USA Food Show Intertrend Los Angeles Interactive Installation Daikoku Design Institute
Aug 16, 2019
TEXT
Alex Marzynski
PHOTOS
Courtesy of the Daikoku Design Institute
Location
Los Angeles
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Wine pairings? Tea pairings? Meh. To Angelenos, scent pairing is where restaurants are headed. This September, as part of The Art of Bloom exhibition at the Daikoku Design Institute, visitors will be treated to a so-called scented dinner where each plate is pared to an emotion and its corresponding flower and essence. Mediamatic, eat your hyacinth out.

By itself, the Intertrend-Daikoku-designed Art of Bloom is an eye-catching exhibition, with a halo of flowers that respond to visitor’s body temperature with light, sound and petal movements. But its true strength lies in the connection to its satellite programming: the creators have extended the experience of the exhibition into a thoughtful and thorough menu of subsidiary activities.

There is, for example, a sound-bath class meant to guide students to deep relaxation; a perfumery workshop called the Blending Lab, led by American nose Yosh Han, known for aligning notes with numerology and Chakra energy flows. Other workshops focus on botanical medicine making, craft cocktail creation and edible bouquet preparation. And that scent(sory) dinner? It’s hosted by James Beard Award-winning chef Erik Bruner-Yang.

Los Angeles has now become a bonafide global foodie destination, with a gastronomic panorama so diverse in can be divided into neighbourhood trends. But just like that other big industry LA is largely known for, what makes city’s dining scene stand out is its penchant for making consumers dream far beyond what’s at hand. From the emergence of the inventive Korean-Mexican street food to the high-end alien-like settings of the divisively engaging Visionaire, the city’s culinary circle is playful and adventurous in a way that other more established destinations are not. So it figures that, when it comes to an exhibition that is already playful and adventurous and memorable, Angelenos would figure out a way to get people to engage with a story far beyond the confines of a dark room full of glowing lights.

intertrend.com
daikoku.ndc.co.jp

The Art of Bloom is open until 29 September