kitchen basics to kids between the ages of 5 and 12 — from appreciating South African flavours to the health benefits of different foods, how kitchen equipment works, the science of baking and everything in between.

THE TEAM

Programme design and development: Studio H

Recipe development: Studio H

‍Research: Studio H

‍Copy and editing: Studio H

‍Graphic design: Casper Schutte, Spook Design

THE CLIENT

Nando's

THE BRIEF

Create a series of content for Nando's social channels (stills and video) amplifying the launch of two new Nando's Bag 'n Bake flavours.

THE RESULT

In tandem with the launch of the Nando's #PERiTricks activation, Studio H produced content (stills and video) to support the launch of the two new Bag 'n Bake flavours. Content was published across Nando's social channels (Youtube shorts, Tiktok, Instagram, brand website) with a range of digital and IRL recipe cards. Aimed at a younger demographic, we added some non-traditional ways of cooking, should you not have access to a full kitchen as a student. Aligned with the brand's deep South African roots, all recipes celebrate local flavours, with recipe names giving a nod to iconic pop culture moments.

Some of the recipes featured are "Private Skool Skopas" (a play on Rice Krispies treats) made in a tumble dryer, "A Boerie is a plan" made with a steam iron, "iMover and Shaker", a shake-shake slaw recipe made by shaking ingredients in the Bag 'n Bake bag.

THE TEAM

Concept and production: Studio H

Recipe development: Studio H, Keletso Motau, Strone Henry

Recipe styling: Keletso Motau

Videos: Yellow Brick Media

Stills photography: Daniela Zondagh

THE CLIENT
August Collective for Nederburg

THE BRIEF
Design two events in Cape Town and Johannesburg that brings Nederburg’s brand platform – Yours to Explore – to life through an elevated culinary experience.

THE RESULT
A dinner celebrating a bold new chapter in the story of one of South Africa’s most well-travelled and admired wine brands – Nederburg sells in no less than 80 countries across the globe. In line with their new positioning, “It’s Yours to Explore”, we teamed up with Chef Strone Henry to design a menu to reflect this.

THE MENU
SOUTH AFRICA
Roosterkoek with Baronne jam, farm butter and Winelands cheese selection
Nederburg The Winemasters Sauvignon Blanc 2025

SOUTH KOREA
Bulgogi beef lettuce wrap with sushi rice, kimchi aioli and pickled daikon
Nederburg Baronne 2023

INDIA
Charred tandoori lamb rack with saffron fennel, potato pavé and smoked tomato chutney curry leaf jus
Nederburg Double Barrel Reserve 2023

BRAZIL
Deconstructed quindim – coconut panna cotta, passion fruit and turmeric meringue shards
Nederburg The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest 2024

PS: Did you know: A bottle of Nederburg Baronne is opened every 25 seconds in this country?

THE TEAM
Concept, experience design and culinary curation: Studio H
Chef: Strone Henry
Project manager: Stoff & Co (Stephanie McCarthy)
Styling: Phillip Obermeyer
Styling assistant: Jana Wasserman
Linen napkins production: Sumien Brink
Entertainment: NatzFX represented by A11
MC’s: Bathandwa Ngwendu and Maps Maponyane
Staffing: Hero Events

THE CLIENT

Kove Collection

THE BRIEF

Shoot content to launch the new restaurant's menu offering on their website and social media platforms.

THE RESULT

Menu items shot against moody restaurant interior backdrop.

THE TEAM

Styling: Juwan Beyers, Studio H

Photos: Daniela Zondagh

THE CLIENT

Shelflife

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THE BRIEF

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.

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THE RESULT

"Cement" lemonade and monochrome snacks included chocolate “cement" fudge, donuts and cupcakes.

THE TEAM

Concept and menu design: Studio H

Chef: Strone Henry

THE CLIENT

Lemkus

THE BRIEF

Curate a menu and produce the early access VIP dinner for the Air Jordan 1 '85 OG

THE RESULT

Inspired by Michael Jordan’s favourite foods, the menu paid homage to his legacy while creating a memorable dining experience for 23 VIP guests – his iconic jersey number. The first course featured a “Bred Basket” with local flair, including freshly grilled roosterkoek and black sesame-infused bread, served with biltong butter and smoortjie. The main course was flame-grilled ribeye with classic sharing sides – Caesar salad, garlic-infused creamed spinach, and grilled pumpkin pie with maple glaze. (Each ribeye was seared with the Jumpman logo, adding a bold tribute to the sneaker legend.) Dessert paid tribute to comfort food with an ice cream cookie sandwich.

THE TEAM

Concept, experience design, menu design, culinary curation: Studio H, Kosgangsta

Chef: Strone Henry (Kosgangsta), Ashleigh Frans

Food collaborators: Cream of the Crop

THE CLIENT

The Maak for Investec Cape Town Art Fair                    

Included in the 2026 programme of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Art Fair Picnic transformed a section of the fair into a soft, participatory site of gathering and exchange. Large-scale picnic blankets formed an informal space where visitors were invited to sit, share food, and engage with art in a slow, intimate and communal way.

THE BRIEF

As picnic-goers enjoyed snacks prepared by local food designers Studio H, picnic host Max Melvill and co-curator Carl Khaas presented a programme of contemporary artworks from leading African galleries directly in the picnic environment.

Art Fair Picnic forms part of Picnic Projects, an ongoing long-term research collaboration between The MAAK x Picnic (Faith Shields) exploring alternative ways of activating public space to build community. Within the context of the commercial art world, the intervention foregrounds the spatial relationship between art, people, and the environments that bring them together. The project exists as a live spatial experiment that challenges the conventions of the “white cube” gallery model by providing an environment that is inclusive, soft, playful and caring. Art Fair Picnic poses an alternative framework to experience contemporary art that aims to break down the perceived barriers between art viewers, galleries, artists and artworks.

The contemporary art showcased in South Africa’s leading galleries (and art fairs) is known to be vibrant, layered, and deeply connected to everyday life. Yet the space in which this work is encountered does not always reflect this same vitality. While the art feels alive, the spatial environment can at times feel detached or overly transactional. Art Fair Picnic responds to this tension through an in-situ intervention that asks: What spatial models might better reflect the nuanced realities and richness of contemporary artists and their work?

Uncommon within commercial art environments, the posture of picnicking introduces rest, openness, and informality into a context typically defined by movement, productivity, and sales. The simple acts of sitting on the ground, sharing food, and slowing down reposition the art encounter as one rooted in presence and collective experience. In this way, the picnic becomes a deliberate intervention that reclaims humanity and community within a highly commercial setting.

Although temporary by nature, Art Fair Picnic operates as a lasting provocation - exploring how inclusive and contextually grounded environments can enrich our connection to the arts. Through deliberate spatial shifts, the project suggests that the architecture of cultural spaces can serve as a catalyst for gathering, conversation, and cultural belonging - not simply as a background for art.

In our picnic box:

Farm apples from Vergesig Farm

Gingerbread people by Goldie Bread

Marmite pecans

Funfettic cake sandwich

Negroni olives

Crisps: add cheese and cornichons

PICNIC TEAM

Max Melvill (host), Carol Khaas (co-curator), Studio H (food design), Studio Bunk (benches), From Mom (pillows), Katya Volkova (production), Polina Ostanina (production assistant), Cara Geldenhuys (production assistant)

PARTICIPATING GALLERIES & (ARTISTS)

Art Formes (Siyabonga Fani), EBONY/ CURATED (Kamohelo Blessing Rooi), Everard Read (Mmakgabo Mmapula Mmankgato Helen Sebidi and Vusumzi Nkomo), Exhibition Match (Franasonic Exhibition Match jersey), Kó (Deborah Segun), RESERVOIR (Richard Mudariki), Stevenson (Thato Toeba)

PHOTOS

Sune Van Tonder (@aftersune)

We threw a giant sandwich party on the last Sunday in March with our friends The Maak, Picnic (Faith Shields) and The Lookbook. The activation was the grand finale of The Bree Street Picnic Blanket.

Over a period of two months, public volunteers have helped The MAAK x Picnic sew community-scale picnic blankets, which were rolled out for a day of food, music, and playful public interventions. Anyone could join and volunteers assisted us to make coleslaw that would become the filling for our 20-metre sandwich. The coleslaw ingredients were all combined in a huge tarp by volunteers shaking and raking the salad! View the making of the slaw here.

The Bree Street Picnic Blanket is part of an ongoing research and public art project that explores collective-making as a tool to grow community and activate public space. Sewn together with volunteers, bespoke blankets are used as soft public infrastructure to prompt questions about how to make cities more human-centered, welcoming, comfortable and fun.

This project was part of Young Urbanists’ car-free street experiment. 🦓🛣️

Read more about the project here on The Maak's website.

Project Directors

🪡 ART DIRECTION, PROJECT FACILITATION by The Maak and Picnic (Faith Shields)

The Kitchen

🍞 SANDWICH PARTY by us.

The Stage

🎷 LIVE JAZZ + DJs by The Jazz Cult. Sound by A11 Agency.

The Living Room

🏗️ PROTOSCAPE by Lebo Kekana x NISH Design – A modular installation redefining how we engage with space and art.

The Formal Lounge + Scullery

🎨 DECOR + STYLING by The Lookbook

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THE CLIENT

Caesarstone

THE BRIEF

Design a dinner and awards ceremony for the annual Caesarstone Student Designer Competition that ties into the theme ‘From the Ashes We Rise’, a re-imagining and rebuilding of the home of the South African democracy, the National Assembly, that was destroyed in a fire.

THE RESULT

We conceptualised an interactive dinner experience and awards ceremony that truly encapsulated the theme. This inspired live charcoal illustration, a fynbos-infused and fire-cooked meal and an interactive flower installation.

THE TEAM

Concept, experience design, menu design, culinary curation: Studio H

Flower installation: Mr Munro

Interactive food installation collaborators: Wild Yeast, The Bread Bar , Charm’s Kitchen, Pienaar and Son, Ukhamba Beerworx

Pre-dessert performance collaborator: Mondvol Soet

Main course and dessert: Eike by Bertus Basson

Live illustration: Spook Design Co, Little Latsky

Photography: Daniela Zondagh

THE CLIENT

Anglo American

THE BRIEF

Create a disruptive future food-led activation.

THE RESULT

We baked over 1000 millet cookies to create millet milk tart sandwiches with 3D prints for the Anglo American Mining Indaba Gala Dinner. Let’s join forces in the International Year of Millets and discover the full potential of this ancient grain to feed the world and combat climate change.

Get the recipe.

THANK YOU

True North Events

THE CLIENT

Caesarstone

THE BRIEF

Design and produce the awards ceremony for the annual Caesarstone Student Designer Competition. This year, students were invited to design a Museum of South African Languages located at the Maropeng in the Cradle of Humankind, becoming a vibrant celebration of linguistic diversity and showcasing the richness, history, and evolution of the numerous languages spoken in South Africa.

THE RESULT

The theme came alive through an immersive experience that honoured South Africa’s rich linguistic diversity, expressed creatively through food. Each station celebrated one of South Africa’s 12 official languages, offering a dish that reflected its cultural heritage – from bobotie jaffels to amagwinya and fire-roasted corn to crispy fish fingers. Paying tribute to the Cradle of Humankind – the birthplace of fire – many of the dishes were prepared using traditional fire-cooking methods. The experience concluded on a playful, nostalgic note with a giant jelly and custard installation. Each station featured an interactive sound button in its corresponding language.

THE TEAM

Concept, experience design, menu design, culinary curation: Studio H

Food collaborator: Bianca Strydom

Photo moment: Klara van Wyngaarden

Performance: SPIRIT IN MOTION

Graphic design: Spook Design Co.

Thank you to Sello, Norman and the team at Maropeng

THE CLIENT

Laphroaig

THE BRIEF

Create a media drop for Laphroaig.

THE RESULT

Eau de Laphroaig – Studio H conceptualised and developed Eau de Laphroaig, a bespoke fragrance that is an ode to the peaty shores of Islay, home of Laphroaig whisky. For the bottles, we collaborated with Cape Town-based ceramicists Vorster & Braye to design a hand-crafted ceramic decanter that complements the gentle earthy notes of the perfume, and we worked with Spook design on the linen-covered packaging.

THE TEAM

Voster and Braye

Juwan Beyers

JC Landman

Retha Ericsson

Casper Schutte, Spook

Photos and videos: Daniela Zondagh, Juwan Beyers

THE BRIEF

Design and curate a Dine & Design event

THE RESULT

The inaugural Dine & Design dinner, hosted at Tiny Empire, was the opening of Design Week 2023 and a celebration of 30 years of House & Leisure and Decorex. We wanted all guests to be able to celebrate in one space, but also create a relaxed environment that felt like an intimate dinner party. So guests enjoyed starters and desserts together, and mains was served at various intimate dinner spaces, hosted and created by House & Leisure's team of editors.

Our starter course was an ode to millets. Handmade millet crisps were served in Niknaks packets, symbolising that (due to various complex reasons) maize replaced millet as a staple crop across the continent. The millet crisps were flavoured with maize chip dust made from chips that the guests brought to the dinner.

Main course was served by chef PJ Vadas and the Vadas team from Spier Wine Farm.

The dessert, prepared by the Studio H team, was a banana party - an assortment of banoffee pie, fresh bananas, banana candies, banana perfume and a banana soundtrack.

THE TEAM

Host venue: Tiny Empire

Event hosts: House & Leisure, Decorex

Dinner party hosts: Charl Edwards, Bielle Bellingham, Sumien Brink, Karen Dudley, Tracy-Lee Lynch, Stevie Whiteman

Main course: PJ Vadas

Wine: Spier Wine Farm

Floral design: Mr Munro

Concept, starters, dessert: Studio H

THE CLIENT

KRAAKTAFEL

THE BRIEF

The KRAAKTAFEL is a dining experience created and curated by Kraak, embracing vulnerability in nature. For the Johannesburg Edition at Nirox Sculpture Garden in the Cradle of Humankind, we were tasked with designing a menu for 300 guests that seamlessly complemented this ethos, creating a dining experience that was both intentional and evocative.

THE RESULT

In collaboration with chef Bianca Strydom, we crafted a menu that reimagined familiar flavours in unexpected ways,with clay as the central theme. For the arrival, we transformed the classic South African braaibroodjie into a delicate yet oversized mille-feuille: crisp lavash triangles layered with clay-baked onion chutney, smoked cheese crémeux, pickled onions, and a final dusting of smoked cheese snow. At the table, sculptural brioche bread was paired with salted waterblommetjie butter, membrillo, fynbos honey, and Baleni salt. The main course featured salt-crusted whole baked trout and 8-hour baked curried Karoo lamb shoulder, served with clay-baked root vegetables and freshly dressed greens. Dessert was an XXL Eton Mess installation – layers of crisp meringue, whipped cream, and seasonal fruits in a playful, deconstructed format. To close the evening, we served a final moment of contrast: the luxurious simplicity of caviar and potato crisps.

THE TEAM

Menu concept, design, culinary curation: Studio H

Food collaborator: Bianca Strydom

Bread sculptures: Lucky Bread

Culinary team: Bianca Strydom, Raymand Buitendag, Babra Moyo, Paul Mandiopera

Photography and videography: Daniela Zondagh

THE CLIENT

Beanstalk for PUMA South Africa

THE BRIEF

Create a bold and immersive food experience for the relaunch of the iconic PUMA Mostro sneaker – a cult classic originally released in 1999 – hosted inside Cape Town’s Castle of Good Hope.

THE RESULT

A visceral menu and interactive food installations brought the surreal Mostro Lab to life – a space imagined as the inner workings of a living monster. The menu included molten synapse s’mores with black sesame shortbread, charcoal crackers dipped into neon pink hummus and golden split pea purée, glow-in-the-dark neurotropic caviar and charcoal bao filled with sticky soy lion’s mane and coffee-chilli beef. At the top of a winding staircase, a glow-in-the-dark jelly installation awaited in a hidden chamber.

THE TEAM

Concept, menu and experience design: Studio H

Chef: Strone Henry

Service staff: Hero Events

Photos: Jonx Pillemer

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Studio H explored corn as a cultural connector during Milan Design Week 2025 with a mindful food installation. Commissioned by Novitá Communications for North America Night at Teatro Litta, the experience responded to the theme Not Lost in Translation – a reflection on design as a universal language – through a multilingual menu and storytelling rooted in culinary heritage across Mexico, Canada and the USA.

From a 3-metre cornbread cake sandwich to Faith Sotondoshe’s isinkwa sombila (steamed cornbread) and a tower of nachos topped with Jamón Ibérico and Claire Dinhut’s candied jalapeños, our menu celebrated corn in all its cultural forms. A piñata designed by Sanri Pienaar, paper fortune teller cutlery and handcrafted cornbread trays turned the evening into a multisensory moment – part meal, part message, part memory.

The evening was inspired by Italian composer and singer Adriano Celentano 70’s anglo-phonetics hit ‘Prisencolinensinainciusol’, a 1972 song with nonsensical, gibberish lyrics intended to sound like American English. Celentano used the song as a way to explore communication and language barriers, demonstrating how music can convey emotion even without real words

Produced by @novitapr‍

Art Direction by @rads.group‍

Culinary Design by @studio_h_

‍Studio H would like to thank:

Sanri Pienaar for the culinary art direction and styling

Mia Everson for making our cornbread tray vision come to life

Faith Sotondoshe for the isinkwa sombila

Strone Henry for the corn bread, syrups and salts

Claire Dinhut for the best candied jalapeño recipe

African Marmalade for the blue maize seeds

Inge Prins for the photos

THE CLIENT

Narrative PR

THE BRIEF

Design a menu for the opening of Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen’s Cosmopolitan Renaissance exhibition in Cape Town.

THE MENU

Central to the artist’s work is the concept of bio-cultural diversity, which he investigates through exploring the themes of interconnectedness, and sustainability. The menu, inspired by the Five Kingdoms of Nature:

Animals: Red centre devilled eggs

Plants: Asparagus and edible flower skewers

Fungi: Grilled mushroom skewers

Protists: Kelp, rice paper puffs and kelp-cured fish

Monera: Mold-ripened cheese with shaped jelly on handmade crackers

THE TEAM

Concept, menu design, culinary curation: Studio H

Culinary collaborator: Mia Everson