Sushi, sashimi, kebab, spring rolls, paella, pizza. One of the most evident signs of globalisation is actually food. In any big city the world over you can eat most any kind of cuisine. Chinese restaurants were probably the first serving ethnic food abroad; today the cooler include Japanese sushi or what’s called “fusion” food – a mixture of ingredients from many cultures.
Also becoming increasingly popular is “finger food”, the “grab and go” food. We have less time to cook, to sit in restaurants, to shop for groceries, to organize dinners.
The response of design to our latest demands arrives, designing new instruments and accessories for this fast, cheery and international world of eating. We’re out to eat some of the worst junk with the coolest and most practical, yet precious tools. These simple but creative tools have to be disposable, better yet recyclable, and easy on the environment.
Pandora Design combines a catering service with the industrial production of new accessories. Moscardino, winner of the Compasso D’Oro in 2001, designed by Matteo Ragni and Giulio Iacchetti and fashioned out of a special biodegradable material, is both a fork and a spoon in the same object. Their latest line includes “2 spin”, also by Matteo Ragni, the perfect tool for aperitivo finger food, as well as De luxe, by Donata Parruccini and Fabio Bortolani, Neo-Baroque accessories made from plastic in various brilliant colours. A similar interpretation is the B-side fork by Alessandro Busana, enabling the user to change, with but a simple motion, the culture and tradition one wants to follow.
Now we can do anything (but sit and eat); we simply stand around with our small plate of deli delights and fabulous plastic silverware.
Author: Chiara Aliverti
Moscardino: design Ragni & Iacchetti
