Wallpaper* and Æsir salon dinner in London
![The first of four salon dinners](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vtPS7JJ4oNabCY8RkKXNb6-415-80.jpg)
Securing rare access to the modernist former home of the Commonwealth Institute (soon to be the new Design Museum HQ) and presenting the London debut of Bo Lindegaard (one half of I'm a Kombo, the duo making Denmark the new test bed of culinary invention), we co-hosted the first in a series of four extraordinary salon dinners recently, on behalf of Æsir Copenhagen and to celebrate the creative feat that is Wallpaper* Handmade.
An intimate group of design and art world luminaries, such as architect David Adjaye, Serpentine Gallery director Julia Peyton-Jones and artist Barnaby Barford, were welcomed with a personalised package containing gourmet popcorn and champagne flutes as they gathered in the iconic building in Kensington (thanks to Chelsfield Partners), also known as the Parabola. While they sipped on 2002 Dom Perignon, Æsir founder Thomas Møller Jensen unveiled the brand's first telephonic marvel, the Æ+Y - a startling handcrafted handset with a sapphire crystal screen and Dutch-made ceramic casing, designed by fellow guest Yves Behar - and John Pawson revealed his much-anticipated plans for the Parabola's reincarnation as the Design Museum, opening in 2014.
Watch our video snapshot of the evening
Dinner was served with startling flourish on a black gloss and brushed steel custom-made table by production designer Matthew Gant, with guests sitting comfortably on Arper swivel chairs.
The menu, lighting and music were all in tune with themes explored in Æsir's design manifesto, Tænker 001. Highlights included a poached langoustine dish inspired by one of its tenets, 'expertise', featuring graphic balls of extract of rhubarb and beetroot, and emulsion of canola oil and dill, which slowly dripped through a sieve on the plate, perfectly infusing the shellfish. And, inspired by the concept of 'making' was an onion dish, featuring foie gras powder, dried onion cress and seeds, that told a story about the vegetable and the terroir, inviting guests to plant their own onion in a small pot, supplied by Muuto.
This interactivity continued with a pressed oxtail dish, accompanied by a 'taste kit' for guests to finish it with. And to round things off, Lindegaard presented his take on traditional Danish butter cookies.
Meanwhile, Keep, in collaboration Tom Hingston Studio - the practice behind the new Æsir phone's icons and unique typeface, as well as Tænker 001 - devised a series of corresponding graphic projections to illuminate the space, which tied in with each culinary sensation. These were echoed by a special soundscape composed by London-based Pitch & Sync.
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The evening proved a decadent feast for all the senses. Despite the intimate scale of the event, guests played musical chairs between courses, and when they finally stepped out into the night, they did so armed with the mother of all goodie bags, comprising a Jambox by Jawbone (the new cult wireless speaker system, also designed by Behar), a Noma cookbook, a candle stick from By Lassen, Wallpaper* City Guides, and Acai body oil by Rudolph Care. Next stop for Wallpaper* and Æsir? Moscow, swiftly followed by New York and Hong Kong.
Guests were welcomed with a personalised package containing gourmet popcorn and champagne flutes
A string quartet from Britten Sinfonia chamber orchestra performed during the drinks reception
Left: Æsir co-founder Mathias Rajani
Right: Sherette Dahlström, designer Tom Dixon and Jean Ahlefeldt-Laurvig sip on 2002 Dom Perignon
Model David Gandy and Ashley Shaw-Scott
Marissa Hermer, Phoebe Vela, Yoo founder John Hitchcox and Design Museum deputy director Alice Black
Left: Architect David Adjaye and Ashley Shaw-Scott
Right: McQueen communications director Masako Kumakura and Wall Street Journal food critic Bruce Palling
Wallpaper* publishing director Gord Ray and The Business of Fashion founder, Imran Amed
For his London debut, chef Bo Lindegaard (one half of I’m a Kombo, the duo making Denmark the new test bed of culinary invention) devised a six course culinary sensation that echoed themes explored in Æsir’s design manifesto, Tænker 001, such as ’romanticism’, ’expertise’ and ’co-operation’
Dinner was served with startling flourish on a black gloss and brushed steel custom-made table by production designer Matthew Gant, with guests sitting comfortably on Arper Duna swivel chairs
Each course was accompanied by a soundscape composed by London-based Pitch & Sync
Left: Alice Black and Wallpaper* editor-in-chief Tony Chambers
Right: Artist Barnaby Barford, ICA director Gregor Muir and curator Kathryn Rattee
Architect John Pawson
Left: Æsir co-founder Thomas Møller Jensen
Right: During the dinner, Æsir gave guests a chance to play with the new Æ+Y handsets - the Danish company’s first hand-crafted marvels, complete with sapphire crystal screens and Dutch-made ceramic casing, designed by fellow guest Yves Behar
Left: Artist Beth Derbyshire lights the candles in By Lassen candlesticks during the ’Romanticism’ course
Right: Serpentine Gallery director Julia Peyton-Jones
Inspired by the concept of ’making’, Bo Lindegaard created an onion dish, featuring foie gras powder, dried onion cress and seeds, that told a story about the vegetable and the terroir. Guests were invited to plant their own onion in a small personalised pot, supplied by Muuto
Keep Agency and Tom Hingston Studio - the practice behind the new Æsir phone’s icons and unique typeface, as well as Tænker 001 - devised a series of graphic projections to illuminate the space, also synched to the graphics in the manifesto
Presenter George Lamb
David Adjaye, Tony Chambers and Yves Behar
Next stop for Wallpaper* and Æsir? Moscow, swiftly followed by New York and Hong Kong
Malaika Byng is an editor, writer and consultant covering everything from architecture, design and ecology to art and craft. She was online editor for Wallpaper* magazine for three years and more recently editor of Crafts magazine, until she decided to go freelance in 2022. Based in London, she now writes for the Financial Times, Metropolis, Kinfolk and The Plant, among others.
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