Milan Design Week: The Restaurant

“This year is all about partnerships,” said Alex Wisnioski, general manager of Americas for British design brand Tom Dixon. The brand has partnered with quartz manufacturer Caesarstone and food design studio Arabeschi di Latte to produce The Restaurant, a deconstructed kitchen featuring multisensory dining experiences.

The Restaurant consists of four kitchens, each representing one of the four elements: earth, fire, water and air. Each kitchen features a different way to use quartz by Caesarstone, products and lighting by Tom Dixon, and food experience design by Arabeschi di Latte.

“This year we wanted to show how the material [quartz] can be used in different ways to prepare the food, to cook the food, and to serve the food—the whole dining experience,” said Diana Rabba, senior account executive representing Caesarstone.

The Earth Kitchen is inspired by ancient Roman structures, a concept that works perfectly with the venue choice, La Rotonda della Besana, a historic monastery. The kitchen serves root vegetables (from the earth) prepared using an old European cooking technique, the hay box.

Charred wood is the inspiration for the Fire Kitchen. The basalt colors and tonalities from Caesarstone are juxtaposed with Tom Dixon’s dim lights made from copper and gold, resembling a flame. Guests are served black flatbread and cheese.

In the Ice Kitchen, the design resembles jagged blocks of ice and chefs prepare, cook and serve a clear broth on the Caesarstone surface. Meanwhile, the Air Kitchen uses raw concrete not just as a surface, but also in the form of floating frames to appear like “air”. The menu in this corner looks like clouds and features the lightest dessert of all—meringue.

According to Tom Dixon, the idea behind the collaboration was to inspire designers “using a radical reinterpretation of the various possibilities for food and surfaces to interact and provide a dining experience that challenges all senses, while combining materials, light distribution, and textures.”

This brand partnership reimagines the kitchen worktop, creating an environment where guests can explore, dine and relax.