Viridia Fine Dining: Mindful Consumption

A big inspiration for this project was Robert Wun’s runway ‘Four layers of a human body’ which consisted of different stages of human body, layers each represented by a high fashion couture outfit separately on a runway. For Viridia project, I wanted to do the same with complex thought-through meals that can focus on sustainability of ingredients and care for nature. Dining at Viridia is a performance, showing stages the food took to get to the guest’s table to encourage conscious consumption by show casing each stage through all senses: sight (fashionable outfits and aesthetically pleasing meals); smell (perfumes diffused across restaurant’s space); taste (of the food); touch (everything around: engraved menu on the plate, tables, unpolished, raw materials), hearing (immersive music playing throughout the meal process). For the poster I made sure to highlight human trace and our deep bond with nature which is why I used finger prints, hand drawn tree patterns, green color of nature and my handwriting that combine to display the name of the restaurant

1. Origin:
   Concept: Life begins in full nature with no intervention of human. Everything begins with the soil where plants grow, a lot of nature starts and ends in soil.

   Meal: a pile of soil made out of dehydrated powdered olives and dark cocoa

   Outfit: a brown, dirty, messy suit, some green leaves on it, it is chaotic and mysterious, quiet and familiar.

   Smell: “Wet Soil” Eau de Parfum by Ottochem Perfumes. Inspired by the earth’s revitalizing aroma after a refreshing rainfal

   Ambience: The lights are dim, very soft yellowish light is peaking through but it is dark

2. Water and Soil:
   Concept: Water and Sun collide to bring life. Water in all its forms such as ice, steam, water are all changeable

   Meal: vegetable consommé, herb oils, fresh microgreens. Flow of water

   Outfit: full of flow, movement, it is almost liquid-like, rouches and layers

   Smell: Le Labo Baie 19 is designed to smell like petrichor the crisp, earthy, and wet scent of rain falling on dry earth

   Ambience: the whole floor of the restaurant is filled with steam to immerse guests into a foresty, wet moist atmosphere. The lights are white and very diffused across the restaurant. It is steamy, foggy but light.
   
   

3. Wild Nature:
   Concept: Nature is wild, nature is unpredictable and chaotic. It is beautiful and crazy.

   Meal: Salad of roasted pears, plums, pecan nuts and crème fraîche. Represents the colors of wild nature

   Outfit: full of colors that are familiar to leaves changing colors

   Smell: Etat Libre D’Orange You or Someone Like You. vibrant composition dominated by fresh mint and chlorophyll-rich green notes

   Ambience: Bright yellow light is peaking through several small light bulbs on the ceiling to represent the sun rays hitting the ground.
   
   

4. Human Touch
   Concept: When humans started intervening with nature, it caused (and still causes) a huge effect on the reest of the environment. Some humans destroy and some create and help nature. When humans began intervening with nature, science started thriving. people use nature for everything, starting with medicine and ending with objects of furniture.

   Meal: This meal is inspired by science that humans evolve using nature. using molecular kitchen to create somehting interesting and unconventional through nature and science

   Outfit: insipired by Bella Hadid’s runway dress made out of short, natural and synthetic fibers (cotton, nylon, wool, mohair) bound with polymers and a solvent that evaporates on contact with skin to form a non-woven, wearable fabric

   Smell: Concrete by Comme des Garçon. Described as an exploration of destruction, construction and creation, Concrete is dry, dark and heavy. With urban notes of cumin, clove and musk.

   Ambience: no lights but holograms all around the walls, tables and floors ot immerse guests into scientific, unique futuristic atmosphere
   
   

5. Fire:
   Concept: Fire is a vital ecological process that recycles nutrients, enhances biodiversity, and triggers regeneration in many ecosystems. It is essentially nature’s renewal mechanism

   Meal: served on edible coals made out of powedered black cocoa and truffle with highly roasted vegetables on open flame with caramelized tofu

   Outfit: inspired by the mystery, in coal-black color in feathers like movement of harsh smoke, with red yellow colors of the fire growing.

   Smell: MAISON MARGIELA REPLICA BY THE FIREPLACE EAU DE TOILETTE with key notes of Chestnut, guaiac wood, cloves, vanilla

   Ambience: the temperature of the interior of the restaurant will raise by three to five degrees. The light is yellow-red, it is bright and not stable, changing from red to yellow to dark, representing shadows of flames
   
   

6. Moment:
   Concept: Individual experience dessert - food reaches your plate and you eat it and it reminds you of something very distant, something where all of your senses were used, maybe a childhood memory or a happy memory in adult life. When filling up the form to go to this restaurant you are asked to provide some information and descriptions about a happy memory that you remember vividly, describe it in textures, colors, moods, shapes, etc and this will be the final meal of the tasting experience.

   
   

   For example: ‘My brightest memory was the day of my wedding. It was outside, with cherry blossoms surrounding us and I was wearing a white dress with rouches with gold and transparent details. Everything was so amazing and romantic, very intimate’. Lights are white but are soft and diffused. The atmosphere is positive and intimate, quiet and respectful to appreciate all the memories that are personal and valuable to each guest.

   
   

   The chain of the tasting menu ends here, with the guest, they are the end and the food reaches its final point through nice thoughts of recalling memories. Soft floral perfume notes in the diffusor, every meal has a dedicated waiter