Our weekly serving of off-the-menu items—a few popular favorites from the week as well as a few morsels that may have slipped your notice.
Remembering Michael Graves
Perhaps best remembered for his tea kettle and homewares line for Target, designer and architect Michael Graves passed yesterday. Part of the New York Five, his architectural work helped define postmodernism while the over 2000 consumer products he designed made him a household name.
A Sushi Bar as Art
The Kiyotomo sushi restaurant, designed by Shiro Kuramata, opened its doors in Tokyo in 1988. Three decades later, the restaurant will open its doors again as part of the permanent design collection of Hong Kong museum, M+. In this short film, curator Aric Chen, along with the contractors who originally installed the bar and Kuramata’s post-war contemporaries, share the context of the design and the process of dismantling and moving the interior to its new home.
A Century of Salt
In case you missed it, last year the Morton Salt Girl celebrated her centennial birthday with a refresh of the icon. The Dieline did a great deep dive into the visual history with a follow-up this week on a new packaging system for their other consumer products.
Is Tech Killing Farmer’s Markets?
Tech-driven solutions are delivering locally produced foods by “collapsing the food chain,” one entrepreneur explains. As the number of farmers markets plateaus, tech is stepping in to fill the increasing demand for local food.
Insect Farming, Startup-Style
Silicon Valley’s first high-tech cricket farm is placing bets that the future of food lies in entomophogy. Tiny Farms is working on building an industrial-scale facility to farm insects.
A Light for Kenji Ekuan
While the world mourned the passing of Kenji Ekuan, designer of the iconic Kikkoman soy sauce bottle, Brooklyn-based artist Nao Matsumoto created the “No Soy Sauce, No Life,” candle to burn in memory of the designer.
Caffeinating for a Better Future
Just one more day to get in on the ground-floor of the “World’s First Plantable Coffee Cup.”
The Cosmos in Your Kitchen
Photographer Navid Baraty combines the beauty of milk, salt, spices and food coloring to recreate the beauty of the cosmos with ingredients from the pantry.
