I love doing events. I love the theatricality of reading in front of an audience, sharing stories and recipes.
-Do you expect your way of creating food to change in the future?
I hope that food will never become a pure technology, all about efficiency. I hope there will always be a place for ritual and pleasure.
-Do you embrace the changes in the food industry regarding social media and technology influences?
I love that social media allows people to share recipes from all over the world. I recently got an email from a New Zealander living in Crete. I now follow her blog to learn about traditional Cretan cooking.
-Do you like art? Do you have any preferences for an artist? And/or for creators of artistic work (can also be a chef, designer, photographer, fashion designer or inventor)?
I grew up in museums, and I’m trained as an art historian. I have a weakness for Victorian painting; it’s sinister and sentimental at the same time. I love artists of any era, from William Blake to Matthew Barney, who have a whole mythological system built up in their head. I love to watch them make that real. When I worked as a journalist, I loved writing about the beginnings of New Media art. The artists tended to come from all sorts of disciplines, bringing fresh ideas and social critiques. They weren’t particularly intimidated or impressed by the traditional trappings of the art world.
-Could we feature your favorite artist, designer, architect or filmmaker in our magazine and/or online?
Sure.
-In which way do you think culinary arts, art and design are different and/or similar?
Every discipline will evolve. I’m for any innovation that lacks pretension. Pretension is when it gets boring. When I’m in front of a work of art or design, or trying a new recipe, I ask myself two questions: Does this move me? Does this get us anywhere? If not, I’m likely to turn my attention elsewhere.
-Do you aspire to collaborate with an artist from another artistic discipline?
I’d love to go around the world collecting oral and video histories of family recipes, to watch people cook the food that has sustained their families for generations.
-Do you have a favorite company or exciting other creator with whom you would like to work?
I have a weakness for Establishment -- the gravitas of old institutions. I’d love to work with a company like Sevres -- maybe design a fantasy royal banquet or State Dinner. My mother collects odd silver pieces -- asparagus tongs, etc. -- from the days when tables were laden with incredibly luxurious and, above all, specific implements. I’d love to work with a contemporary silversmith to design some fanciful contemporary equivalents -- objects to add whimsy and a sense of grandeur back into our meals.